Amazon S3
Synopsis
Creates a target that writes log messages to Amazon S3 buckets with support for various file formats, authentication methods, and multipart uploads. The target handles large file uploads efficiently with configurable rotation based on size or event count.
Schema
- name: <string>
  description: <string>
  type: awss3
  pipelines: <pipeline[]>
  status: <boolean>
  properties:
    key: <string>
    secret: <string>
    session: <string>
    region: <string>
    endpoint: <string>
    part_size: <numeric>
    bucket: <string>
    buckets:
      - bucket: <string>
        name: <string>
        format: <string>
        compression: <string>
        extension: <string>
        schema: <string>
    name: <string>
    format: <string>
    compression: <string>
    extension: <string>
    schema: <string>
    max_size: <numeric>
    batch_size: <numeric>
    timeout: <numeric>
    field_format: <string>
    interval: <string|numeric>
    cron: <string>
    debug:
      status: <boolean>
      dont_send_logs: <boolean>
Configuration
The following fields are used to define the target:
| Field | Required | Default | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
name | Y | Target name | |
description | N | - | Optional description | 
type | Y | Must be awss3 | |
pipelines | N | - | Optional post-processor pipelines | 
status | N | true | Enable/disable the target | 
AWS Credentials
| Field | Required | Default | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
key | N* | - | AWS access key ID for authentication | 
secret | N* | - | AWS secret access key for authentication | 
session | N | - | Optional session token for temporary credentials | 
region | Y | - | AWS region (e.g., us-east-1, eu-west-1) | 
endpoint | N | - | Custom S3-compatible endpoint URL (for non-AWS S3 services) | 
* = Conditionally required. AWS credentials (key and secret) are required unless using IAM role-based authentication on AWS infrastructure.
Connection
| Field | Required | Default | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
part_size | N | 5 | Multipart upload part size in megabytes (minimum 5MB) | 
timeout | N | 30 | Connection timeout in seconds | 
field_format | N | - | Data normalization format. See applicable Normalization section | 
Files
| Field | Required | Default | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
bucket | N* | - | Default S3 bucket name (used if buckets not specified) | 
buckets | N* | - | Array of bucket configurations for file distribution | 
buckets.bucket | Y | - | S3 bucket name | 
buckets.name | Y | - | File name template | 
buckets.format | N | "json" | Output format: json, multijson, avro, parquet | 
buckets.compression | N | - | Compression algorithm. See Compression below | 
buckets.extension | N | Matches format | File extension override | 
buckets.schema | N* | - | Schema definition file path (required for Avro and Parquet formats) | 
name | N | "vmetric.{{.Timestamp}}.{{.Extension}}" | Default file name template when buckets not used | 
format | N | "json" | Default output format when buckets not used. See Compression below | 
compression | N | - | Default compression when buckets not used | 
extension | N | Matches format | Default file extension when buckets not used | 
schema | N | - | Default schema path when buckets not used | 
max_size | N | 0 | Maximum file size in bytes before rotation | 
batch_size | N | 100000 | Maximum number of messages per file | 
* = Either bucket or buckets must be specified. When using buckets, schema is conditionally required for Avro and Parquet formats.
When max_size is reached, the current file is uploaded to S3 and a new file is created. For unlimited file size, set the field to 0.
Scheduler
| Field | Required | Default | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
interval | N | realtime | Execution frequency. See Interval for details | 
cron | N | - | Cron expression for scheduled execution. See Cron for details | 
Debug Options
| Field | Required | Default | Description | 
|---|---|---|---|
debug.status | N | false | Enable debug logging | 
debug.dont_send_logs | N | false | Process logs but don't send to target (testing) | 
Details
The Amazon S3 target supports writing to different buckets with various file formats and schemas. The target provides enterprise-grade cloud storage integration with comprehensive file format support.
Authentication Methods
Supports static credentials (access key and secret key) with optional session tokens for temporary credentials. When deployed on AWS infrastructure, can leverage IAM role-based authentication without explicit credentials.
File Formats
| Format | Description | 
|---|---|
json | Each log entry is written as a separate JSON line (JSONL format) | 
multijson | All log entries are written as a single JSON array | 
avro | Apache Avro format with schema | 
parquet | Apache Parquet columnar format with schema | 
Compression
Some formats support built-in compression to reduce storage costs and transfer times. When supported, compression is applied at the file/block level before upload.
| Format | Default | Compression Codecs | 
|---|---|---|
| JSON | - | Not supported | 
| MultiJSON | - | Not supported | 
| Avro | zstd | deflate, snappy, zstd | 
| Parquet | zstd | gzip, snappy, zstd, brotli, lz4 | 
File Management
Files are rotated based on size (max_size parameter) or event count (batch_size parameter), whichever limit is reached first. Template variables in file names enable dynamic file naming for time-based partitioning.
Templates
The following template variables can be used in file names:
| Variable | Description | Example | 
|---|---|---|
{{.Year}} | Current year | 2024 | 
{{.Month}} | Current month | 01 | 
{{.Day}} | Current day | 15 | 
{{.Timestamp}} | Current timestamp in nanoseconds | 1703688533123456789 | 
{{.Format}} | File format | json | 
{{.Extension}} | File extension | json | 
{{.Compression}} | Compression type | zstd | 
{{.TargetName}} | Target name | my_logs | 
{{.TargetType}} | Target type | awss3 | 
{{.Table}} | Bucket name | logs | 
Multipart Upload
Large files automatically use S3 multipart upload protocol with configurable part size (part_size parameter). Default 5MB part size balances upload efficiency and memory usage.
Multiple Buckets
Single target can write to multiple S3 buckets with different configurations, enabling data distribution strategies (e.g., raw data to one bucket, processed data to another).
Schema Requirements
Avro and Parquet formats require schema definition files. Schema files must be accessible at the path specified in the schema parameter during target initialization.
Examples
Basic Configuration
The minimum configuration for a JSON S3 target:
targets:
  - name: basic_s3
    type: awss3
    properties:
      key: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secret: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "us-east-1"
      bucket: "datastream-logs"
Multiple Buckets
Configuration for distributing data across multiple S3 buckets with different formats:
targets:
  - name: multi_bucket_export
    type: awss3
    properties:
      key: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secret: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "eu-west-1"
      buckets:
        - bucket: "raw-data-archive"
          name: "raw-{{.Year}}-{{.Month}}-{{.Day}}.json"
          format: "multijson"
          compression: "gzip"
        - bucket: "analytics-data"
          name: "analytics-{{.Year}}/{{.Month}}/{{.Day}}/data_{{.Timestamp}}.parquet"
          format: "parquet"
          schema: "<schema definition>"
          compression: "snappy"
Parquet Format
Configuration for daily partitioned Parquet files:
targets:
  - name: parquet_analytics
    type: awss3
    properties:
      key: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secret: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "us-west-2"
      bucket: "analytics-lake"
      name: "events/year={{.Year}}/month={{.Month}}/day={{.Day}}/part-{{.Timestamp}}.parquet"
      format: "parquet"
      schema: "<schema definition>"
      compression: "snappy"
      max_size: 536870912
High Reliability
Configuration with enhanced settings:
targets:
  - name: reliable_s3
    type: awss3
    pipelines:
      - checkpoint
    properties:
      key: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secret: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "us-east-1"
      bucket: "critical-logs"
      name: "logs-{{.Timestamp}}.json"
      format: "json"
      timeout: 60
      part_size: 10
With Field Normalization
Using field normalization for standard format:
targets:
  - name: normalized_s3
    type: awss3
    properties:
      key: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secret: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "us-east-1"
      bucket: "normalized-logs"
      name: "logs-{{.Timestamp}}.json"
      format: "json"
      field_format: "cim"
Debug Configuration
Configuration with debugging enabled:
targets:
  - name: debug_s3
    type: awss3
    properties:
      key: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      secret: "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"
      region: "us-east-1"
      bucket: "test-logs"
      name: "test-{{.Timestamp}}.json"
      format: "json"
      debug:
        status: true
        dont_send_logs: true