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This article provides a detailed overview of implementing AWS S3 Life-Cycle Management and how to get started with S3 Life-Cycle Configurations.

What are S3 Storage Classes?

AWS offers a variety of cloud-based services for clients working in different industries. AWS S3 is the most popular service which is used for storing data. With the S3 Lifecycle Management, managing of the S3 Objects becomes super easy. If you are new to this service and want to know about configuring the S3 Lifecycle Management, then here’s the step by step tutorial for you. 

The S3 Storage Classes are relatively cheaper than other services when it comes to storing objects of the users. The different storage classes have different limitations of storing files. Users can set up a lifecycle configuration for each class depends upon their requirements through Lifecycle Management. 

Each object stays there for up to 30 days in an S3 Bucket. The users will be charged for a minimum of 30 days of the cycle period. After completing this period, the objects will be moved to different storage classes that can be managed by the S3 Lifecycle Management policies. You can customize object lifecycle & its rules while configuring it for the first time.

S3 Lifecycle Management Configuration Process

Before we jump on to the main configuration process for the S3 Objects, you need to check the versioning for the object. If the versioning is not enabled, then you won’t be able to add that particular object or class into the lifecycle as it voids the policies. So the first thing you need to check here is whether the versioning for S3 Objects is enabled. 

Login to AWS Console

The first thing you need to do is log into the AWS Console. Once logged in, Navigate to Services panel and select S3. Or you can directly search for the S3 service by typing in in the search bar. 

List of the S3 Buckets

In this window, you would see the list of the previously created buckets. The Amazon S3 page will show you the buckets created under the same account. If you haven’t created any buckets yet, you need to create them to add them to the lifecycle for the management. 

Check Overview

From the given list of S3 buckets, click on to a particular Bucket to check the details. The Overview Window of that bucket lets you manage a variety of things such as adding files or removing files within the object etc. 

Enable Versioning

After getting the overview of that bucket, the next thing you need to check here is whether the versioning for the selected bucket is enabled or not. To do so, select the Properties tab from the same page. 

  • The Properties tab will show you a list of sections associated with the selected bucket and its storage.
  • You could see Enabled text under the Versioning section on this page.
  • If it shows a disabled option, click the option to enable it instantly.
  • The S3 Bucket stores multiple versions of the same files.
  • You could de-select this multiple versions option from this window.
  • By selecting this option, the overall storage space for the required files will be reduced. As a result, you will save a lot of money during the lifecycle.
Select Management Policy

Select the Management tab from the same Window. The Management tab is the fourth tab on the same page. You can access the information and setting up the management rules for the selected bucket only. Click the Add Lifecycle Rule button from this Window. 

  • The Lifecycle Rule Window will be presented to you and asking for the name and other information to set up the policy. Make sure you enter the right information in the given fields.
  • Explore the given tabs wisely and set up things accordingly for the selected bucket.
  • The transitions tab will show you the previous version and the current version of objects that can also be customized as per the requirements.
  • The Expiration tab lets you customize and select the expiry dates for the stored objects.
  • The existing versions will be deleted from the storage after the set period.
  • If you have set the period to 90 days, on the 91st day, the prior versions will be deleted permanently.
  • Review everything well before you set up the lifecycle for the selected Bucket. In the same way, you can set up the lifecycle for each S3 Bucket and object.
  • Click the Next button to finalize the lifecycle.

Final Thoughts

It is important for the users/teams to set up lifecycle configuration for each object that is stored in S3 Buckets. If you don’t pay your attention to object storage & don’t set up the lifecycle policies, they will consume unnecessary data that will cost you extra money. Your monthly billing cycle will be affected and you will have to pay extra money for the services that you haven’t used.

Here are few awesome resources on AWS Services:
AWS S3 Bucket Details
AWS S3 LifeCycle Management
AWS S3 File Explorer
Create AWS S3 Access Keys
AWS S3 Bucket Costs
AWS S3 Custom Key Store
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AUTHOR

Steve is a product-marketer and Engineer at Cloudysave who works with Cloud Management and Adoption team. Over the past years, he has collaborated with multiple teams to provide a robust and cost-effective architecture patterns to influence business and engineering decisions. His key areas of interests include Cloud Costs Management, Security and DevOps Best-Practices.