---
title: 'Storage settings'
license: 'CC-BY-SA-4.0'
---

The storage for each subsystem is defined in `app.ini`. It can either
be on disk (`local` which is the default) or using a S3 compatible
server (`minio`). In both cases each subsystem stores all files (or
objects in the S3 parlance) in a dedicated directory as shown in the
table below:

| subsystem           | directory          | app.ini sections      |
| ------------------- | ------------------ | --------------------- |
| Attachments         | attachments/       | [attachment]          |
| LFS                 | lfs/               | [lfs]                 |
| Avatars             | avatars/           | [avatar]              |
| Repository avatars  | repo-avatars/      | [repo-avatar]         |
| Repository archives | repo-archive/      | [repo-archive]        |
| Packages            | packages/          | [packages]            |
| Actions logs        | actions_log/       | [storage.actions_log] |
| Actions Artifacts   | actions_artifacts/ | [actions.artifacts]   |

For instance:

- if the `STORAGE_TYPE` is `local` and `APP_DATA_PATH` is
  `/appdata`, the default directory to store attachments is
  `/appdata/attachments`
- if the `STORAGE_TYPE` is `minio`, the
  default directory to store attachments within the `MINIO_BUCKET`
  bucket will be `attachments/`.

## Changing the storage for all subsystems

The `[storage]` section can be used to modify the storage of all
subsystems. The default is to use `local` storage under
`APP_DATA_PATH` and is equivalent to writing the following in `app.ini`:

```
[server]
APP_DATA_PATH = /forgejo/data

[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = local
PATH = /forgejo/data
```

### Using local

For `local` storage, the `[storage]` section can only be used to
change the path under which all subsystems directories will be
created, using the `PATH` settings with an absolute pathname.

For instance:

```
[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = local
PATH = /mystorage
```

will change the default for storing attachments to
`/mystorage/attachments`, LFS to `/mystorage/lfs` etc.

### Using minio

The `[storage]` section can be used to change the default storage type
used by all subsystems to `minio`.

For instance:

```
[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = minio

MINIO_ENDPOINT = 127.0.0.1:9000
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY_ID = [redacted]
MINIO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = [redacted]
MINIO_BUCKET = forgejo
MINIO_LOCATION = us-east-1
```

will change the default for storing attachments to `attachments/` in
the `forgejo` bucket, LFS to `lfs/` in the `forgejo` bucket etc.

> **NOTE:** `MINIO_BASE_PATH` must not be set in the `[storage]` section.

The configuration option `MINIO_USE_SSL` defaults to `false` to maintain compatibility with locally hosted MinIO instances. If an external S3 provider is intended to be used, this option should be set to `true`.

For instance, assuming a MinIO instance at `https://minio.example.com`:

```
[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = minio

MINIO_USE_SSL = true
MINIO_ENDPOINT = minio.example.com
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY_ID = [redacted]
MINIO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = [redacted]
MINIO_BUCKET = bucket
MINIO_LOCATION = us-east-1
```

## Storage settings for a single subsystem

It is possible to configure some subsystems to use S3 storage and others to use local
storage by adding settings to their respective sections. For instance:

```
[attachment]
PATH = /otherstorage/attachments

[lfs]
STORAGE_TYPE = minio
MINIO_BASE_PATH = lfs/

MINIO_ENDPOINT = 127.0.0.1:9000
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY_ID = [redacted]
MINIO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = [redacted]
MINIO_BUCKET = forgejo
MINIO_LOCATION = us-east-1
```

will store attachments in the local directory
`/otherstorage/attachments` while `lfs` files will be stored in the S3
server within the `lfs/` directory of the `forgejo` bucket.

## Storage settings

The value of `STORAGE_TYPE` can be `local` (the default) for file
system directories or `minio` for S3 servers. Each storage type has
its own settings, as explained below.

### Using local

There is just one setting when the `STORAGE_TYPE` is set to `local`:
`PATH`. It must be an absolute path and is interpreted as follows.

In the `[storage]` section, `PATH` is the path under which the
directories of each subsystem will be created instead of
`APP_DATA_PATH`. For instance, if `APP_DATA_PATH` equals `/appdata`

```
[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = local
PATH = /mystorage
```

will create attachments in `/mystorage/attachments` instead of
`/appdata/attachments`, LFS files in `/mystorage/lfs` instead of
`/appdata/lfs`, etc.

In the section dedicated to a subsystem (see the table in the introduction), `PATH`
is the base path under which all files will be stored. For instance:

```
[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = local
PATH = /mystorage

[attachment]
STORAGE_TYPE = local
PATH = /otherstorage/attachments
```

will store attachments in `/otherstorage/attachments` while `lfs`
files will be stored in `/mystorage/lfs`.

### Using minio

When the `STORAGE_TYPE` is set to `minio`, the settings are used to to
connect to a S3 compatible server:

- `SERVE_DIRECT`: **false**: Allows the storage driver to redirect to authenticated URLs to serve files directly. Only supported via signed URLs.
- `MINIO_ENDPOINT`: **localhost:9000**: S3 endpoint to connect.
- `MINIO_ACCESS_KEY_ID`: S3 accessKeyID to connect.
- `MINIO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`: S3 secretAccessKey to connect.
- `MINIO_BUCKET`: **forgejo**: S3 bucket to store the data.
- `MINIO_BUCKET_LOOKUP`: **auto**: S3 [bucket lookup type](https://min.io/docs/minio/linux/developers/go/API.html#constructor).
  - `auto` Auto detected
  - `dns` Virtual Host style
  - `path` Path Style
- `MINIO_LOCATION`: **us-east-1**: S3 location to create bucket.
- `MINIO_USE_SSL`: **false**: S3 enabled ssl.
- `MINIO_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY`: **false**: S3 skip SSL verification.
- `MINIO_CHECKSUM_ALGORITHM`: Minio checksum algorithm: **default** (for MinIO, garage or AWS S3) or **md5** (for Cloudflare or Backblaze)

When used in the `[storage]` section they apply to all
subsystems. When used in the section specific to a subsystem (see the table in the introduction), they
are only used for objects that belong to this subsystem. Here is a example:

```
[storage]
STORAGE_TYPE = minio

SERVE_DIRECT = false
MINIO_ENDPOINT = garage:9000
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY_ID = [redacted]
MINIO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = [redacted]
MINIO_BUCKET = forgejo
MINIO_BUCKET_LOOKUP = auto
MINIO_LOCATION = us-east-1
MINIO_USE_SSL = false
MINIO_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY = false
MINIO_CHECKSUM_ALGORITHM = md5

[lfs]
STORAGE_TYPE = minio
MINIO_BASE_PATH = nonstandardlfs/

SERVE_DIRECT = false
MINIO_ENDPOINT = minio:9000
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY_ID = [redacted]
MINIO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = [redacted]
MINIO_BUCKET = forgejo
MINIO_BUCKET_LOOKUP = auto
MINIO_LOCATION = us-east-1
MINIO_USE_SSL = false
MINIO_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY = false
```

- `MINIO_BASE_PATH`: **only valid in the specific subsystem section (see the table in the introduction)**
  overrides the default directory in which objects are stored in the `MINIO_BUCKET` bucket.

For all subsystems that use the `minio` storage type found in the
`[storage]` section, the directory in which the objects are stored is
determined using the table in the introduction. For instance LFS files will be
stored in the `lfs/` directory within the `forgejo` bucket.

When the `minio` storage is set in a section specific to a subsystem,
the `MINIO_BASE_PATH` setting can be used to override the default
directory. In the example above, `MINIO_BASE_PATH = nonstandardlfs/`
means LFS objects will be stored in the `nonstandardlfs/` directory
within the `forgejo` bucket instead of the `lfs/` directory

## S3 servers compatibility

Although the S3 storage type is named `minio` it does not rely on any
[MinIO](https://min.io/) specific features. The S3 storage type is
[tested](https://code.forgejo.org/forgejo/end-to-end/src/commit/9cfd043b8af18ce0df48fa6e44772d9bd521cab4/storage/storage.sh) to be compatible with:

- [MinIO](https://min.io/) 2021.3.17 and 2023-08-23
- [garage](https://garagehq.deuxfleurs.fr/) v0.8.2

## Undocumented features

It is **strongly** recommended to avoid using undocumented features -
such as `[storage.attachments]` as an alternative to `[attachment]`
for instance (the plural is not a typo, it is a unification problem) -
because their behavior is not thoroughly tested and may lead to
unexpected results.

## Legacy settings

Some settings are deprecated but still supported in the interest of
backward compatibility. They should be replaced as follows:

- `[server].LFS_CONTENT_PATH` is replaced with `[lfs].PATH`
- `[picture].AVATAR_UPLOAD_PATH` is replaced with `[avatar].PATH`
- `[picture].REPOSITORY_AVATAR_UPLOAD_PATH` is replaced with `[repo-avatar].PATH`

Legacy settings have a lower priority and will be overridden by their
replacement if both are present. For instance:

```
[picture]
AVATAR_UPLOAD_PATH = /legacy_path

[avatar]
PATH = /avatar_path
```

will store avatar files in `/avatar_path`.
