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General purpose bucket naming rules

When you create a general purpose bucket, consider length, valid characters, formatting, and uniqueness. The sections below summarize naming rules, examples, best practices, and how to create a bucket name that includes a globally unique identifier (GUID).

For information about object key names, see Creating object key names.

To create a general purpose bucket, see Creating a general purpose bucket.

Topics​

  • General purpose buckets naming rules
  • Example general purpose bucket names
  • Best practices
  • Creating a bucket that uses a GUID in the bucket name

General purpose buckets naming rules​

The following naming rules apply for general purpose buckets:

  • Bucket names must be between 3 (min) and 63 (max) characters long.
  • Bucket names can consist only of lowercase letters, numbers, periods (.), and hyphens (-).
  • Bucket names must begin and end with a letter or number.
  • Bucket names must not contain two adjacent periods.
  • Bucket names must not be formatted as an IP address (for example, 192.168.5.4).
  • Bucket names must not start with the prefix xn--.
  • Bucket names must not start with the prefix sthree-.
  • Bucket names must not start with the prefix vietnix-s3-demo-.
  • Bucket names must not end with the suffix -s3alias. This suffix is reserved for access point alias names. See Access point aliases.
  • Bucket names must not end with the suffix --ol-s3. This suffix is reserved for Object Lambda Access Point alias names. See How to use a bucket-style alias for your S3 bucket Object Lambda Access Point.
  • Bucket names must not end with the suffix .mrap. This suffix is reserved for Multi-Region Access Point names. See Rules for naming Amazon S3 Multi-Region Access Points.
  • Bucket names must not end with the suffix --x-s3. This suffix is reserved for directory buckets. See Directory bucket naming rules.
  • Bucket names must not end with the suffix --table-s3. This suffix is reserved for S3 Tables buckets. See Amazon S3 table bucket, table, and namespace naming rules.
  • Buckets used with Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration can't have periods (.) in their names. See Configuring fast, secure file transfers using Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration.

Important​

  • Bucket names must be unique across all accounts.
  • A bucket name can't be used by another account until the bucket is deleted. After deletion, another account can create a bucket with the same name and potentially receive requests intended for the deleted bucket. To avoid this, consider emptying a bucket and keeping it (and blocking requests) instead of deleting it.
  • Don't include sensitive information in the bucket name. Bucket names are visible in object URLs.

Example general purpose bucket names​

Allowed characters are lowercase letters (a-z), digits (0-9), hyphens (-), and optionally periods (.) though periods are not recommended for most uses.

Valid examples:

  • vnx-s3-demo-bucket1-a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-example11111
  • vnx-s3-demo-bucket

Valid but not recommended (contain periods; generally only for static website hosting):

  • example.com
  • www.example.com
  • my.example.s3.bucket

Invalid examples:

  • vietnix_s3_demo_bucket (contains underscores)
  • vietnixS3DemoBucket (contains uppercase letters)
  • vietnix-s3-demo-bucket- (starts with reserved prefix and ends with a hyphen)
  • example..com (contains two adjacent periods)
  • 192.168.5.4 (formatted as an IP address)

Best practices​

When naming your general purpose buckets, consider the following recommendations:

  • Choose a bucket naming scheme that's unlikely to cause naming conflicts. If your application automatically creates buckets, ensure the logic generates a different name if a chosen name is already taken.
  • Avoid using periods (.) in bucket names for best compatibility; periods prevent virtual-host-style addressing over HTTPS unless you manage certificate validation yourself. Static website hosting (HTTP only) is an exception.
  • Choose relevant, descriptive names. Avoid using names associated with other organizations or trademarks (for example, avoid Vietnix in your bucket name).
  • Don't rely on deleting buckets to reuse names; after deletion the name may not be immediately available and could be claimed by another account.