# Enable Multi-Site Server-Side Bucket Replication LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt) --- The procedure on this page configures automatic server-side bucket replication between multiple MinIO deployments. Multi-Site Active-Active replication builds on the [Enable Two-Way Server-Side Bucket Replication](/administration/bucket-replication/enable-server-side-two-way-bucket-replication/#minio-bucket-replication-serverside-twoway) procedure with additional considerations required to ensure predictable replication behavior across all sites. Active-Active Replication synchronizes data between multiple remote deployments. - To configure replication between arbitrary S3-compatible services, use [`mc mirror`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-mirror/#command-mc.mirror). - To configure one-way “active-active” replication between two MinIO deployments, see [Enable Two-Way Server-Side Bucket Replication](/administration/bucket-replication/enable-server-side-two-way-bucket-replication/#minio-bucket-replication-serverside-twoway). - To configure one-way “active-passive” replication between MinIO deployments, see [Enable One-Way Server-Side Bucket Replication](/administration/bucket-replication/enable-server-side-one-way-bucket-replication/#minio-bucket-replication-serverside-oneway). Multi-Site Active-Active replication configurations can span multiple racks, datacenters, or geographic locations. Complexity of configuring and maintaining multi-site configurations generally increase with the number of sites and size of each site. Enterprises looking to implement multi-site replication should consider leveraging [MinIO SUBNET](https://min.io/pricing?ref=docs) support to access the expertise, planning, and engineering resources required for addressing that use case. > [!NOTE] > **See also** > > - Use the [`mc replicate update`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-update/#command-mc.replicate.update) command to modify an existing replication rule. > - Use the [`mc replicate update`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-update/#command-mc.replicate.update) command with the [`--state "disable"`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-update/#mc.replicate.update.-state) flag to disable an existing replication rule. > - Use the [`mc replicate rm`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-rm/#command-mc.replicate.rm) command to remove an existing replication rule. ## Requirements {#requirements} You must meet all of the basic requirements for bucket replication described in [Bucket Replication Requirements](/administration/bucket-replication/bucket-replication-requirements/#minio-bucket-replication-requirements). In addition, to create multi-site bucket replication set up, you must meet the following additional requirements: ### Access to All Clusters {#access-to-all-clusters} You must have network access and log in credentials with correct permissions to all deployments to set up multi-site active-active bucket replication. You can access the deployments by installing [`mc`](/reference/minio-mc/#command-mc) and using the command line. Use the [`mc alias set`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-alias-set/#command-mc.alias.set) command to create an alias for each MinIO deployment. Alias creation requires specifying an access key for a user on the deployment. This user **must** have permission to create and manage users and policies on the deployment. Specifically, ensure the user has *at minimum*: - [`admin:CreateUser`](/administration/identity-access-management/policy-based-access-control/#policy-action.admin-CreateUser) - [`admin:ListUsers`](/administration/identity-access-management/policy-based-access-control/#policy-action.admin-ListUsers) - [`admin:GetUser`](/administration/identity-access-management/policy-based-access-control/#policy-action.admin-GetUser) - [`admin:CreatePolicy`](/administration/identity-access-management/policy-based-access-control/#policy-action.admin-CreatePolicy) - [`admin:GetPolicy`](/administration/identity-access-management/policy-based-access-control/#policy-action.admin-GetPolicy) - [`admin:AttachUserOrGroupPolicy`](/administration/identity-access-management/policy-based-access-control/#policy-action.admin-AttachUserOrGroupPolicy) ## Considerations {#considerations} Click to expand any of the following: > [!DETAILS]- Use Consistent Replication Settings > MinIO supports customizing the replication configuration to enable or disable the following replication behaviors: > > - Replication of [delete operations](/administration/object-management/object-delete/#minio-object-delete) > - Replication of delete markers > - Replication of existing objects > - Replication of metadata-only changes > > When configuring replication rules for a bucket, ensure that all MinIO deployments participating in multi-site replication use the *same* replication behaviors to ensure consistent and predictable synchronization of objects. > [!DETAILS]- Replication of Existing Objects > MinIO supports automatically replicating existing objects in a bucket. > > MinIO requires explicitly enabling replication of existing objects using the [`mc replicate add --replicate`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-add/#mc.replicate.add.-replicate) or [`mc replicate update --replicate`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-update/#mc.replicate.update.-replicate) and including the `existing-objects` replication feature flag. This procedure includes the required flags for enabling replication of existing objects. > [!DETAILS]- Replication of Delete Operations > MinIO supports replicating [delete operations](/administration/object-management/object-delete/#minio-object-delete) onto the target bucket. Specifically, MinIO can replicate versioning [Delete Markers](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/versioning-workflows.html) and the deletion of specific versioned objects: > > - For delete operations on an object, MinIO replication also creates the delete marker on the target bucket. > - For delete operations on versions of an object, MinIO replication also deletes those versions on the target bucket. > > MinIO requires explicitly enabling replication of delete operations using the [`mc replicate add --replicate`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-add/#mc.replicate.add.-replicate) or [`mc replicate update --replicate`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-update/#mc.replicate.update.-replicate). This procedure includes the required flags for enabling replication of delete operations and delete markers. > > MinIO does *not* replicate delete operations resulting from the application of [lifecycle management expiration rules](/administration/object-management/object-lifecycle-management/#minio-lifecycle-management-expiration). Configure matching expiration rules for the bucket on all replication sites to ensure consistent application of object expiration. ## Procedure {#procedure} This procedure requires repeating steps for each MinIO deployment participating in the multi-site replication configuration. Depending on the number of deployments, this procedure may require significant time and care in implementation. MinIO recommends reading through the procedure *before* attempting to implement the documented steps. - Configure Multi-Site Bucket Replication Using the Command Line > - [Create New Bucket Replication Rules](#minio-bucket-replication-multi-site-minio-cli-create-replication-rules) > - [Validate the Replication Configuration](#minio-bucket-replication-multi-site-minio-cli-verify-replication-config) ### Configure Multi-Site Bucket Replication Using the Command Line `mc` {#configure-multi-site-bucket-replication-using-the-command-line-mc} This procedure uses the placeholder `ALIAS` to reference the [alias](/reference/minio-mc/mc-alias-set/#alias) each MinIO deployment being configured for replication. Replace these values with the appropriate alias for each MinIO deployment. This procedure assumes each alias corresponds to a user with the [necessary replication permissions](/administration/bucket-replication/bucket-replication-requirements/#minio-bucket-replication-requirements). > [!NOTE] > **Changed: RELEASE.2022-12-24T15-21-38Z** > > [`mc replicate add`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-add/#command-mc.replicate.add) automatically creates the necessary replication targets, removing the need for using the deprecated `mc admin remote bucket add` command. This procedure only documents the procedure as of that release. #### 1) Create New Bucket Replication Rules {#create-new-bucket-replication-rules} Use the [`mc replicate add`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-add/#command-mc.replicate.add) command to add a new replication rule to each MinIO deployment. ```shell mc replicate add ALIAS/BUCKET \ --remote-bucket 'https://USER:PASSWORD@HOSTNAME:PORT/BUCKET' \ --replicate "delete,delete-marker,existing-objects" ``` - Replace `ALIAS` with the [alias](/reference/minio-mc/mc-alias-set/#alias) of the origin MinIO deployment. The name *must* match the bucket specified when creating the remote target in the previous step. - Replace `BUCKET` with the name of the bucket to replicate from on the origin deployment. - Replace the `--remote-bucket` to specify the remote MinIO deployment and bucket to which the `ALIAS/BUCKET` replicates. The `USER:PASSWORD` must correspond to a user on the remote deployment with the [necessary replication permissions](/administration/bucket-replication/enable-server-side-two-way-bucket-replication/#minio-bucket-replication-serverside-twoway-permissions). The `HOSTNAME:PORT` must resolve to a reachable MinIO instance on the remote deployment. The `BUCKET` must exist and otherwise meet all other [replication requirements](/administration/bucket-replication/bucket-replication-requirements/#minio-bucket-replication-requirements). - The `--replicate "delete,delete-marker,existing-objects"` flag enables the following replication features: - [Replication of Deletes](/administration/bucket-replication/#minio-replication-behavior-delete) - [Replication of existing Objects](/administration/bucket-replication/#minio-replication-behavior-existing-objects) See [`mc replicate add --replicate`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-add/#mc.replicate.add.-replicate) for more complete documentation. Omit any field to disable replication of that component. Specify any other supported optional arguments for [`mc replicate add`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-replicate-add/#command-mc.replicate.add). Repeat these commands for each remote MinIO deployment participating in the multi-site replication configuration. For example, a multi-site replication configuration consisting of MinIO deployments `minio1`, `minio2`, and `minio3` would require repeating this step on each deployment for each remote. Specifically, in this scenario, perform this step twice on each deployment: - On the `minio1` deployment, once for a rule for `minio2` and again for a separate rule for `minio3`. - On the `minio2` deployment, once for a rule for `minio1` and again for a separate rule for `minio3`. - On the `minio3` deployment, once for a rule for `minio1` and again for a separate rule for `minio2`. #### 2) Validate the Replication Configuration {#validate-the-replication-configuration} Use [`mc cp`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-cp/#command-mc.cp) to copy a new object to the replicated bucket on one of the deployments. ```shell mc cp ~/foo.txt ALIAS/BUCKET ``` Use [`mc ls`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-ls/#command-mc.ls) to verify the object exists on the destination bucket: ```shell mc ls ALIAS/BUCKET ``` Repeat this test on each deployment by copying a new unique file and checking that the file replicates to each of the other deployments. You can also use [`mc stat`](/reference/minio-mc/mc-stat/#command-mc.stat) to check the file to check the current [replication stage](/administration/bucket-replication/#minio-replication-process) of the object.