Documentation

MinIO Console

The MinIO Console is a rich graphical user interface that provides similar functionality to the mc command line tool.

MinIO Console Landing Page provides a view of the Object Browser for the authenticated user

This page provides an overview of the MinIO Console and describes configuration options and instructions for logging in.

Overview

You can use the MinIO Console for administration tasks like Identity and Access Management, Metrics and Log Monitoring, or Server Configuration.

The MinIO Console is embedded as part of the MinIO Server. You can also deploy a standalone MinIO Console using the instructions in the github repository.

Supported Browsers

MinIO Console runs on a variety of current, stable release browsers.

For the best experience in the MinIO Console, use the latest stable release of your preferred browser. Some browsers that are supported include:

  • Chrome

  • Edge

  • Safari

  • Firefox

  • Opera

This list is not exhaustive and is subject to change.

For a full list of browsers and versions for running MinIO Console, see the Browserslist website.

Tip

MinIO Console does not support Opera Mini.

Configuration

The MinIO Console inherits the majority of its configuration settings from the MinIO Server. The following environment variables enable specific behavior in the MinIO Console:

Environment Variable

Description

MINIO_PROMETHEUS_URL

The URL for a Prometheus server configured to scrape metrics from the MinIO deployment. The MinIO Console uses this server for populating the metrics dashboard.

See Monitoring and Alerting using Prometheus for a tutorial on configuring Prometheus to collect metrics from MinIO.

MINIO_SERVER_URL

The fully qualified domain name (FQDN) the MinIO Console uses for connecting to the MinIO Server. For the Console to function correctly, the MinIO server URL must be the FQDN of the host, resolveable, and reachable.

The MinIO Console connects to the MinIO Server using an IP address by default. For example, when the MinIO Server starts up, the server logs include a line API: https://<IP ADDRESS 1> https://<IP ADDRESS 2>. The MinIO Console defaults to connecting using <IP ADDRESS 1>.

The MinIO Console may require setting this variable in the following scenarios:

  • The MinIO server TLS certificates do not include the local IP address as a Subject Alternative Name (SAN). Specify a hostname contained in the TLS certificate to allow the MinIO Console to validate the TLS connection.

  • The MinIO server’s local IP address is not reachable by the MinIO Console. Specify a resolveable hostname for the MinIO Server.

  • A load balancer or reverse proxy controls traffic to the MinIO server, such that the MinIO Console cannot reach the server without going through the load balancer/proxy. Specify the load balancer/proxy URL for the MinIO server.

MINIO_BROWSER_REDIRECT_URL

The externally resolvable hostname for the MinIO Console used by the configured external identity manager for returning the authentication response.

This variable is typically necessary when using a reverse proxy, load balancer, or similar system to expose the MinIO Console to the public internet. Specify an externally reachable hostname that resolves to the MinIO Console.

Static vs Dynamic Port Assignment

MinIO by default selects a random port for the MinIO Console on each server startup. Browser clients accessing the MinIO Server are automatically redirected to the MinIO Console on its dynamically selected port. This behavior emulates the legacy web browser behavior while reducing the the risk of a port collision on systems which were running MinIO before the embedded Console update.

You can select an explicit static port by passing the minio server --console-address commandline option when starting each MinIO Server in the deployment.

For example, the following command starts a distributed MinIO deployment using a static port assignment of 9090 for the MinIO Console. This deployment would respond to S3 API operations on the default MinIO server port :9000 and browser access on the MinIO Console port :9001.

minio server https://minio-{1...4}.example.net/mnt/drive-{1...4} \
      --console-address ":9001"

Deployments behind network routing components which require static ports for routing rules may require setting a static MinIO Console port. For example, load balancers, reverse proxies, or Kubernetes ingress may by default block or exhibit unexpected behavior with the the dynamic redirection behavior.

You must also ensure that the host system firewall grants access to the configured Console port.

Logging In

Changed in version RELEASE.2023-03-09T23-16-13Z.

The MinIO Console displays a login screen for unauthenticated users. The Console defaults to providing a username and password prompt for a MinIO-managed user.

For deployments configured with multiple identity managers, select the Other Authentication Methods dropdown to select one of the other configured identity providers. You can also log in using credentials generated using a Security Token Service (STS) API.

Try out the Console using MinIO’s Play testing environment

You can explore the Console using https://play.min.io:9443. Log in with the following credentials:

  • Username: Q3AM3UQ867SPQQA43P2F

  • Password: zuf+tfteSlswRu7BJ86wekitnifILbZam1KYY3TG

The Play Console connects to the MinIO Play deployment at https://play.min.io. You can also access this deployment using mc and using the play alias.

Documentation

The Documentation tab opens this documentation site in a separate browser window or tab.

Available Tasks

Once logged in to the MinIO Console, users can perform many kinds of tasks.