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Use S3 as a destination with your access key, bucket, and prefix. Works with S3-compatible storage too.

Last updated 2026-05-25

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ZenTransfer writes to an S3 bucket using IAM credentials. Use AWS S3 or any S3-compatible service (Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Cloudflare R2, MinIO) by adjusting the endpoint.

What you need

  • An AWS account with S3 (or an S3-compatible provider)
  • An access key ID and secret access key with s3:PutObject permission on the target bucket
  • The bucket name and optional prefix
  • The bucket's region

Setup

Step 1: Create an IAM user

Create a dedicated IAM user for ZenTransfer with a policy limited to the bucket you'll use:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [{
    "Effect": "Allow",
    "Action": ["s3:PutObject"],
    "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name/*"
  }]
}

Generate an access key pair for this user; save both values.

Step 2: Configure in ZenTransfer

  1. Log in to your Dashboard
  2. Under Cloud Storage, find Amazon S3
  3. Enter: - Access Key ID - Secret Access Key - Bucket name - Region (e.g. eu-west-1) - Prefix (optional) — files write to prefix/filename.ext - Endpoint (optional, S3-compatible only) — for Backblaze, Wasabi, R2, MinIO
  4. Save and enable the destination

Step 3: Test

Upload a single test file and confirm it lands in the bucket at the expected path.

File naming inside the bucket

By default the filename matches the processed file. If you use a rename template, the renamed value is used. The optional prefix is prepended.

Example: with prefix 2026/ and a renamed file 2026-05-25_AGENCY_NAME_001.jpg, the object key becomes 2026/2026-05-25_AGENCY_NAME_001.jpg.

S3-compatible providers

To use a non-AWS S3 provider, set the Endpoint field to the provider's S3 endpoint URL. Examples:

ProviderEndpoint format
Backblaze B2https://s3.<region>.backblazeb2.com
Wasabihttps://s3.<region>.wasabisys.com
Cloudflare R2https://<account>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com
MinIOhttps://<your-minio-host>

The access key, secret, bucket, and prefix fields work the same way.

Permissions checklist

If uploads fail with permission errors, verify:

  • The IAM policy attached to the user includes s3:PutObject
  • The Resource ARN matches the bucket name exactly
  • The bucket region matches what you entered in ZenTransfer
  • No bucket policy denies the IAM user
  • No SCP at the AWS Organizations level blocks the operation

Use cases

  • High-volume archive — S3 is the cheapest reliable option for large archives
  • Engineering team handoff — drop frames into a bucket consumed by downstream pipelines
  • Backup pair with a consumer cloud destination

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