--- stage: Systems 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). Currently, **secondary** sites can use either: - The same storage bucket as the **primary** site. - A replicated storage bucket. - Local storage, if the primary uses local storage. The storage method (local or object storage) for files is recorded in the database, and the database is replicated from the **primary** Geo site to the **secondary** Geo site. When accessing an uploaded object, we get its storage method (local or object storage) from the database, 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. 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). See [Object storage replication tests](geo_validation_tests.md#object-storage-replication-tests) for comparisons between GitLab-managed replication and third-party replication. [Read more about using object storage with GitLab](../../object_storage.md). ## Enabling GitLab-managed object storage replication > The beta feature was [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/10586) in GitLab 12.4. > The feature was made [generally available] in GitLab 15.1. **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**. 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 [Cross-Region Replication (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) ## Verification of files in object storage [Files stored in object storage are not verified.](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/8056)