Changing object storage classes

This page describes how to change the storage class of objects within a bucket through overwriting the object. To learn how to change object storage classes without overwriting an object, see the Object Lifecycle Management feature.

Console

Individual object storage classes cannot be set through the Console. Instead use gsutil.

gsutil

Use the -s flag in a rewrite command. For example:

gsutil rewrite -s [STORAGE_CLASS] gs://[PATH_TO_OBJECT]

Where:

  • [STORAGE_CLASS] is the new storage class for your object. For example, nearline.
  • [PATH_TO_OBJECT] is the name of the object whose class you want to change. For example, pets/dog.png.

Code samples

C++

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C++ API reference documentation. 

namespace gcs = google::cloud::storage;
using ::google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](gcs::Client client, std::string bucket_name, std::string object_name,
   std::string storage_class) {
  StatusOr<gcs::ObjectMetadata> object_metadata =
      client.RewriteObjectBlocking(
          bucket_name, object_name, bucket_name, object_name,
          gcs::WithObjectMetadata(
              gcs::ObjectMetadata().set_storage_class(storage_class)));

  if (!object_metadata) {
    throw std::runtime_error(object_metadata.status().message());
  }

  std::cout << "Changed storage class of object " << object_metadata->name()
            << " in bucket " << object_metadata->bucket() << " to "
            << object_metadata->storage_class() << "\n";
}

Java

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Java API reference documentation. 

import com.google.cloud.storage.Blob;
import com.google.cloud.storage.BlobId;
import com.google.cloud.storage.BlobInfo;
import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage;
import com.google.cloud.storage.StorageClass;
import com.google.cloud.storage.StorageOptions;

public class ChangeObjectStorageClass {
  public static void changeObjectStorageClass(
      String projectId, String bucketName, String objectName) {
    // The ID of your GCP project
    // String projectId = "your-project-id";

    // The ID of your GCS bucket
    // String bucketName = "your-unique-bucket-name";

    // The ID of your GCS object
    // String objectName = "your-object-name";

    Storage storage = StorageOptions.newBuilder().setProjectId(projectId).build().getService();
    BlobId blobId = BlobId.of(bucketName, objectName);

    // See the StorageClass documentation for other valid storage classes:
    // https://googleapis.dev/java/google-cloud-clients/latest/com/google/cloud/storage/StorageClass.html
    StorageClass storageClass = StorageClass.COLDLINE;

    // You can't change an object's storage class directly, the only way is to rewrite the object
    // with the
    // desired storage class
    Storage.CopyRequest request =
        Storage.CopyRequest.newBuilder()
            .setSource(blobId)
            .setTarget(BlobInfo.newBuilder(blobId).setStorageClass(storageClass).build())
            .build();
    Blob updatedBlob = storage.copy(request).getResult();

    System.out.println(
        "Object "
            + objectName
            + " in bucket "
            + bucketName
            + " had its storage class set to "
            + updatedBlob.getStorageClass().name());
  }
}

REST APIs

JSON API

  1. Get an authorization access token from the OAuth 2.0 Playground. Configure the playground to use your own OAuth credentials.

  2. Create a .json file that contains the following information:

    {
  "storageClass": "[STORAGE_CLASS]"
}

    Where:

    • [STORAGE_CLASS] is the new storage class for your object. For example, nearline.

  3. Use cURL to call the JSON API with a POST Object, request:

    curl -X POST --data-binary @[JSON_FILE_NAME].json \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer [OAUTH2_TOKEN]" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/[BUCKET_NAME]/o/[OBJECT_NAME]/rewriteTo/b/[BUCKET_NAME]/o/[OBJECT_NAME]"

    Where:

    • [JSON_FILE_NAME] is the name of the JSON file you created in Step 2.
    • [OAUTH2_TOKEN] is the access token you generated in Step 1.
    • [BUCKET_NAME] is the name of the bucket containing the original object. For example, my-bucket.
    • [OBJECT_NAME] is the name of the object. For example, pets/dog.png.

XML API

  1. Get an authorization access token from the OAuth 2.0 Playground. Configure the playground to use your own OAuth credentials.

  2. Use cURL to call the XML API with a PUT Object request:

    curl -X PUT --data-binary @[OBJECT] \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer [OAUTH2_TOKEN]" \
  -H "Content-Type: [OBJECT_CONTENT_TYPE]" \
  -H "x-goog-storage-class: [STORAGE_CLASS]" \
  "https://storage.googleapis.com/[BUCKET_NAME]/[OBJECT_NAME]"

    Where:

    • [OBJECT] is the local path to the object whose storage class you want to change (you must re-upload the object when changing storage class with the XML API). For example, Desktop/dog.png.
    • [OAUTH2_TOKEN] is the access token you generated in Step 1.
    • [OBJECT_CONTENT_TYPE] is the content type of the object. For example, image/png.
    • [STORAGE_CLASS] is the new storage class for your object. For example, nearline.
    • [BUCKET_NAME] is the name of the bucket containing the object you are overwriting. For example, my-bucket.
    • [OBJECT_NAME] is the name of the object you are overwriting. For example, pets/dog.png.

What's next