Accessing Amazon S3 Glacier - Amazon S3 Glacier

This page is only for existing customers of the S3 Glacier service using Vaults and the original REST API from 2012.

If you're looking for archival storage solutions we suggest using the S3 Glacier storage classes in Amazon S3, S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. To learn more about these storage options, see S3 Glacier storage classes and Long-term data storage using S3 Glacier storage classes in the Amazon S3 User Guide. These storage classes use the Amazon S3 API, are available in all regions, and can be managed within the Amazon S3 console. They offer features like Storage Cost Analysis, Storage Lens, advanced optional encryption features, and more.

Accessing Amazon S3 Glacier

Amazon S3 Glacier is a RESTful web service that uses HTTP and HTTPS as a transport protocol and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) as a message-serialization format. Your application code can make requests directly to the S3 Glacier web service API. When using the REST API directly, you must write the necessary code to sign and authenticate your requests. For more information about the API, see API Reference for Amazon S3 Glacier.

Alternatively, you can simplify application development by using the AWS SDKs that wrap the S3 Glacier REST API calls. You provide your credentials, and these libraries take care of authentication and request signing. For more information about using the AWS SDKs, see Using the AWS SDKs with Amazon S3 Glacier.

S3 Glacier also provides a console. However, all archive and job operations require you to write code and make requests by using either the REST API directly or the AWS SDK wrapper libraries. To access the S3 Glacier console, go to S3 Glacier Console.

Regions and Endpoints

You create a vault in a specific AWS Region. You always send your S3 Glacier requests to an endpoint specific to an AWS Region. For a list of the AWS Regions supported by S3 Glacier, see Amazon S3 Glacier endpoints and quotas in the AWS General Reference.