Connect Wasabi to Dropbucket (setup guide)

Wasabi is S3-compatible storage with simple, flat pricing. It works well with Dropbucket, and it’s one of the easier providers to set up because Wasabi allows browser uploads by default.

Two things to know before you start. Wasabi’s pay-as-you-go plan has a minimum storage duration, so files you delete soon after uploading can still be billed for a while. And its free downloads come with a fair-use policy. Check Wasabi’s pricing page for the current terms.

This guide takes about ten minutes.

What you need

A Wasabi account.
A Dropbucket account. The free plan works with Wasabi.

Step 1: Create a bucket

Sign in to the Wasabi console at console.wasabisys.com.
Open Buckets and choose Create Bucket.
Enter a name. Use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, for example agency-transfers. Dropbucket won’t accept capitals or underscores.
Pick a region close to you and your clients. Note which one you chose. You need it in Step 4.
Create the bucket and keep it private. Dropbucket uses short-lived signed links, so the bucket never needs public access.

Step 2: Create a policy for this bucket

You could use your account’s root access key, but it can reach every bucket you own. A sub-user that can only touch this bucket is safer.

Open Policies and choose Create Policy.
Name it dropbucket-agency-transfers.
Paste this policy, replacing agency-transfers with your bucket name in both places:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:ListBucket",
        "s3:GetBucketCORS",
        "s3:PutBucketCORS"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::agency-transfers"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:DeleteObject",
        "s3:AbortMultipartUpload",
        "s3:ListMultipartUploadParts"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::agency-transfers/*"
    }
  ]
}

Save the policy.

The two CORS actions let Dropbucket add its browser-upload rule for you. The multipart actions let big uploads resume and clean up after themselves.

Step 3: Create a sub-user and access key

Open Users and choose Create User.
Enter a name, like dropbucket.
Tick Programmatic access. Leave console access off.
Click Next through the groups step.
On the policies step, attach the policy from Step 2.
Review and choose Create User.

Wasabi shows the Access Key and Secret Key at the end. Copy both, or download the file. The secret is shown once only.

The exact menu may differ slightly as Wasabi updates its console.

Step 4: Find your endpoint

Wasabi uses a different address for each region. The pattern is:

https://s3.<REGION>.wasabisys.com

A few examples:

US East 1 (N. Virginia): https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com
EU Central 1 (Amsterdam): https://s3.eu-central-1.wasabisys.com
AP Southeast 2 (Sydney): https://s3.ap-southeast-2.wasabisys.com

Wasabi lists every region on its “Service URLs for Wasabi’s Storage Regions” page. The endpoint must match the region your bucket is in.

Step 5: Connect Wasabi in Dropbucket

In Dropbucket, go to Settings → Storage.
Under Provider, choose Wasabi.
Endpoint: your region’s endpoint from Step 4.
Bucket: the bucket name.
Region: the region code, for example ap-southeast-2. It’s the same code that’s in the endpoint.
Access key ID and Secret access key: from Step 3.
Folder inside the bucket (optional): leave blank, or enter a folder name like client-files.
Leave Path-style URLs ticked.

About CORS on Wasabi

Files travel from your client’s browser straight into the bucket. Browsers only allow that if the bucket permits it with a CORS rule.

Wasabi allows browser access by default, so most Wasabi buckets need no extra step. With the policy above, Dropbucket also adds its own rule when you save, limited to Dropbucket’s pages. If you ever need to set it by hand, open the bucket’s settings in the Wasabi console, find the CORS section and add this rule:

[
  {
    "AllowedOrigins": [
      "https://app.dropbucket.io"
    ],
    "AllowedMethods": [
      "GET",
      "PUT",
      "HEAD"
    ],
    "AllowedHeaders": [
      "*"
    ],
    "ExposeHeaders": [
      "ETag"
    ],
    "MaxAgeSeconds": 3600
  }
]

If you use your own domain for download and upload pages, add it as a second origin, such as "https://files.youragency.com". See Put your download pages on your own domain. The Storage page in Dropbucket shows this rule with your verified domains already included.

Test the connection

Press Test and save.

Dropbucket writes a tiny test file, reads it back and deletes it. When that works, the Status card shows a tick next to Keys work. It then adds the CORS rule and runs a real upload from your browser. When Browser uploads allowed (CORS) shows a tick, you’re done.

If the CORS step doesn’t tick, wait a minute and press Check again.

Troubleshooting

“The storage provider refused these keys.” Check the key and secret were copied in full. Check the policy is attached to the user and names the right bucket. A typo in the bucket name inside the policy is easy to miss.

“That bucket was not found at this endpoint.” The endpoint is for a different region from the bucket. Match them up.

“Wrong region or endpoint for this bucket.” Same cause. The Region field and the endpoint should use the same code as the bucket’s region.

Keys work, but the CORS check fails. Someone may have set a CORS rule on the bucket earlier that doesn’t include https://app.dropbucket.io. Add Dropbucket’s rule as shown above, then press Check again.

Uploads fail with 403. Check CORS first. Then check the policy includes s3:PutObject on the /* resource line.

“Your storage didn’t return an ETag.” A custom CORS rule on the bucket is hiding the ETag header. Add ETag to its exposed headers.

Path-style. Keep Path-style URLs ticked for Wasabi.

Next steps

Add your logo under Settings → Branding, then send a transfer or create a request link so clients can upload straight into Wasabi.

Ready to try it? Create a free Dropbucket account and connect your bucket.

Connect Wasabi to Dropbucket