MinIO Server

Syntax

Starts the minio server process.

The command has the following syntax:

minio server [FLAGS] HOSTNAME/DIRECTORIES [HOSTNAME/DIRECTORIES..]

The command accepts the following arguments:

HOSTNAME

The hostname of a minio server process.

For standalone deployments, this field is optional. You can start a standalone server process with only the DIRECTORIES argument.

For distributed deployments, specify the hostname of each minio server in the deployment. The group of minio server processes represent a single Server Pool.

HOSTNAME supports MinIO expansion notation {x...y} to denote a sequential series of hostnames. MinIO requires sequential hostnames to identify each minio server process in the set.

For example, https://minio{1...4}.example.net expands to:

• https://minio1.example.net

• https://minio2.example.net

• https://minio3.example.net

• https://minio4.example.net

You must run the minio server command with the same combination of HOSTNAME and DIRECTORIES on each host in the Server Pool.

Each additional HOSTNAME/DIRECTORIES pair denotes an additional Server Set for the purpose of horizontal expansion of the MinIO deployment. For more information on Server Pools, see Server Pool.

DIRECTORIES

Required

The directories or drives the minio server process uses as the storage backend.

DIRECTORIES supports MinIO expansion notation {x...y} to denote a sequential series of folders or drives. For example, /mnt/disk{1...4} expands to:

• /mnt/disk1

• /mnt/disk2

• /mnt/disk3

• /mnt/disk4

The DIRECTORIES path(s) must be empty when first starting the minio process.

The minio server process requires at least 4 drives or directories to enable erasure coding.

Important

MinIO recommends locally-attached drives, where the DIRECTORIES path points to each drive on the host machine. MinIO recommends against using network-attached storage, as network latency reduces performance of those drives compared to locally-attached storage.

For development or evaluation, you can specify multiple logical directories or partitions on a single physical volume to enable erasure coding on the deployment.

For production environments, MinIO does not recommend using multiple logical directories or partitions on a single physical disk. While MinIO supports those configurations, the potential cost savings come at the risk of decreased reliability.

--address

Optional

Binds the minio server process to a specific network address and port number. Specify the address and port as ADDRESS:PORT, where ADDRESS is an IP address or hostname and PORT is a valid and open port on the host system.

To change the port number for all IP addresses or hostnames configured on the host machine, specify :PORT where PORT is a valid and open port on the host.

Changed in version RELEASE.2023-01-02T09-40-09Z: You can configure your hosts file to have MinIO only listen on specific IPs. For example, if the machine’s /etc/hosts file contains the following:

127.0.1.1       minioip
127.0.1.2       minioip

A command like the following would listen for API calls on port 9000 on both configured IP addresses.

minio server --address "minioip:9000" ~/miniodirectory

If omitted, minio binds to port 9000 on all configured IP addresses or hostnames on the host machine.

--console-address

Optional

Specifies a static port for the embedded MinIO Console.

Omit to direct MinIO to generate a dynamic port at server startup. The MinIO server outputs the port to the system log.

--ftp

Optional

Enable and configure a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or File Transfer Protocol over SSL/TLS (FTPS) server. Use this flag multiple times to specify an address port, a passive port range of addresses, or a TLS certificate and key as key-value pairs.

Valid keys:

• address, which takes a single port to use for the server, typically 8021

• (Optional) passive-port-range, which restricts the range of potential ports the server can use to transfer data, such as when tight firewall rules limit the port the FTP server can request for the connection

• (Optional) tls-private-key, which takes the path to the user’s private key for accessing the MinIO deployment by TLS

  Use with tls-public-cert.

• (Optional) tls-public-cert, which takes the path to the certificate for accessing the MinIO deployment by TLS

  Use with tls-private-key.

For MinIO deployments with TLS enabled, omit tls-private-key and tls-public-key to direct MinIO to use the default TLS keys for the MinIO deployment. See Network Encryption (TLS) for more information. You only need to specify a certificate and private key to a different set of TLS certificate and key than the MinIO default (for example, to use a different domain).

For example:

minio server http://server{1...4}/disk{1...4} \
--ftp="address=:8021"                         \
--ftp="passive-port-range=30000-40000"        \
--ftp="tls-private-key=path/to/private.key"   \
--ftp="tls-public-cert=path/to/public.crt"    \
...

--sftp

Optional

Enable and configure a SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) server. Use multiple times to specify an address port and the path to the ssh private key to use as key-value pairs.

Valid keys:

• address, which takes a single port to use for the server, typically 8022

• ssh-private-key, which takes the path to the user’s private key file

For example:

minio server http://server{1...4}/disk{1...4}                               \
--sftp="address=:8022" --sftp="ssh-private-key=/home/miniouser/.ssh/id_rsa" \
...

--certs-dir, -S

Optional

Specifies the path to the folder containing certificates the minio process uses for configuring TLS/SSL connectivity.

Omit to use the default directory paths:

• Linux/OSX: ${HOME}/.minio/certs

• Windows: %%USERPROFILE%%\.minio\certs.

See Network Encryption (TLS) for more information on TLS/SSL connectivity.

--quiet

Optional

Disables startup information.

--anonymous

Optional

Hides sensitive information from logging.

--json

Optional

Outputs server logs and startup information in JSON format.