Archive your email messages and delivery logs to any S3-compatible object storage service for long-term retention beyond AhaSend’s 30-day limit. This feature is essential for legal compliance, audit requirements, and internal retention policies that require extended email archiving.
Enterprise Feature: S3 Object Storage archiving is available exclusively on Enterprise plans. Contact our sales team to upgrade your account.
Extended Compliance: While AhaSend retains message data for up to 30 days, S3 archiving provides unlimited retention for industries with strict compliance requirements.

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Why Use S3 Archiving?

S3-compatible object storage provides a cost-effective solution for long-term email archiving:

Legal Compliance

Meet regulatory requirements for email retention in finance, healthcare, and legal industries

Cost-Effective Storage

Store unlimited email data at low cost with S3-compatible providers

Complete Control

Maintain full ownership and control over your archived email data

Easy Retrieval

Organized directory structure makes finding specific emails simple

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Requirements

Before enabling S3 archiving, ensure you meet these prerequisites:

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Setting Up S3 Archiving

Configure S3 archiving in your AhaSend account settings:

Create S3 Bucket

Set up your storage bucket:
  1. Create a new bucket in your S3-compatible storage provider
  2. Configure permissions to allow write access for your credentials
  3. Note the bucket name and endpoint URL for configuration
Bucket Naming: Use descriptive names like company-email-archive or ahasend-messages-2024 for easy identification.

Generate Access Credentials

Obtain S3 credentials from your provider:
  • Access Key ID - Identifies your account/user
  • Secret Access Key - Authenticates API requests
  • Endpoint URL - Provider-specific S3 API endpoint
Security: Use dedicated credentials with minimal permissions (write-only to your archive bucket).

Configure AhaSend

Enable S3 archiving in your AhaSend dashboard:
  1. Navigate to Account Settings → S3 Retention
  2. Enter configuration details:
    • Endpoint URL: Your provider’s S3 API endpoint (use HTTPS)
    • Bucket Name: Name of your pre-created bucket
    • Access Key: Your S3 access key ID
    • Secret Key: Your S3 secret access key
  3. Test the connection to verify configuration
  4. Save settings to enable archiving

Verify Setup

Confirm archiving is working:
  1. Send a test email through AhaSend
  2. Wait for processing (typically within hours)
  3. Check your S3 bucket for archived files
  4. Verify file structure matches expected format

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File Organization Structure

AhaSend organizes archived messages in a logical directory structure for easy navigation and retrieval:

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Directory Pattern

RECIPIENT_EMAIL_ADDRESS/YYYY-MM-DD/MESSAGE_ID.eml
RECIPIENT_EMAIL_ADDRESS/YYYY-MM-DD/MESSAGE_ID.logs.csv

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Email Address Formatting

Special characters in email addresses are replaced for S3 compatibility: Character Replacements:
  • @ symbol becomes _AT_
  • + symbol becomes _PLUS_
Examples:

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Complete Example Structure

my-email-archive/
├── john_AT_example.com/
│   ├── 2024-01-15/
│   │   ├── msg_abc123.eml
│   │   └── msg_abc123.logs.csv
│   └── 2024-01-16/
│       ├── msg_def456.eml
│       └── msg_def456.logs.csv
├── support_AT_mycompany.org/
│   └── 2024-01-15/
│       ├── msg_ghi789.eml
│       └── msg_ghi789.logs.csv
└── user_PLUS_tag_AT_example.com/
    └── 2024-01-15/
        ├── msg_jkl012.eml
        └── msg_jkl012.logs.csv

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Archived File Formats

AhaSend saves two types of files for each message:

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Provider-Specific Configuration

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Best Practices

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Troubleshooting