s3fs
1 min read
FUSE-based filesystem that mounts S3-compatible buckets as local directories. Supports AWS S3, MinIO, Ceph, and any S3-compatible storage.
Install
sh
# NixOS
environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.s3fs ];
# Debian/Ubuntu
apt install s3fs
# macOS (via Homebrew)
brew install --cask macfuse && brew install s3fs
Credentials
sh
# ~/.passwd-s3fs
ACCESS_KEY_ID:SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
chmod 600 ~/.passwd-s3fs
Or per-bucket in /etc/passwd-s3fs.
Mount
sh
# Basic mount
s3fs my-bucket /mnt/s3 -o passwd_file=~/.passwd-s3fs
# Custom endpoint (MinIO etc.)
s3fs my-bucket /mnt/s3 \
-o passwd_file=~/.passwd-s3fs \
-o url=https://minio.example.com \
-o use_path_request_style
# With options
s3fs my-bucket /mnt/s3 \
-o passwd_file=~/.passwd-s3fs \
-o allow_other \
-o umask=0022 \
-o uid=1000 \
-o gid=1000
# Unmount
fusermount -u /mnt/s3
/etc/fstab entry
my-bucket /mnt/s3 fuse.s3fs _netdev,allow_other,use_path_request_style,url=https://minio.example.com,passwd_file=/etc/passwd-s3fs 0 0
Key options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
url= | Custom endpoint URL |
use_path_request_style | Use path-style URLs (needed for MinIO) |
allow_other | Allow other users to access the mount |
uid= / gid= | File ownership |
umask= | File permissions mask |
stat_cache_expire= | Seconds to cache stat results |
parallel_count= | Parallel upload threads (default 5) |
multipart_size= | Multipart chunk size in MB (default 10) |
dbglevel=info | Enable debug logging |
Caveats
• Not a real POSIX filesystem: no hard links, append writes are expensive (re-upload), no atomic rename
• Performance is limited by S3 latency and FUSE overhead
• Best for read-heavy or write-once workloads