How to Install MinIO Object Storage on Ubuntu 24.04

Object storage is a data storage method where units of data are stored as separate objects. Unlike traditional file systems that use directory hierarchies or block storage systems that store data in fixed blocks, object storage keeps data in a single repository that can be directly accessed via a unique ID. Each object consists of the data itself, metadata, and a unique identifier. The main advantages of object storage include high scalability, the ability to store large amounts of unstructured data, and easier accessibility and management through application programming interfaces (APIs).

Object storage is ideal for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as multimedia files (photos, videos), backups and archives, IoT sensor data, and web or mobile application data. Examples of object storage applications include storing backup files in cloud services, hosting media content, and storing large datasets for big data analysis or machine learning.

One popular implementation of Object Storage is MinIO. This open-source solution offers functionality similar to commercial cloud storage services like Amazon S3, but with greater control and flexibility. MinIO can be installed and run on various platforms, including Ubuntu. This tutorial will cover the step-by-step process of installing and configuring MinIO Object Storage on Ubuntu 24.04.

MinIO Deployment Topologies

There are three types of topologies in MinIO deployment:

Single-Node Single-Drive (SNSD or “Standalone”): This is the simplest topology among all MinIO deployments. In this mode, MinIO is installed on a single node (server) and uses one drive (disk) to store data.
Single-Node Multi-Drive (SNMD or “Standalone Multi-Drive”): In this topology, MinIO is installed on a single node but uses multiple drives (disks) to store data.
Multi-Node Multi-Drive (MNMD or “Distributed”): This is the most complex topology among the three mentioned. In this mode, MinIO is installed on multiple nodes, and each node has multiple drives.

Tutorial Environment

In this tutorial, the following setup is used:

VPS: Vultr, 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM
Block Storage: 100GB
Operating System: Ubuntu 24.04
Subdomains: minio-console.aminlabs.my.id and minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id
SSL: Cloudflare
Topology: Single-Node Single-Drive

Note: Sign up here to get a $100 free credit from Vultr.

Steps to Install MinIO Server

The installation of the MinIO Server is divided into four parts: mount block storage, install MinIO server package, configure Nginx reverse proxy, and testing.

1. Mount Block Storage

Run the update and upgrade commands on Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

1 2	sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade -y

For MinIO storage, a separate disk is prepared. In this tutorial, we use a Vultr cloud server and a 100GB block storage as an additional disk for MinIO.

Display block devices:

sudo lsblk

1	sudo lsblk

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sr0     11:0    1 1024M  0 rom  
vda    253:0    0   32G  0 disk 
├─vda1 253:1    0  512M  0 part /boot/efi
└─vda2 253:2    0 31.5G  0 part /
vdb    253:16   0  100G  0 disk

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS

sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

vda 253:0 0 32G 0 disk

├─vda1 253:1 0 512M 0 part /boot/efi

└─vda2 253:2 0 31.5G 0 part /

vdb 253:16 0 100G 0 disk

In the output above, there is a device vdb that will be partitioned, formatted, and mounted.

Partition vdb, then format vdb1 with the XFS filesystem:

sudo parted -s /dev/vdb mklabel gpt	
sudo parted -s /dev/vdb unit mib mkpart primary 0% 100%
sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/vdb1

sudo parted -s /dev/vdb mklabel gpt

sudo parted -s /dev/vdb unit mib mkpart primary 0% 100%

sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/vdb1

Verify the results of the above commands; vdb1 should be present:

sudo lsblk

1	sudo lsblk

NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sr0     11:0    1 1024M  0 rom  
vda    253:0    0   32G  0 disk 
├─vda1 253:1    0  512M  0 part /boot/efi
└─vda2 253:2    0 31.5G  0 part /
vdb    253:16   0  100G  0 disk 
└─vdb1 253:17   0  100G  0 part

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS

sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

vda 253:0 0 32G 0 disk

├─vda1 253:1 0 512M 0 part /boot/efi

└─vda2 253:2 0 31.5G 0 part /

vdb 253:16 0 100G 0 disk

└─vdb1 253:17 0 100G 0 part

Create a directory minio-storage to serve as the mount point for the vdb1 partition:

sudo mkdir /mnt/minio-storage

1	sudo mkdir /mnt/minio-storage

Mount vdb1 to /mnt/minio-storage:

sudo mount /dev/vdb1 /mnt/minio-storage

1	sudo mount /dev/vdb1 /mnt/minio-storage

Verify the results of the above command:

df -hT

df -hT

The result shows that vdb1 is successfully mounted at /mnt/minio-storage:

Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs          tmpfs      96M  1.2M   95M   2% /run
efivarfs       efivarfs  256K   18K  234K   7% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
/dev/vda2      ext4       30G  7.0G   22G  25% /
tmpfs          tmpfs     478M     0  478M   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs          tmpfs     5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
/dev/vda1      vfat      511M  6.2M  505M   2% /boot/efi
tmpfs          tmpfs      96M   12K   96M   1% /run/user/0
/dev/vdb1      xfs       100G  2.0G   98G   2% /mnt/minio-storage

Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

tmpfs tmpfs 96M 1.2M 95M 2% /run

efivarfs efivarfs 256K 18K 234K 7% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars

/dev/vda2 ext4 30G 7.0G 22G 25% /

tmpfs tmpfs 478M 0 478M 0% /dev/shm

tmpfs tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock

/dev/vda1 vfat 511M 6.2M 505M 2% /boot/efi

tmpfs tmpfs 96M 12K 96M 1% /run/user/0

/dev/vdb1 xfs 100G 2.0G 98G 2% /mnt/minio-storage

Open the fstab configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

1	sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add a configuration line for auto-mounting vdb1:

/dev/vdb1  /mnt/minio-storage  xfs  defaults  0  0

1	/dev/vdb1 /mnt/minio-storage xfs defaults 0 0

2. Install MinIO Server

Download and install MinIO Server:

wget https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-amd64/minio_20240626010618.0.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i minio_20240626010618.0.0_amd64.deb

1 2	wget https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-amd64/minio_20240626010618.0.0_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i minio_20240626010618.0.0_amd64.deb

Check the latest version at min.io/download.

Create a minio-user and change the ownership of the minio-storage directory:

sudo useradd -r minio-user -s /sbin/nologin
sudo chown minio-user:minio-user /mnt/minio-storage

1 2	sudo useradd -r minio-user -s /sbin/nologin sudo chown minio-user:minio-user /mnt/minio-storage

Create the minio configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/default/minio

1	sudo nano /etc/default/minio

Add the following configuration:

MINIO_VOLUMES="/mnt/minio-storage"
MINIO_OPTS="--address :9000 --console-address :9001"
MINIO_ROOT_USER=minioadmin
MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=miniosecretpassword

MINIO_VOLUMES="/mnt/minio-storage"

MINIO_OPTS="--address :9000 --console-address :9001"

MINIO_ROOT_USER=minioadmin

MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD=miniosecretpassword

MINIO_VOLUMES: lokasi penyimpanan data MinIO
MINIO_OPTS: --address :9000 merupakan alamat dan port layanan MinIO akan listening, sedangkan --console-address :9001 untuk web console administrasi MinIO
MINIO_ROOT_USER: username untuk akun root MinIO
MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD: password untuk akun root MinIO

Open ports 9000 and 9001 if the UFW firewall is active:

sudo ufw allow 9000	
sudo ufw allow 9001

1 2	sudo ufw allow 9000 sudo ufw allow 9001

Start the MinIO service and display its status:

sudo systemctl start minio
sudo systemctl status minio

1 2	sudo systemctl start minio sudo systemctl status minio

3. Nginx Reverse Proxy

Install Nginx:

sudo apt install nginx

1	sudo apt install nginx

Location of the SSL certificate and private key files for the subdomain in use:

/etc/ssl/minio/cert.pem
/etc/ssl/minio/pvkey.pem

1 2	/etc/ssl/minio/cert.pem /etc/ssl/minio/pvkey.pem

Create an Nginx server block configuration file for the reverse proxy of the minio-console subdomain, which is the MinIO administration web interface:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/minio-console.conf

1	sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/minio-console.conf

Add the following configuration, adjusting the subdomain and port used:

server {
   listen       443 ssl;
   listen  [::]:443 ssl;
   server_name  minio-console.aminlabs.my.id;

   ignore_invalid_headers off;
   client_max_body_size 0;
   proxy_buffering off;
   proxy_request_buffering off;

   location / {
      proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
      proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
      proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;

      real_ip_header X-Real-IP;
      proxy_connect_timeout 300;

      proxy_http_version 1.1;
      proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
      proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

      chunked_transfer_encoding off;

      proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9001;
   }

   ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/minio/cert.pem;
   ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/minio/pvkey.pem;

   ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
   ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
   ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

   access_log /var/log/nginx/minio-console.access.log;
   error_log /var/log/nginx/minio-console.error.log;
}


server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name minio-console.aminlabs.my.id;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

server {

listen 443 ssl;

listen [::]:443 ssl;

server_name minio-console.aminlabs.my.id;

ignore_invalid_headers off;

client_max_body_size 0;

proxy_buffering off;

proxy_request_buffering off;

location / {

proxy_set_header Host $http_host;

proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;

real_ip_header X-Real-IP;

proxy_connect_timeout 300;

proxy_http_version 1.1;

proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;

proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

chunked_transfer_encoding off;

proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9001;

}

ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/minio/cert.pem;

ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/minio/pvkey.pem;

ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;

ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;

ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

access_log /var/log/nginx/minio-console.access.log;

error_log /var/log/nginx/minio-console.error.log;

}

server {

listen 80;

listen [::]:80;

server_name minio-console.aminlabs.my.id;

return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

}

Create an Nginx server block configuration file for the reverse proxy of the minio-s3 subdomain, which provides API access:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/minio-s3.conf

1	sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/minio-s3.conf

Add the following configuration, adjusting the subdomain and port used:

   listen       443 ssl;
   listen  [::]:443 ssl;
   server_name  minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id;

   ignore_invalid_headers off;
   client_max_body_size 0;
   proxy_buffering off;
   proxy_request_buffering off;

   location / {
      proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
      proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

      proxy_connect_timeout 300;
      proxy_http_version 1.1;
      proxy_set_header Connection "";
      chunked_transfer_encoding off;

      proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9000;
   }

   ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/minio/cert.pem;
   ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/minio/pvkey.pem;

   ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
   ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;
   ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

   access_log /var/log/nginx/minio-s3.access.log;
   error_log /var/log/nginx/minio-s3.error.log;
}


server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id;
    return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
}

listen 443 ssl;

listen [::]:443 ssl;

server_name minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id;

ignore_invalid_headers off;

client_max_body_size 0;

proxy_buffering off;

proxy_request_buffering off;

location / {

proxy_set_header Host $http_host;

proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

proxy_connect_timeout 300;

proxy_http_version 1.1;

proxy_set_header Connection "";

chunked_transfer_encoding off;

proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:9000;

}

ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/minio/cert.pem;

ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/minio/pvkey.pem;

ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;

ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;

ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

access_log /var/log/nginx/minio-s3.access.log;

error_log /var/log/nginx/minio-s3.error.log;

}

server {

listen 80;

listen [::]:80;

server_name minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id;

return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

}

Restart and display the status of the MinIO service:

sudo systemctl restart minio	
sudo systemctl status minio

1 2	sudo systemctl restart minio sudo systemctl status minio

Open ports 80 and 443:

sudo ufw allow 80	
sudo ufw allow 443

1 2	sudo ufw allow 80 sudo ufw allow 443

4. Testing

Test the installation results by accessing the web console at https://minio-console.aminlabs.my.id, and log in using the root username and password configured earlier in the /etc/default/minio file. Try creating a bucket, uploading a file, and creating a user.

For the second test, access the MinIO API via a client application. Install the MinIO Client (mcli) DEB package:

wget https://dl.min.io/client/mc/release/linux-amd64/mcli_20240629190846.0.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i mcli_20240629190846.0.0_amd64.deb

1 2	wget https://dl.min.io/client/mc/release/linux-amd64/mcli_20240629190846.0.0_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i mcli_20240629190846.0.0_amd64.deb

For the latest version and other operating systems, check min.io/download.

Connect to the MinIO server:

mcli alias set myminio/ https://minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id MYUSER MYPASSWORD

1	mcli alias set myminio/ https://minio-s3.aminlabs.my.id MYUSER MYPASSWORD

Display all objects in the myminio server and mydata bucket:

mcli ls myminio/mydata

1	mcli ls myminio/mydata

For more detailed information and instructions, refer to the official MinIO documentation at min.io/docs.

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