How long does object replication take on Amazon S3?

Short description

There are several factors that affect S3 object replication time, such as the following:

• The size of the objects to be replicated
• For cross-Region replication, the pairing of the source and destination AWS Regions

Objects usually replicate within minutes, but the replication of larger objects can take up to several hours. In rare cases, replication can take longer.

Resolution

Note: If you receive errors when you run AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) commands, then see Troubleshoot AWS CLI errors. Also, make sure that you're using the most recent AWS CLI version.

Check the replication status of the object that you're replicating in the source bucket of that object. If your object's replication status is PENDING, then Amazon S3 hasn't yet completed the replication process. But if the object's status is FAILED, then the replication process ended and your object wasn't replicated. For more information about failed replications, see Troubleshooting replication.

To check the replication status from the Amazon S3 console, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Amazon S3 console.
2. In the Buckets list, choose the bucket name that contains the object that you're replicating.
3. In the Objects list, choose the object name that you're replicating.
4. Under the Properties tab, choose Object management overview to see the Replication status.

To check the replication status from the AWS CLI, run the following head-object command:

aws s3api head-object --bucket source-bucket --key object-key --version-id object-version-id

Note: Replace source-bucket, object-key, and object-version-id in the previous command with your actual object name, bucket name, and version ID.

Most objects finish replication within 15 minutes. If your object is in the PENDING status for a long time, then use the following troubleshooting steps: 

• If your workload is sensitive to replication time, then use the S3 Replication Time Control (S3 RTC) option.
• To get detailed metrics for the replication rules in your configuration, view the S3 replication metrics with Amazon CloudWatch. These metrics track the minute-by-minute progress of your object's replication.