Minio is an object storage server released under Apache License v2.0. It is compatible with Amazon S3 cloud storage service. It is best suited for storing unstructured data such as photos, videos, log files, backups and container / VM images. Size of an object can range from a few KBs to a maximum of 5TB.
> NOTE: If you previously installed minio using `brew install minio` then it is recommended that you reinstall minio from `minio/stable/minio` official repo instead.
Source installation is only intended for developers and advanced users. If you do not have a working Golang environment, please follow [How to install Golang](https://docs.minio.io/docs/how-to-install-golang).
By default Minio uses the port 9000 to listen for incoming connections. If your platform blocks the port by default, you may need to enable access to the port.
### iptables
For hosts with iptables enabled (RHEL, CentOS, etc), you can use `iptables` command to enable all traffic coming to specific ports. Use below command to allow
access to port 9000
```sh
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9000 -j ACCEPT
service iptables restart
```
Below command enables all incoming traffic to ports ranging from 9000 to 9010.
```sh
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 9000:9010 -j ACCEPT
service iptables restart
```
### ufw in Debian
For hosts with ufw enabled (Debian based distros), you can use `ufw` command to allow traffic to specific ports. Use below command to allow access to port 9000
```sh
ufw allow 9000
```
Below command enables all incoming traffic to ports ranging from 9000 to 9010.
Minio Server comes with an embedded web based object browser. Point your web browser to http://127.0.0.1:9000 ensure your server has started successfully.
`mc` provides a modern alternative to UNIX commands like ls, cat, cp, mirror, diff etc. It supports filesystems and Amazon S3 compatible cloud storage services. Follow the Minio Client [Quickstart Guide](https://docs.minio.io/docs/minio-client-quickstart-guide) for further instructions.
When deployed on a single drive, Minio server lets clients access any pre-existing data in the data directory. For example, if Minio is started with the command `minio server /mnt/data`, any pre-existing data in the `/mnt/data` directory would be accessible to the clients.
The above statement is also valid for all gateway backends.