openmaxio-object-browser: A Community-Driven UI for MinIO Object Storage

Introduction

openmaxio-object-browser is a community-driven fork of the MinIO Console, designed to provide a robust and fully open graphical user interface for MinIO Object Storage. It emerged as a response to the removal of key features from the MinIO open-source distribution, aiming to preserve a production-grade object storage server that adheres to the original spirit of minimalism, performance, and freedom. This project ensures that users have access to a comprehensive and community-maintained interface for managing their MinIO deployments, bringing back previously removed functionalities and keeping them open for good.

Installation

To get started with openmaxio-object-browser, you can either build it from source or connect it to an existing MinIO server.

Build from Source

Follow these steps to build your own OpenMaxIO UI:

git clone https://github.com/OpenMaxIO/openmaxio-object-browser 
cd openmaxio-object-browser/web-app
git checkout v1.7.6
yarn install 
yarn build 
cd ../
make console 
./console server 

Connect to an Existing MinIO Server

To connect the OpenMaxIO UI to an existing MinIO server, run this command, replacing 1.2.3.4:9000 with your MinIO server's address:

CONSOLE_MINIO_SERVER=http://1.2.3.4:9000 ./console server 

Setup User and Policy

Before running the console service, you'll need a MinIO user with appropriate privileges. Here's how to set up an admin user and policy for testing:

1. Create a user console using mc:

   mc admin user add myminio/
   Enter Access Key: console
   Enter Secret Key: xxxxxxxx
   

2. Create a policy for console with admin access (for testing):

   cat > admin.json << EOF
   {
   	"Version": "2012-10-17",
   	"Statement": [{
   			"Action": [
   				"admin:*"
   			],
   			"Effect": "Allow",
   			"Sid": ""
   		},
   		{
   			"Action": [
                   "s3:*"
   			],
   			"Effect": "Allow",
   			"Resource": [
   				"arn:aws:s3:::*"
   			],
   			"Sid": ""
   		}
   	]
   }
   EOF
   mc admin policy create myminio/ consoleAdmin admin.json
   

3. Set the policy for the new console user:

   mc admin policy attach myminio consoleAdmin --user=console
   

Examples

Starting the Console Service

Before running the console service, the following environment settings must be supplied:

# Salt to encrypt JWT payload
export CONSOLE_PBKDF_PASSPHRASE=SECRET

# Required to encrypt JWT payload
export CONSOLE_PBKDF_SALT=SECRET

# MinIO Endpoint
export CONSOLE_MINIO_SERVER=http://localhost:9000

Now start the console service:

./console server

By default, the console runs on port 9090. This can be changed with the --port option.

Starting Console Service with TLS

Copy your public.crt and private.key to ~/.console/certs, then run:

./console server

The console will then serve on https://[::]:9443 in addition to HTTP.

Connect Console to a MinIO using TLS and a Self-Signed Certificate

Copy the MinIO ca.crt under ~/.console/certs/CAs, then:

export CONSOLE_MINIO_SERVER=https://localhost:9000
./console server

Why Use openmaxio-object-browser?

• Community-Driven: This project is a community-maintained fork, ensuring its development is guided by user needs and open-source principles.
• Restores Key Features: It brings back functionalities that were removed from the original MinIO open-source distribution, providing a more complete and versatile UI.
• Fully Open and Functional: openmaxio-object-browser is committed to remaining fully open-source, offering a production-grade object storage server UI without commercial licensing restrictions on core capabilities.
• Enhanced Management: Provides a graphical interface for managing MinIO deployments, simplifying tasks like object browsing, bucket creation, and policy management.

Links

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/OpenMaxIO/openmaxio-object-browser