This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Athreya aka Maneshwar
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Today, my Ubuntu server started complaining:
Discord: “Low disk space — only a 3 gigabytes left.”
Some of my data was filling up fast, for the sake of this article, let’s just assume it was GitLab backups. (Yes, I know, nobody keeps backups on the same server — this is just an example!)
Now, upgrading the server by adding more disk space was one option. But then I remembered something:
I had free AWS credits just sitting there.
So I thought: “Why not use some space as required instead of paying monthly?”
That’s when I stumbled onto s3fs, a magical little tool that lets you mount an S3 bucket as if it were a local folder.
Suddenly, my tiny server had access to petabytes of storage, all for free (well, until the credits run out).
Here’s how I did it.
Step 1: Install s3fs
On Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install s3fs -y
Step 2: Add AWS Credentials
s3fs needs your AWS keys. I stored them safely in ~/.passwd-s3fs:
echo "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID:AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY" > ~/.passwd-s3fs
chmod 600 ~/.passwd-s3fs
This file acts like your magic key to S3.
Step 3: Create a Mount Point
This is where my S3 bucket would show up:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/gitlab_backups
Step 4: Mount the Bucket
Then the fun part — connecting S3 like a hard drive:
s3fs your-aws-bucket /mnt/gitlab_backups \
-o passwd_file=/home/ubuntu/.passwd-s3fs \
-o url=https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com \
-o endpoint=ap-south-1 \
-o use_path_request_style \
-o allow_other
Boom! Suddenly /mnt/gitlab_backups had virtually unlimited space.
Step 5: Verify
df -h | grep s3fs
Output:
Yep, that’s 64 petabytes available (S3 fakes this number, but still — it felt like Christmas).
Step 6: Allow Other Users (Optional)
By default, only the user who mounted can access it. I edited /etc/fuse.conf and added:
user_allow_other
Then remounted with -o allow_other so my GitLab jobs could write backups there too.
Step 7: Unmount & Cleanup
When done:
sudo umount /mnt/gitlab_backups
And if I ever ditch this setup:
sudo apt-get remove --purge s3fs -y
The Payoff
Instead of upgrading my VPS or deleting old backups, I redirected them all to S3.
My server now feels light and fast, while AWS handles the heavy lifting.
It’s like having a tiny flat with an infinite basement.
I just keep dumping boxes down there, and somehow there’s always more room.
Now whenever someone complains about “disk full” on their server, I can tell them:
“Don’t fight for space. Just borrow AWS’s basement.”
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This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Athreya aka Maneshwar