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.
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
Requirements
Before enabling S3 archiving, ensure you meet these prerequisites:AhaSend Configuration
AhaSend Configuration
Message Data Retention Requirements:
- Message data retention must be enabled in your AhaSend account
- Minimum 1-day retention required for AhaSend to process and archive messages
- Configure retention periods in your account settings
Why 1-Day Minimum: AhaSend needs time to process messages and transfer them to your S3 storage before local deletion.
S3-Compatible Storage
S3-Compatible Storage
Supported Storage Providers:
- Amazon AWS S3 - The original and most feature-complete option
- Backblaze B2 - Cost-effective alternative with S3-compatible API
- DigitalOcean Spaces - Developer-friendly with predictable pricing
- Wasabi - High-performance storage with unlimited egress
- MinIO - Self-hosted S3-compatible storage solution
- S3 endpoint URL (HTTPS recommended for security)
- Bucket name (must be pre-created)
- Access key and secret key with write permissions
Setting Up S3 Archiving
Configure S3 archiving in your AhaSend account settings:Create S3 Bucket
Set up your storage bucket:
- Create a new bucket in your S3-compatible storage provider
- Configure permissions to allow write access for your credentials
- 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:
- Navigate to Account Settings → S3 Retention
- 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
- Test the connection to verify configuration
- Save settings to enable archiving
Verify Setup
Confirm archiving is working:
- Send a test email through AhaSend
- Wait for processing (typically within hours)
- Check your S3 bucket for archived files
- Verify file structure matches expected format
File Organization Structure
AhaSend organizes archived messages in a logical directory structure for easy navigation and retrieval:Directory Pattern
Email Address Formatting
Special characters in email addresses are replaced for S3 compatibility: Character Replacements:@
symbol becomes_AT_
+
symbol becomes_PLUS_
[email protected]
becomesjohn_AT_example.com
[email protected]
becomessupport_AT_mycompany.org
[email protected]
becomesuser_PLUS_tag_AT_example.com
[email protected]
becomessales_PLUS_leads_AT_company.org
Complete Example Structure
Archived File Formats
AhaSend saves two types of files for each message:Message Data (.eml)
Message Data (.eml)
Complete email content in standard EML format:
- All email headers (From, To, Subject, Date, etc.)
- HTML body content
- Plain text body content
- All file attachments (base64 encoded)
- Original message structure preserved
- Industry-standard format readable by most email clients
- Contains complete message for legal/audit purposes
- Can be imported into email clients for viewing
Delivery Logs (.logs.csv)
Delivery Logs (.logs.csv)
Detailed delivery attempt history in CSV format:
- Timestamp of each delivery attempt
- Event type (Delivery, Bounce, Transient Failure, etc.)
- Complete server response messages
- Chronological record of all delivery events
Provider-Specific Configuration
Amazon AWS S3
Amazon AWS S3
Configuration:
- Endpoint:
https://s3.[region].amazonaws.com
- Bucket: Your S3 bucket name
- Credentials: IAM user with S3 write permissions
- US East:
https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
- EU West:
https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
Backblaze B2
Backblaze B2
Configuration:
- Endpoint:
https://s3.[region].backblazeb2.com
- Bucket: Your B2 bucket name
- Credentials: Application keys with write access
- Cost-effective storage pricing
- Free egress for the first 1GB per day
- S3-compatible API
DigitalOcean Spaces
DigitalOcean Spaces
Configuration:
- Endpoint:
https://[region].digitaloceanspaces.com
- Bucket: Your Spaces name
- Credentials: Spaces access keys
- New York:
https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com
- San Francisco:
https://sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com
Best Practices
Storage Management
Storage Management
Optimize costs and organization:
- Use lifecycle policies to transition older data to cheaper storage tiers
- Implement bucket versioning for data protection
- Set up cross-region replication for critical archives
- Monitor storage usage and costs regularly
- Transition to Infrequent Access after 30 days
- Move to Glacier after 1 year
- Delete after legal retention period expires
Security Considerations
Security Considerations
Protect your archived data:
- Use HTTPS endpoints for all API communications
- Enable bucket encryption at rest
- Implement least-privilege access policies
- Regular audit of access logs and permissions
- Consider bucket policies to restrict access by IP
- Create dedicated IAM users/keys for AhaSend integration
- Rotate access keys periodically
- Monitor for unauthorized access attempts
Compliance Strategy
Compliance Strategy
Meet regulatory requirements:
- Document your retention policies and procedures
- Implement automated deletion based on legal requirements
- Maintain audit trails of data access and modifications
- Consider legal hold processes for litigation
- Define retention periods by message type or sender
- Implement automated cleanup processes
- Document compliance procedures for auditors
Troubleshooting
Connection Issues
Connection Issues
Common configuration problems:
- Invalid endpoint URL: Verify the correct S3 endpoint for your provider and region
- Incorrect credentials: Double-check access key and secret key
- Bucket permissions: Ensure write access is granted to your credentials
- Network connectivity: Test HTTPS connectivity to the endpoint
Missing Archives
Missing Archives
Why messages might not be archived:
- Retention disabled: Message data retention must be enabled
- Insufficient retention period: Minimum 1-day retention required
- S3 configuration errors: Check endpoint, credentials, and bucket name
- Processing delays: Archives typically appear within hours, not immediately
- Check message data retention settings
- Verify S3 configuration in account settings
- Review AhaSend logs for archiving errors
- Test with a new email to confirm setup
File Access Issues
File Access Issues
Problems accessing archived files:
- Permission errors: Verify read access to your S3 bucket
- File path confusion: Remember
@
becomes_AT_
and+
becomes_PLUS_
in directory names - Date format: Ensure you’re using YYYY-MM-DD format
- Case sensitivity: S3 object names are case-sensitive