Master MinIO Client (mc): Install, Configure, and Manage Buckets Quickly

1. Getting MinIO Client (mc)

1.1 Docker version

docker pull minio/mc
docker run minio/mc ls play

1.2 Homebrew (macOS)

brew install minio/stable/mc
mc --help

1.3 Download binary (GNU/Linux)

chmod +x mc
./mc --help

1.4 Download binary (Microsoft Windows)

mc.exe --help

1.5 Install from source

Source installation is for developers. Use:

go get -d github.com/minio/mc
cd ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/minio/mc
make

2. Basic usage of MinIO Client (mc)

2.1 Add a cloud storage service

mc config host add minio http://127.0.0.1:9000 minioadmin minioadmin
# minio is the alias, URL is the endpoint, followed by access key and secret key

2.2 List configured hosts

mc config host list

Result is shown below:

2.3 Create a bucket

mc mb minio-server/lvzhenjiang
# creates bucket named lvzhenjiang on alias minio-server

2.4 List buckets

mc ls minio-server

2.5 Upload files to a bucket

mc cp /etc/hosts minio-server/lvzhenjiang
# upload a single file
mc cp /etc minio-server/lvzhenjiang --recursive
# upload a directory

2.6 Delete files from a bucket

mc rm minio-server/lvzhenjiang/hosts
# delete a file
mc rm minio-server/lvzhenjiang/etc --recursive --force
# delete a directory

2.7 Remove a bucket

mc rb minio-server/lvzhenjiang
# remove empty bucket
mc rb minio-server/lvzhenjiang --force
# force removal of non‑empty bucket

Common mc commands:

ls       list files and folders
mb       make bucket or folder
cat      display file/object contents
pipe     redirect STDIN to an object or file
share    generate a shareable URL
cp       copy files and objects
mirror   mirror bucket and folder
find     find files based on parameters
diff     compare differences between buckets or folders
rm       remove files and objects
events   manage object notifications
watch    watch for object events
policy   manage access policies
config   manage mc configuration
update   check for software updates
version  show version information