Downloading folders from aws s3, cp or sync? - windows

Question

If I want to download all the contents of a directory on S3 to my local PC, which command should I use cp or sync ?
Any help would be highly appreciated.
For example,
if I want to download all the contents of "this folder" to my desktop, would it look like this ?
aws s3 sync s3://"myBucket"/"this folder" C:\\Users\Desktop

Answer 1

Using aws s3 cp from the AWS Command-Line Interface (CLI) will require the --recursive parameter to copy multiple files.
aws s3 cp s3://myBucket/dir localdir --recursive
The aws s3 sync command will, by default, copy a whole directory. It will only copy new/modified files.
aws s3 sync s3://mybucket/dir localdir
Just experiment to get the result you want.
Documentation:
cp command
sync command

Answer 2

Just used version 2 of the AWS CLI. For the s3 option, there is also a --dryrun option now to show you what will happen:
aws s3 --dryrun cp s3://bucket/filename /path/to/dest/folder --recursive

Answer 3

In case you need to use another profile, especially cross account. you need to add the profile in the config file
[profile profileName]
region = us-east-1
role_arn = arn:aws:iam::XXX:role/XXXX
source_profile = default
and then if you are accessing only a single file
aws s3 cp s3://crossAccountBucket/dir localdir --profile profileName

Answer 4

In the case you want to download a single file, you can try the following command:
aws s3 cp s3://bucket/filename /path/to/dest/folder

Answer 5

You've many options to do that, but the best one is using the AWS CLI.
Here's a walk-through:
Download and install AWS CLI in your machine:
Install the AWS CLI using the MSI Installer (Windows).
Install the AWS CLI using the Bundled Installer for Linux, OS X, or Unix.
Configure AWS CLI:
Make sure you input valid access and secret keys, which you received when you created the account.
Sync the S3 bucket using:
aws s3 sync s3://yourbucket/yourfolder /local/path
In the above command, replace the following fields:
yourbucket/yourfolder >> your S3 bucket and the folder that you want to download.
/local/path >> path in your local system where you want to download all the files.

Answer 6

sync method first lists both source and destination paths and copies only differences (name, size etc.).
cp --recursive method lists source path and copies (overwrites) all to the destination path.
If you have possible matches in the destination path, I would suggest sync as one LIST request on the destination path will save you many unnecessary PUT requests - meaning cheaper and possibly faster.

Answer 7

Question: Will aws s3 sync s3://myBucket/this_folder/object_file C:\\Users\Desktop create also the "this_folder" in C:\Users\Desktop?
If not, what would be the solution to copy/sync including the folder structure of S3? I mean I have many files in different S3 bucket folders sorted by year, month, day. I would like to copy them locally with the folder structure to be kept.