# How to Use Other Storage Providers with SnapShooter SnapShooter is a cloud backup and recovery solution. Use SnapShooter to back up servers, volumes, databases, and applications from DigitalOcean and other cloud providers. You can use SnapShooter as your storage provider with [SnapShooter Simple Storage](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/snapshooter/details/features/index.html.md), which lets you store backup data without setting up your own storage. Alternatively, you can [set up DigitalOcean Spaces Object Storage](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/snapshooter/how-to/use-spaces-for-storage/index.html.md) or [other storage providers](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/snapshooter/how-to/use-other-storage-providers/index.html.md), like AWS S3. This article explains how to set up other supported storage providers with SnapShooter. ## Amazon S3 ## Set Up Amazon Web Services S3 Object Storage To add an AWS S3 bucket to SnapShooter, you need to create a new bucket, create a new IAM user, and then add its details to SnapShooter. ### Create a New Bucket First, log in to your AWS console. In the top menu, select **Services**, then search for S3 and open it. Click **Create bucket**. Choose a bucket name, your AWS region. Leave **Block all public access** checked. You can leave all other options as the default setting, or customize them. When you’re done, click **Create bucket**. ### Create a New IAM User In the top menu of the AWS console, click **IAM**. In the left menu, click **Users**, then click the **Add User** button. Choose a username and check **Programmatic access**. Ignore the permissions section and click **Next: Tags**. We recommend not using **attach existing policies directly** with AmazonS3FullAccess because this would grant SnapShooter permission for every S3 bucket in your account, which is not necessary. Click **Next: Review**, then click **Create user**. In **View Details**, save the secret key. This is the only time the secret key is visible. Next, in **IAM**, find the user list and click the new user. In the **Permissions** tab, under **Permissions policies**, click **+ Add inline policy**, and then choose **JSON Editor** and paste the following JSON: ```json { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "s3:ListBucket", "s3:DeleteObject", "s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject", "s3:PutObjectAcl" ], "Resource": [ "arn:aws:s3:::USE_YOUR_BUCKET_NAME/*", "arn:aws:s3:::USE_YOUR_BUCKET_NAME" ] } ] } ``` Replace `USE_YOUR_BUCKET_NAME` on the indicated lines with the bucket name. The two lines should look like this, as an example: ``` "arn:aws:s3:::example.com/*", "arn:aws:s3:::example.com" ``` Finally, click **Create Policy**. ### Connect Bucket to SnapShooter From the [SnapShooter app](https://app.snapshooter.com/), in the left menu under **My Resources**, click **External Storage**. On the **Storage** page, click **Connect S3 Based Storage**. Fill in the following fields: - **Friendly Name**: A name of your choice for this storage option - **Storage Provider**: AWS - Amazon Web Services S3 - **Provider Region**: The region where you created the bucket - **Bucket Name**: The name you chose for the bucket when you created it - **Access Key** and **Secret Access Key**: The keys you copied when you created the bucket After you fill in all of the fields, click **Attach External Storage**. ## Backblaze B2 ## Set Up Backblaze B2 Object Storage To add a Backblaze B2 bucket to SnapShooter, you need to create a new bucket, create a new application key, and then add those details to SnapShooter. ### Create a New Bucket First, [log in to Backblaze](https://secure.backblaze.com/user_signin.htm) and go to [B2 Cloud Storage](https://secure.backblaze.com/b2_buckets.htm). Create a bucket or reuse an existing one. Make sure you select **private**. Note the endpoint, which looks like `s3.us-west-002.backblazeb2.com`, depending on the region and the date of creation. ### Create a New Application Key In the left menu of Backblaze, click [**App Keys**](https://secure.backblaze.com/app_keys.htm). Click **Add a New Application Key**. Master keys do not work with SnapShooter. Name the key. We recommend restricting the key to a single bucket. Then click **Create New Key**. Save the application keys because this is the only time they are visible. ### Connect Bucket to SnapShooter From the [SnapShooter app](https://app.snapshooter.com/), in the left menu under **My Resources**, click **External Storage**. On the **Storage** page, click **Connect S3 Based Storage**. Fill in the following fields: - **Friendly Name**: A name of your choice for this storage option - **Storage Provider**: Backblaze B2 - **Provider Region**: The region where you created the bucket - **Bucket Name**: The name you chose for the bucket when you created it - **Access Key**: The `appId` from Backblaze - **Secret Access Key**: The `applicationKey` from Backblaze After you fill in all of the fields, click **Attach External Storage**. ## UpCloud ## Set Up UpCloud Object Storage To add an UpCloud bucket to SnapShooter, you need to create a new bucket and then add its details to SnapShooter. ### Create a New Bucket First, log in to UpCloud and go to [**Object Storage**](https://hub.upcloud.com/object-storage). Click **New Object Storage**, then choose a region and plan. Enable public network access (which is on by default). Choose a name, which is a custom endpoint. You can leave it black or set a custom URL, like `snapshooter-companyname-backups`. Then choose a bucket name, like `backups`. Click **Create Object Storage**. Copy the access key and secret. This is the only time they are visible. ### Connect Bucket to SnapShooter From the [SnapShooter app](https://app.snapshooter.com/), in the left menu under **My Resources**, click **External Storage**. On the **Storage** page, click **Connect S3 Based Storage**. Fill in the following fields: - **Friendly Name**: A name of your choice for this storage option - **Storage Provider**: UpCloud - **Provider Region**: The region where you created the bucket - **Bucket Name**: The name you chose for the bucket when you created it in the format `BUCKET_NAME.OBJECT_STORAGE_NAME`. In the example above, this would be `backups.snapshooter-companyname-backups`. - **Access Key** and **Secret Access Key**: The keys you copied when you created the bucket After you fill in all of the fields, click **Attach External Storage**. ## Custom S3 ## Set Up Custom S3 Object Storage If you use a custom S3 provider, you need to provide the endpoint (the URL where the host is available), the bucket name, the access key, and the secret key. **Note**: Your custom S3 endpoint must respond to requests within 1,000 milliseconds. Longer response times can create reliability issues during backup and restore operations. From the [SnapShooter app](https://app.snapshooter.com/), in the left menu under **My Resources**, click **External Storage**. On the **Storage** page, click **Connect S3 Based Storage**. Fill in the following fields: - **Friendly Name**: A name of your choice for this storage option - **Storage Provider**: Custom - **S3 Endpoint**: The URL where the host is available - **Bucket Name**: The name you chose for the bucket - **Access Key** and **Secret Access Key** After you fill in all of the fields, click **Attach External Storage**. ## Google Drive ## Set Up Google Drive **Note**: SnapShooter accounts created after 19 October 2023 cannot use Google Drive or Dropbox as a SnapShooter storage provider. See [the release note](/notes/2023/snapshooter-storage-deprecation/) for alternatives. To use Google Drive as a storage provider for SnapShooter, you need to allow SnapShooter to have access to your Google Drive. From the [SnapShooter app](https://app.snapshooter.com/), in the left menu under **My Resources**, click **External Storage**. Click **Connect Google Drive**, then choose a Google account and follow the authorization flow to grant SnapShooter access. Once Google Drive is connected to SnapShooter, it is listed as a storage provider option. ## Dropbox ## Set Up Dropbox **Note**: SnapShooter accounts created after 19 October 2023 cannot use Dropbox or Google Drive as a SnapShooter storage provider. See [the release note](/notes/2023/snapshooter-storage-deprecation/) for alternatives. To use Dropbox as a storage provider for SnapShooter, you need to allow SnapShooter to have access to your Dropbox account. From the [SnapShooter app](https://app.snapshooter.com/), in the left menu under **My Resources**, click **External Storage**. Click **Connect Dropbox**, then log in to your Dropbox account and follow the authorization flow to grant SnapShooter access. Once Dropbox is connected to SnapShooter, it is listed as a storage provider option.