Backblaze B2 is S3-compatible cloud object storage from Backblaze. Every bucket has an S3 endpoint, such as s3.us-west-004.backblazeb2.com, whose middle part names the region the bucket lives in.
How does the integration work?
By default, self-hosted Appwrite Storage keeps uploaded files on your server's local disk. The backblaze storage adapter stores them in a B2 bucket instead, so file storage scales separately from your server and survives a server rebuild. Appwrite builds the bucket address, <bucket>.s3.<region>.backblazeb2.com, from the bucket name and region you configure.
Storage adapters configure a self-hosted Appwrite instance. Appwrite Cloud manages file storage for you.
How to implement
To store Appwrite files in Backblaze B2, there are several steps you must complete:
Step 1: Create a bucket and an application key
In your Backblaze account, create a private B2 bucket. Note the bucket name and the region from its Endpoint, for example us-west-004 from s3.us-west-004.backblazeb2.com.
Then create an application key that can read and write the bucket. Save the keyID, which Appwrite uses as the access key, and the applicationKey, which Appwrite uses as the secret. Backblaze shows the application key only once.
Step 2: Configure the Backblaze adapter in Appwrite
For this step, you must self-host Appwrite if you haven't already.
Open the .env file of your Appwrite installation and set the storage variables:
_APP_STORAGE_DEVICE=backblaze_APP_STORAGE_S3_ACCESS_KEY=<KEY_ID>_APP_STORAGE_S3_SECRET=<APPLICATION_KEY>_APP_STORAGE_S3_REGION=us-west-004_APP_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET=<BUCKET_NAME>_APP_STORAGE_DEVICE=backblaze selects the Backblaze adapter, and the _APP_STORAGE_S3_* variables hold its credentials, region, and bucket.
Older installations set _APP_STORAGE_BACKBLAZE_ACCESS_KEY, _APP_STORAGE_BACKBLAZE_SECRET, _APP_STORAGE_BACKBLAZE_REGION, and _APP_STORAGE_BACKBLAZE_BUCKET. Appwrite 2.0 and later still read them as a fallback when _APP_STORAGE_S3_ACCESS_KEY, _APP_STORAGE_S3_SECRET, and _APP_STORAGE_S3_BUCKET are not all set, but they are deprecated, and the Open Runtimes orchestrator that builds Functions and Sites doesn't read them. Move the values to the _APP_STORAGE_S3_* variables.
Recreate the containers and check that the variables are applied:
docker compose up -ddocker compose exec appwrite varsChanging the storage device doesn't move files Appwrite has already stored, so configure it before you store production files.
Step 3: Test the adapter
Open your project in the Appwrite Console, go to Storage, create a bucket, and upload a file. The file then appears in your B2 bucket in the Backblaze web UI.
Read more about Backblaze B2 and Appwrite Storage
If you would like to learn more about Backblaze B2 and Appwrite Storage, we have some resources that you should visit:
