Cloud Explorer

Cloud Explorer is an open-source, platform independent and completely free graphical application designed from the ground up to act as a simple, intuitive and easy-to-use Amazon S3 client. It supports GNU/Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.

Features at a glance

Key features include the ability to browse and synchronize your files and folders from and to your Amazon S3 account, no matter the operating system used, the ability to search for objects or to create screenshots and automatically upload them to your S3 bucket.

In addition, the application allows users to create buckets, enable or suspend versioning, view and modify object ACLs (Access Control Lists), as well as to delete every object and version. Text editor, image viewer and media player components are also built into the application.

Another interesting feature is the ability to add access and secret keys, the host URL and port, as well as the region for your Amazon S3 account. You can load as many S3 accounts as you want.

The application is supported on all mainstream OSes and requires Java

Under the hood, we can report that the application is written entirely in the cross-platform Java programming language, which means that it will look and act the same on all supported OSes, including GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

On Linux, the program is distributed as a binary archive that contains a JAR executable, which must be run from the terminal emulator using the java -jar CloudianExplorer.jar command. A source archive is also available for download.

Bottom line

Summing up, Cloud Explorer is an universal and unique utility that allows anyone who owns an Amazon S3 account to sync folder and files from the comfort of your desktop. As a bonus, the program will let you to view images, play video and audio files, as well as to write text files or create screenshots and upload them to your S3 bucket.

What is new in this release:

• Bug Fixes:
• Sync GUI and CLI - subdirectories uploaded incorrectly. This causes directories to be in wrong location when syncing locally.
• Background Syncing - Sync folders and subfolders properly. -Syncing Windows files from S3 to Unix OS fixed.
• Improvements:
• Compiled with the latest Java 8
• Using latest AWS SDK 1.10.56
• Cleaner sync code.
• More stable syncing to and from S3.
• Background Syncing - Compares MD5's and date when syncing.
• Reuses CLI sync code. This helps eliminate technical debt
• Updater - Displays upgrade alerts upon launch in the console.
• New Features
• Background Syncing - Bidirectional sync.

What is new in version 6.1:

• Bug Fixes:
• Fixed bug syncing folders from the CLI.
• Deleting a file with CLI is functional.
• Catch exception when aborting a sync and reloading buckets.
• Obsolete buttons disabled after clicking Versioning.
• Improvements:
• Changed the green colors back to blue for easier reading.
• "Set Current Folder to Restore Snapshot from" has been renamed to "Set Current Folder
• as Snapshot Origin".
• Added text labels back to object explorer.
• Windows .bat file and Linux shell launcher no longer included.
• New Features:
• Snapshots can sync changes to a bucket from prior snapshots.

What is new in version 6.0:

• Bug Fixes:
• Fixed a bug when switching accounts.
• If no region is specified, it will default to "defaultAWS" to avoid a null pointer exception. To resolve the issue, delete and add your account back.
• If no image is selected when the image button is pressed, nothing happens.
• If no music is selected when the play button is pressed, nothing happens.
• Support for line spaces in s3.config
• Versioning display fix.
• Improvements:
• Snapshots and Migration are now located under the new menu "Snapshots and Migration".
• New Icons for GUI.
• Maximize Window.
• For improved GUI responsiveness, many actions now avoid reloading buckets.
• New Features:
• Create Bucket snapshots.
• Restore Bucket snapshots.

What is new in version 5.5:

• Bug Fixes:
• Syncing GUI and CLI:
• Prevent duplicated transfers of synced files in folders.
• When syncing to local machine, items go in correct folder.
• Syncing from CLI:
• Syncing from S3 saves to appropriate directory level.
• Improvements:
• Music Player:
• Plays WAV files.
• Stop button renamed to "Stop /Close" for clarity.
• No longer case sensitive for MP3 file extension.
• Syncing GUI and CLI:
• Overwrite button removed.
• New Features:
• Audio recorder.
• Sync GUI and CLI:
• Timestamps are compared and the outdated files are overwritten.
• Editor:
• Save to top-level folders
• Features:
• Tier buckets to and from Amazon Glacier.
• Sync files to and from S3 storage.
• Stream music.
• Text editor.
• Modify Bucket and Object ACL's.
• Take screen shots and upload them to your bucket.
• Bucket versioning and life cycles.
• Graphical and console based background syncing.
• Store multiple Amazon S3 accounts.
• Image viewer.
• Migrate buckets between S3 accounts.
• Bucket search.
• Performance testing with graphs.
• Command-line interface.
• IRC client that allows you to save chat sessions to S3.
• Access shared buckets on the same S3 provider.
• Share buckets with the Canonical ID of a user on the same S3 provider.
• Graph CSV files and save them to a bucket.
• Record audio messages and save them to a bucket.

What is new in version 5.0:

• Bug Fixes:
• Performance testing - threads are actually threads now.
• Performance testing - temp files are now deleted when running a download test.
• Main program title renamed from S3 to CloudExplorer.
• After choosing "Delete every object and version", buckets are reloaded.
• "Delete every object and version" continues to run until every object and version is
• deleted.
• Improvements:
• Added "Refresh Bucket" button. Functions just like the search button. Added it for
• ease of use.
• Search button and text field are now located under the bucket list.
• Minor GUI alignment fixes.
• More compact GUI; ideal for smaller screens.
• Versioning - Improved delete.
• When deleting a version of a file, the bucket is refreshed to show the changes.
• Console window is disabled by default and can be turned on or off.
• Console window will automatically appear upon important events.
• Text "Buckets" in Object Explorer has been replaced with a icon.
• Sync buttons are no longer Toggle Buttons.
• Better debug messages for PUT, DELETE, and GET.
• Buckets are reloaded after bucket migration.
• New Features:
• Improved GUI.
• Support for accessing a shared bucket.
• Support for sharing bucket access with a canonical ID.
• "File -> New Window" - Run another instance of Cloud Explorer!
• S3 Accounts can now have a unique name rather than using the endpoint.
• "Tools -> Delete temp files" - This will cleanup any temp files in your home directory.
• "Help -> Check for updates". This is a self-updating feature for minor updates.

What is new in version 3.4:

• Support for deleting 3000 objects at a time. The old value was 500.
• GUI icon alignment.
• Memory improvements.
• Performance improvements.
• Fixed exception for "Delete every object and version".
• Cleaned up exception messages.
• Enabled exception messages.
• Improved code for displaying version objects.
• GUI fix for OSX. GUI will look the same on every platform now.

What is new in version 3.2.1:

• New Icons throughout the program.
• Emergency Code fix for Music player.

What is new in version 3.2:

• New buttons for the GUI.
• Spacing tweak on GUI for Sync and Upload tabs.
• Upload has new feature to compress a file. The zip file will be uploaded to S3.
• "Object Name" has been renamed to "File Name" in Text Editor.
• Support for Amazon RRS (Reduced Redundancy Storage). Storage pricing will be cheaper
• because less copies of the data will exist on Amazon S3.
• Added checkbox for Upload and Sync tabs called "RRS".
• Added error message when trying to connect to a server with a non-trusted SSL
• certificate because this program does not support it.
• "Delete every object and version" is now throtteled for stability.
• A message will be displayed when a sync operation is complete.

What is new in version 3.1:

• New GUI layout: smaller window, more compact.
• Many of the items in the "Bucket Properties" menu moved to Bucket -> "Bucket Properties".
• Checkbox to disable automatically loading buckets after selecting an account.
• Default Host URL and Port defaults to Amazon.
• S3 Bucket migration will scan destination bucket and not upload the object if it already exists.
• S3 Bucket migration has an option to abort the current migration.
• Fixed bug when switching from Amazon S3 to S3 compatible accounts.
• Features:
• Tier buckets to and from Amazon Glacier.
• Sync files to and from S3 storage.
• Stream music from Amazon S3.
• Text editor.
• Modify Bucket and Object ACL's.
• Take screen shots and upload them to Amazon S3.
• Bucket versioning and lifecycles.
• Graphical and console based background syncing.
• Store multiple Amazon S3 accounts.
• Image viewer.
• Migrate data between S3 accounts.
• How to migrate data between S3 accounts:
• Load the destination account and click "Set as migration Account" under Settings.
• Create the destination bucket on the destination account.
• Load the origin S3 account and select the bucket to transfer to the new S3 account.
• Under the "Tools" menu, select "Migrate bucket to another S3 account".
• Type in the destination bucket name and click "Start Bucket Migration".
• Wait for transfers to complete.

What is new in version 2.8.2:

• Listing versions of all objects in a bucket is throttled to 1000 for stability.