How to set up an S3 failover

The S3 failover feature allows you to redirect users to a static website hosted on Scaleway Object Storage, in the case that none of your Load Balancer’s backends are available to serve the requested content. This website could be a simple, single webpage or else something much more complex: you build it according to your own requirements.

If you do not set up an S3 failover, and none of your backend servers are available, your users will instead see a standard HTTP error displayed in their browser, e.g. 503 Service Unavailable.

Some benefits of creating a failover website include:

• Displaying customized, branded and user-friendly error messages
• Providing links to support resources or contact information
• Providing information on service status or maintenance
• Redirecting to a mirrored site or skeleton site

You can set up an S3 failover during creation of your Load Balancer, or at any point after creation.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Scaleway account logged into the console
• Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
• Created a bucket which is hosting a bucket website

How to activate S3 failover during creation of your Load Balancer

1. Follow the instructions for creating a Load Balancer.
2. Click the +Advanced Settings button after step 5 of the creation wizard.
   
3. Slide the «Toogle Icon» toggle to activate S3 failover, and enter a Scaleway Object Storage Bucket Website URL in the S3 link box. Note that the URL of the bucket endpoint is not sufficient, the bucket website URL is specifically required (e.g.https://my-bucket.s3-website.nl-ams.scw.cloud).
   Note

   The S3 failover feature is only available for Load Balancers using the HTTP protocol on their backend.

4. Click Create a Load Balancer to finish.

How to activate or deactivate S3 failover after creation of your Load Balancer

1. Click Load Balancers in the Network section of the Scaleway console side menu. The list of your Load Balancers displays.
2. Click the Load Balancer you wish to set up an S3 failover for. The Load Balancer’s Overview page displays.
3. Click the Backends tab. The list of your backends displays.
4. Click the «Edit Icon» icon next to the backend you wish to set up an S3 failover for. A pop-up displays.
5. Click the + Advanced Settings button.
   
6. Slide the «Toogle Icon» toggle to activate or deactivate S3 failover as required.
   Note

   The S3 failover feature is only available for Load Balancers using the HTTP protocol on their backend.

7. Enter a Scaleway Object Storage Bucket Website URL in the S3 link box, if activating the feature. Note that the URL of the bucket endpoint is not sufficient, the bucket website URL is specifically required (e.g.https://my-bucket.s3-website.nl-ams.scw.cloud).
8. Click Edit backend to finish.

How to create a static website for S3 failover

Having activated S3 failover on your Load Balancer, you must ensure that you have created a static website or webpage to display. See our dedicated documentation to learn how to create a static website with Scaleway Object Storage.