Using the Amazon SDK for Java with Amazon Glacier - Amazon Glacier
Using the Low-Level APIUsing the High-Level APIRunning Java Examples Using EclipseSetting the Endpoint
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

This page is only for existing customers of the Amazon Glacier service using Vaults and the original REST API from 2012.

If you're looking for archival storage solutions, we recommend using the Amazon Glacier storage classes in Amazon S3, S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. To learn more about these storage options, see Amazon Glacier storage classes.

Amazon Glacier (original standalone vault-based service) will no longer accept new customers starting December 15, 2025, with no impact to existing customers. Amazon Glacier is a standalone service with its own APIs that stores data in vaults and is distinct from Amazon S3 and the Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes. Your existing data will remain secure and accessible in Amazon Glacier indefinitely. No migration is required. For low-cost, long-term archival storage, Amazon recommends the Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes, which deliver a superior customer experience with S3 bucket-based APIs, full Amazon Web Services Region availability, lower costs, and Amazon service integration. If you want enhanced capabilities, consider migrating to Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes by using our Amazon Solutions Guidance for transferring data from Amazon Glacier vaults to Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes.

Using the Amazon SDK for Java with Amazon Glacier

The Amazon SDK for Java provides both high-level and low-level APIs for Amazon Glacier (Amazon Glacier) as described in Using the Amazon SDKs with Amazon Glacier. For information about downloading the Amazon SDK for Java, see Amazon SDK for Java.

Note

The Amazon SDK for Java provides thread-safe clients for accessing Amazon Glacier. As a best practice, your applications should create one client and reuse the client between threads.

Using the Low-Level API

The low-level AmazonGlacierClient class provides all the methods that map to the underlying REST operations of Amazon Glacier ( API Reference for Amazon Glacier). When calling any of these methods, you must create a corresponding request object and provide a response object in which the method can return the Amazon Glacier response to the operation.

For example, the AmazonGlacierClient class provides the createVault method to create a vault. This method maps to the underlying Create Vault REST operation (see Create Vault (PUT vault)). To use this method, you must create instances of the CreateVaultResult object that receives the Amazon Glacier response as shown in the following Java code snippet:

AmazonGlacierClient client = new AmazonGlacierClient(credentials);
client.setEndpoint("https://glacier.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.cn/");

CreateVaultRequest request = new CreateVaultRequest()
    .withAccountId("-")
    .withVaultName(vaultName);
CreateVaultResult result = client.createVault(createVaultRequest);

All the low-level samples in the guide use this pattern.

Note

The preceding code segment specifies AccountID when creating the request. However, when using the Amazon SDK for Java, the AccountId in the request is optional, and therefore all the low-level examples in this guide don't set this value. The AccountId is the Amazon Web Services account ID. This value must match the Amazon Web Services account ID associated with the credentials used to sign the request. You can specify either the Amazon Web Services account ID or optionally a '-', in which case Amazon Glacier uses the Amazon Web Services account ID associated with the credentials used to sign the request. If you specify your Account ID, do not include hyphens in it. When using Amazon SDK for Java, if you don't provide the account ID, the library sets the account ID to '-'.

Using the High-Level API

To further simplify your application development, the Amazon SDK for Java provides the ArchiveTransferManager class that implements a higher-level abstraction for the some of the methods in the low-level API. It provides useful methods, such as the upload and download methods for archive operations.

For example, the following Java code snippet uses the upload high-level method to upload an archive. 

String vaultName = "examplevault";
String archiveToUpload = "c:/folder/exampleArchive.zip";

ArchiveTransferManager atm = new ArchiveTransferManager(client, credentials);
String archiveId = atm.upload(vaultName, "Tax 2012 documents", new File(archiveToUpload)).getArchiveId();

Note that any operations you perform apply to the Amazon Region you specified when creating the ArchiveTransferManager object. If you don't specify any Amazon Region, the Amazon SDK for Java sets us-east-1 as the default Amazon Region.

All the high-level examples in this guide use this pattern.

Note

The high-level ArchiveTransferManager class can be constructed with an AmazonGlacierClient instance or an AWSCredentials instance.

Running Java Examples for Amazon Glacier Using Eclipse

The easiest way to get started with the Java code examples is to install the latest Amazon Toolkit for Eclipse. For information on installing or updating to the latest toolkit, go to http://www.amazonaws.cn/eclipse. The following tasks guide you through the creation and testing of the Java code examples provided in this section.

General Process of Creating Java Code Examples

1

Create a default credentials profile for your Amazon credentials as described in the Amazon SDK for Java topic Providing Amazon Credentials in the Amazon SDK for Java.

2

Create a new Amazon Java project in Eclipse. The project is pre-configured with the Amazon SDK for Java.

3

Copy the code from the section you are reading to your project.

4

 Update the code by providing any required data. For example, if uploading a file, provide the file path and the bucket name.

5

Run the code. Verify that the object is created by using the Amazon Web Services Management Console. For more information about the Amazon Web Services Management Console, go to http://www.amazonaws.cn/console/.

Setting the Endpoint

By default, the Amazon SDK for Java uses the endpoint https://glacier.us-east-1.amazonaws.com.cn. You can set the endpoint explicitly as shown in the following Java code snippets.

The following snippet shows how to set the endpoint to the US West (Oregon) Region (us-west-2) in the low-level API.

client = new AmazonGlacierClient(credentials);
client.setEndpoint("glacier.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.cn");

The following snippet shows how to set the endpoint to the US West (Oregon) Region in the high-level API.

glacierClient = new AmazonGlacierClient(credentials);
sqsClient = new AmazonSQSClient(credentials);
snsClient = new AmazonSNSClient(credentials);
        
glacierClient.setEndpoint("glacier.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.cn");
sqsClient.setEndpoint("sqs.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.cn");
snsClient.setEndpoint("sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com.cn");

ArchiveTransferManager atm = new ArchiveTransferManager(glacierClient, sqsClient, snsClient);

For a list of supported Amazon Regions and endpoints, see Accessing Amazon Glacier.