gitlab-org--gitlab-foss/doc/administration/geo/replication/object_storage.md

---
stage: Enablement
group: Geo
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
type: howto
---

# Geo with Object storage **(PREMIUM SELF)**

Geo can be used in combination with Object Storage (AWS S3, or other compatible object storage).

The storage method for files is recorded in the database, and the database is replicated
from the **primary** Geo site to the **secondary** Geo site, so the **secondary** Geo site
must match the storage method of the **primary** Geo site.
Therefore, if the **primary** Geo site uses object storage, the **secondary** Geo site must use it too.

Currently, **secondary** sites can use either:

- The same storage bucket as the **primary** site.
- A replicated storage bucket.

To have:

- GitLab manage replication, follow [Enabling GitLab replication](#enabling-gitlab-managed-object-storage-replication).
- Third-party services manage replication, follow [Third-party replication services](#third-party-replication-services).

[Read more about using object storage with GitLab](../../object_storage.md).

## Enabling GitLab-managed object storage replication

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/10586) in GitLab 12.4.

WARNING:
This is a [**beta** feature](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/#beta) and is not ready yet for production use at any scale. The main limitations are a lack of testing at scale and no verification of any replicated data.

**Secondary** sites can replicate files stored on the **primary** site regardless of
whether they are stored on the local file system or in object storage.

To enable GitLab replication:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu >** **{admin}** **Admin**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Geo > Nodes**.
1. Select **Edit** on the **secondary** site.
1. In the **Synchronization Settings** section, find the **Allow this secondary node to replicate content on Object Storage**
   checkbox to enable it.

For LFS, follow the documentation to
[set up LFS object storage](../../lfs/index.md#storing-lfs-objects-in-remote-object-storage).

For CI job artifacts, there is similar documentation to configure
[jobs artifact object storage](../../job_artifacts.md#using-object-storage)

For user uploads, there is similar documentation to configure [upload object storage](../../uploads.md#using-object-storage)

If you want to migrate the **primary** site's files to object storage, you can
configure the **secondary** in a few ways:

- Use the exact same object storage.
- Use a separate object store but leverage your object storage solution's built-in
  replication.
- Use a separate object store and enable the **Allow this secondary node to replicate
  content on Object Storage** setting.

GitLab does not currently support the case where both:

- The **primary** site uses local storage.
- A **secondary** site uses object storage.

## Third-party replication services

When using Amazon S3, you can use
[CRR](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/dev/crr.html) to
have automatic replication between the bucket used by the **primary** site and
the bucket used by **secondary** sites.

If you are using Google Cloud Storage, consider using
[Multi-Regional Storage](https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/storage-classes#multi-regional).
Or you can use the [Storage Transfer Service](https://cloud.google.com/storage-transfer/docs/),
although this only supports daily synchronization.

For manual synchronization, or scheduled by `cron`, see:

- [`s3cmd sync`](https://s3tools.org/s3cmd-sync)
- [`gsutil rsync`](https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/gsutil/commands/rsync)