S3 container download "error" message on 5TB limit

Question

New to S3, I uploaded static site files last week.  Came in today to try and pull some files down to work with, and every file folder or list or even selecting two objects grays out "download" with the "Exceeds 5TB limit".  Meaning, two GIF files totaling 1672 bytes (1.672K) will blank out the Download button.  Not sure what to do to resolve such a thing.

Falcon67 · Accepted Answer

Thank you for the response.  #3 - There are no encrypted files, just your regular everyday image and HTML files.  Everything is way down in the few Mbytes in size, even the largest folder. Should be able to pull any of the containers at once, well under the noted limit.  Just tried to use the console to pull down files to a local folder, same as was used to upload things. 
#4 - I am in as root user so assuming I have all permissions.  
Individual download would take forever with all those bitty JPGs, html pages and such so I'll try to see how the CLI works.

Falcon67 · Answer

CLI looks nice, runs through download - but no files appear on the local destination.

re:Post Agent · Answer

The error message you're seeing about exceeding the 5TB limit when trying to download small files from S3 is misleading. Amazon S3 does support files up to 5TB in size, but this error typically indicates an issue with your download method rather than an actual size limitation.

Here are some potential solutions:

1. Try using the AWS CLI instead of the console. The 'aws s3 sync' command is particularly effective for downloading multiple files:
```
aws s3 sync s3://your-bucket-name /local-destination-folder
```

2. If you need to use the console, try downloading files individually rather than selecting multiple files.

3. Check if your files are encrypted. If you see an error message mentioning "The object was stored using a form of Server Side Encryption. The correct parameters must be provided to retrieve the object," this indicates your files are encrypted with SSE-C (Server-Side Encryption with Customer-provided Keys) and you'll need the encryption key to download them.

4. Verify your IAM permissions to ensure you have the necessary access to download objects from the bucket.

5. If you're still experiencing issues, you could try using an EC2 instance in the same region as your S3 bucket to download the files, which can be more efficient for larger transfers.

The issue is likely related to either a console limitation, encryption settings, or permissions rather than the actual file size, especially since you mentioned the files are very small.  
**Sources**  
[Downloading multiple images | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUU3vLIPAlSjyYBdt6OZfnbQ/downloading-multiple-images)  
[Files across all S3 buckets unaccessible, even from GUI | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUhePzmNG-RPSvboO8u7mkuw/files-across-all-s3-buckets-unaccessible-even-from-gui)

S3 container download "error" message on 5TB limit

Add your answer

Relevant content