IBM Cloud Docs
Emptying a bucket

Emptying a bucket

This overview focuses on the steps that are needed to access a list of all items in a bucket within an instance of IBM Cloud® Object Storage for the purpose of deleting each one sequentially.

The process of emptying a bucket is familiar to anyone who has to delete buckets in their instance of IBM Cloud Object Storage because a bucket has to be empty to be deleted. There may be other reasons you may wish to delete items, but want to avoid deleting every object individually. This code pattern for the supported SDKs will allow you to define your configuration, create a client, and then connect with that client to get a list of all the items in an identified bucket to delete them.

If versioning is enabled, then expiration rules create delete markers.

It is a best practice to avoid putting credentials in scripts. This example is for testing and educational purposes, and your specific setup should be informed by best practices and Developer Guidance.

Before you begin

Specific instructions for downloading and installing SDKs are available for Python, Node.js, Java, and Go. Also, when working with Command Line Instructions (CLI) and your CLI clients, please check out the pertinent information related to Object Storage regarding AWS compatibility, Minio, and rclone.

For this code pattern you will need:

Using the Console

Before getting to the examples, there is one way to empty a bucket via the GUI at the IBM Cloud console: using an expiration rule on the bucket itself. For more information, please see the documentation on deleting stale data with expiration rules.

After logging in to Object Storage, choose your storage instance. Then, select your bucket from the list of your buckets. To set the rule to delete the items, select Configuration from the navigation menu and click Add rule under the Expiration rule section. Set the number of days to '1' to delete all the items after one day.

Add Expiration Rule to delete items

The process for rule completion can take up to 24 hours, and is on a set schedule. Please take this into consideration when applying this technique.

CLI Client Examples

There are many tools available to help users make the most of Object Storage and the following CLI clients offer simple ways of emptying buckets.

Sample instructions are provided for using a client application or command line once your CLI client has been configured and is operational.

rclone example

The rclone tool is typically used to keep directories synchronized and for migrating data between storage platforms. You can learn more from the documentation on using rclone.

rclone purge {remote}:{path} [flags]

Minio example

The open source Minio client allows you to use UNIX-like commands (ls, cp, cat, and so on) with IBM Cloud® Object Storage. For more information, check out using Minio.

mc rm --recursive --force {instance-alias}/{bucket-name}

AWS example

The official command-line interface for AWS is compatible with the IBM Cloud Object Storage S3 API and you can find out more on how to use the AWS CLI.

aws s3 rm s3://{bucket-name} --recursive

Code Example

Deleting an entire directory or removing all the contents of a bucket can be time consuming deleting each object, one at a time. The ability to delete one item at a time can be leveraged to save time and effort by collecting a list of all the items before deletion.

The topic itself points out the danger of deletion: data will be lost. Of course, when that is the goal, caution should be exercised that only the targeted deletions should occur. Check—and double-check—instances, bucket names, and any prefixes or paths that need to be specified.

Overview

The code pattern in this exercise configures a client before creating one for the purpose of gathering a list of items for the purpose of deleting each object.

The code pattern in this exercise configures a client before creating one for the purpose of gathering a list of items for the purpose of deleting each object.

The code pattern in this exercise configures a client before creating one for the purpose of gathering a list of items for the purpose of deleting each object.

The code pattern in this exercise configures a client before creating one for the purpose of gathering a list of items for the purpose of deleting each object.

const myCOS = require('ibm-cos-sdk');

var config = {
    endpoint: 's3.us-geo.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud',
    apiKeyId: 'd-2-DO-NOT-USEevplExampleo_t3ZTCJO',
    ibmAuthEndpoint: 'https://iam.cloud.ibm.com/identity/token',
    serviceInstanceId: 'crn:v1:bluemix:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/SAMPLE253abf6e65dca920c9d58126b:3f656f43-5c2a-941e-b128-DO-NOT-USE::',
};

var cosClient = new myCOS.S3(config);

function logDone() {
    console.log('COMPLETE!\n');
}

function logError(e) {
    console.log(`ERROR: ${e.code} - ${e.message}\n`);
}

// Retrieve the list of contents from a bucket for deletion
function deleteContents(bucketName) {
    var returnArr = new Array();

    console.log(`Retrieving bucket contents from: ${bucketName}\n`);
    return cosClient.listObjects(
        {Bucket: bucketName},
    ).promise()
    .then((data) => {
        if (data != null && data.Contents != null) {
            for (var i = 0; i < data.Contents.length; i++) {
                returnArr.push(data.Contents[i].Key);
                var itemKey = data.Contents[i].Key;
                var itemSize = data.Contents[i].Size;
                console.log(`Item: ${itemKey} (${itemSize} bytes).\n`)
            }
            deleteItem(bucketName, itemName);
            logDone();
        }
    })
    .catch(logError);
}

// Delete item
function deleteItem(bucketName, itemName) {
    console.log(`Deleting item: ${itemName}`);
    return cosClient.deleteObject({
        Bucket: bucketName,
        Key: itemName
    }).promise()
    .then(() =>{
        console.log(`Item: ${itemName} deleted!`);
    })
    .catch(logError);
}

function main() {
    try {
        var BucketName = "<BUCKET_NAME>";

        deleteContents(BucketName);
    }
    catch(ex) {
        logError(ex);
    }
}

main();
import ibm_boto3
from ibm_botocore.client import Config, ClientError

# Constants for IBM COS values
COS_ENDPOINT = "<endpoint>" # Current list avaiable at https://control.cloud-object-storage.cloud.ibm.com/v2/endpoints
COS_API_KEY_ID = "<api-key>" # eg "W00YiRnLW4a3fTjMB-odB-2ySfTrFBIQQWanc--P3byk"
COS_AUTH_ENDPOINT = "https://iam.cloud.ibm.com/identity/token"
COS_RESOURCE_CRN = "<resource-instance-id>" # eg "crn:v1:bluemix:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/3bf0d9003abfb5d29761c3e97696b71c:d6f04d83-6c4f-4a62-a165-696756d63903::"

# Create resource
cos = ibm_boto3.resource("s3",
    ibm_api_key_id=COS_API_KEY_ID,
    ibm_service_instance_id=COS_RESOURCE_CRN,
    ibm_auth_endpoint=COS_AUTH_ENDPOINT,
    config=Config(signature_version="oauth"),
    endpoint_url=COS_ENDPOINT
)

def get_bucket_contents(bucket_name, max_keys):
    print("Retrieving bucket contents from: {0}".format(bucket_name))
    returnArray = []
    try:
        files = cos.Bucket(bucket_name).objects.all()
        for file in files:
            print("Item: {0} ({1} bytes).".format(file["Key"], file["Size"]))
            returnArray.append(file["Key"])

    except ClientError as be:
        print("CLIENT ERROR: {0}\n".format(be))
    except Exception as e:
        print("Unable to retrieve bucket contents: {0}".format(e))

    return returnArray

def delete_item(bucket_name, item_name):
    print("Deleting item: {0}".format(item_name))
    try:
        cos.Object(bucket_name, item_name).delete()
        print("Item: {0} deleted!".format(item_name))
    except ClientError as be:
        print("CLIENT ERROR: {0}\n".format(be))
    except Exception as e:
        print("Unable to delete item: {0}".format(e))

def main():
    bucket = "<bucket_name>"
    deleteListArray = get_bucket_contents(bucket, 1000)
    for item_name in deleteListArray:
        delete_item(bucket, item_name)

main()
package com.cos;

    import java.sql.Timestamp;
    import java.util.List;

    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.ClientConfiguration;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.SDKGlobalConfiguration;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.auth.AWSCredentials;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.auth.AWSStaticCredentialsProvider;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.auth.BasicAWSCredentials;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.client.builder.AwsClientBuilder.EndpointConfiguration;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.AmazonS3;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.AmazonS3ClientBuilder;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.model.Bucket;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.model.ListObjectsRequest;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.model.ListObjectsV2Request;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.model.ListObjectsV2Result;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.model.ObjectListing;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.services.s3.model.S3ObjectSummary;
    import com.ibm.cloud.objectstorage.oauth.BasicIBMOAuthCredentials;

    public class CosDeleteMultipleItems
    {

        private static AmazonS3 _cosClient;

        /**
         * @param args
         */
        public static void main(String[] args)
        {

            SDKGlobalConfiguration.IAM_ENDPOINT = "https://iam.cloud.ibm.com/identity/token";

            String bucketName = "<BUCKET_NAME>";  // eg my-unique-bucket-name
            String newBucketName = "<NEW_BUCKET_NAME>"; // eg my-other-unique-bucket-name
            String api_key = "<API_KEY>"; // eg "W00YiRnLW4k3fTjMB-oiB-2ySfTrFBIQQWanc--P3byk"
            String service_instance_id = "<SERVICE_INSTANCE_ID"; // eg "crn:v1:bluemix:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/3bf0d9003abfb5d29761c3e97696b71c:d6f04d83-6c4f-4a62-a165-696756d63903::"
            String endpoint_url = "https://s3.us.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud"; // this could be any service endpoint

            String storageClass = "us-geo";
            String location = "us";

            _cosClient = createClient(api_key, service_instance_id, endpoint_url, location);

            contentsForDeletion(bucketName, 1000);

            for(Int deletedItem: itemsForDeletion) {
                deleteItem(bucketName, deletedItem.getKey());
                System.out.printf("Deleted item: %s\n", deletedItem.getKey());
            }
        }

        /**
         * @param api_key
         * @param service_instance_id
         * @param endpoint_url
         * @param location
         * @return AmazonS3
         */
        public static AmazonS3 createClient(String api_key, String service_instance_id, String endpoint_url, String location)
        {
            AWSCredentials credentials;
            credentials = new BasicIBMOAuthCredentials(api_key, service_instance_id);

            ClientConfiguration clientConfig = new ClientConfiguration().withRequestTimeout(5000);
            clientConfig.setUseTcpKeepAlive(true);

            AmazonS3 cosClient = AmazonS3ClientBuilder.standard().withCredentials(new AWSStaticCredentialsProvider(credentials))
                    .withEndpointConfiguration(new EndpointConfiguration(endpoint_url, location)).withPathStyleAccessEnabled(true)
                    .withClientConfiguration(clientConfig).build();
            return cosClient;
        }

        public static List contentsForDeletion(String bucketName, int maxKeys) {
            System.out.printf("Retrieving bucket contents (V2) from: %s\n", bucketName);

            boolean moreResults = true;
            String nextToken = "";

            while (moreResults) {
                ListObjectsV2Request request = new ListObjectsV2Request()
                    .withBucketName(bucketName)
                    .withMaxKeys(maxKeys)
                    .withContinuationToken(nextToken);

                ListObjectsV2Result result = _cosClient.listObjectsV2(request);
                for(S3ObjectSummary objectSummary : result.getObjectSummaries()) {
                    System.out.printf("Item: %s (%s bytes)\n", objectSummary.getKey(), objectSummary.getSize());
                    deleteItem(bucketName, objectSummary.getKey());
                }

                if (result.isTruncated()) {
                    nextToken = result.getNextContinuationToken();
                    System.out.println("...More results in next batch!\n");
                }
                else {
                    nextToken = "";
                    moreResults = false;
                }
            }
            System.out.println("...No more results!");
        }

        public static void deleteItem(String bucketName, String itemName) {
            System.out.printf("Deleting item: %s\n", itemName);
            _cosClient.deleteObject(bucketName, itemName);
            System.out.printf("Item: %s deleted!\n", itemName);
        }

    }
import (
    "github.com/IBM/ibm-cos-sdk-go/aws/credentials/ibmiam"
    "github.com/IBM/ibm-cos-sdk-go/aws"
    "github.com/IBM/ibm-cos-sdk-go/aws/session"
    "github.com/IBM/ibm-cos-sdk-go/service/s3"
)

// Constants for IBM COS values
const (
    apiKey            = "<API_KEY>"  // eg "0viPHOY7LbLNa9eLftrtHPpTjoGv6hbLD1QalRXikliJ"
    serviceInstanceID = "<RESOURCE_INSTANCE_ID>" // "crn:v1:bluemix:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/<CREDENTIAL_ID_AS_GENERATED>:<SERVICE_ID_AS_GENERATED>::"
    authEndpoint      = "https://iam.cloud.ibm.com/identity/token"
    serviceEndpoint   = "<SERVICE_ENDPOINT>" // eg "https://s3.us.cloud-object-storage.appdomain.cloud"
    bucketLocation    = "<LOCATION>" // eg "us"
)

// Create config
conf := aws.NewConfig().
    WithRegion("us-standard").
    WithEndpoint(serviceEndpoint).
    WithCredentials(ibmiam.NewStaticCredentials(aws.NewConfig(), authEndpoint, apiKey, serviceInstanceID)).
    WithS3ForcePathStyle(true)

func main() {

    // Create client
    sess := session.Must(session.NewSession())
    client := s3.New(sess, conf)

    // Bucket Names
    Bucket := "<BUCKET_NAME>"
    Input := &s3.ListObjectsV2Input{
            Bucket: aws.String(Bucket),
        }

    res, _ := client.ListObjectsV2(Input)

    for _, item := range res.Contents {
        input := &s3.DeleteObjectInput{
                Bucket: aws.String(Bucket),
                Key:    aws.String(*item.Key),
            }
        d, _ := client.DeleteObject(input)
        fmt.Println(d)
    }
}

Next Steps

Leveraging new and existing capabilities of the tools covered in this overview can be explored further at the IBM Cloud Platform.