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Using Bucketree with Backblaze B2

Bucketree is a native macOS app that manages a Backblaze B2 account rather than only its files. From one window you can browse buckets and versions, upload and download, create and revoke Application Keys, set lifecycle rules and Object Lock, see what each bucket is storing and what could be removed, and set up replication or a migration between buckets. It uses the B2 Native API.

Bucketree is available for macOS 26.0 and later on Apple silicon.

Enable Backblaze B2​

Before you begin: You must have a Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage account. If you already have a Backblaze account and the left navigation menu contains a B2 Cloud Storage section, your account is already enabled for Backblaze B2.

  1. Sign in to the Backblaze web console.
  2. In the user menu in the upper-right corner of the page, select My Settings.
  3. Under Enabled Products, select the checkbox to enable B2 Cloud Storage.
  4. Review the Terms and Conditions, and click OK to accept them.

Create an Application Key​

Bucketree signs in with an Application Key. You can use your Master Application Key, or create a new one. Bucketree can also create keys itself once it is signed in (see Create and Manage Application Keys in Bucketree, below), which is the easiest way to end up with a narrow key.

  1. Sign in to the Backblaze web console.
  2. In the left navigation menu under B2 Cloud Storage, click Application Keys.
  3. Click Add a New Application Key, and enter an app key name.
  4. Select All in the Allow Access to Bucket(s) menu, or select a specific bucket. If you select a specific bucket, also select Allow List All Bucket Names: Bucketree lists buckets to build its sidebar and needs b2_list_buckets.
  5. (Optional) Select your access type. Read Only lets Bucketree browse and download; Read and Write adds uploading and deleting; managing buckets, keys and bucket settings needs those capabilities on the key, which the Master Application Key has.
  6. Click Create New Key, and note the resulting keyID and applicationKey values. The applicationKey appears only once.

Install and Set Up Bucketree​

  1. Download Bucketree from https://bucketree.app/download/ and drag it to your Applications folder, or install it with Homebrew: brew install --cask bucketree/tap/bucketree.
  2. Open Bucketree and click Connect to Backblaze B2 on the welcome screen. The key sheet appears.
  3. Enter a keyName of your choosing, then paste the keyID and the applicationKey from the web console.
  4. Click Add Key. Bucketree authorizes the key with Backblaze before it stores anything. If Backblaze refuses the key, the sheet says why. When the key is accepted the sheet closes and your buckets appear. The box at the top of the sidebar shows what the key permits.

The key is stored in the macOS Keychain. Bucketree does not write it to a file or a log.

Your buckets appear in the sidebar. Above them are three account views: Buckets (every bucket and its settings), Storage (what each bucket is storing and what could be removed), and Application Keys.

Upload and Download Files​

  1. Select a bucket in the sidebar and open the folder you want.
  2. To upload, drag files or folders onto the window, or press Command-U. Files over 100 MB are uploaded as large files, in parallel parts, and an interrupted upload can be resumed from the parts Backblaze already holds.
  3. To download, select files and press Command-D, or double-click a file.
  4. Click the Transfers button in the toolbar to see each transfer's progress.

Every upload carries a SHA1 that Backblaze checks on arrival, and large files carry a whole-file SHA1 in large_file_sha1. Every download is verified against the checksum Backblaze holds, and Bucketree reports a download as verified, or as not verified and why.

Bucketree records each file's own modification time in src_last_modified_millis, so files uploaded with Bucketree show the right dates in the B2 Command-Line Tool and other integrations.

Browse Versions and Hidden Files​

  1. Open a bucket.
  2. Click All Versions at the top of the window to see every version Backblaze holds for each file name, including hide markers and unfinished large-file uploads.
  3. Select a version and press Space for Quick Look, or Command-I for Get Info, which shows the file's size, checksum, content type and file info.

Create and Manage Application Keys in Bucketree​

  1. Press Command-3 to open Application Keys.
  2. Click + (or choose Account > New Application Key).
  3. Enter a keyName.
  4. Choose a preset: Read only, Read and write, Full control, or Custom for individual capabilities.
  5. Choose All buckets or one bucket, and optionally a file name prefix and an expiry.
  6. Click Create Key. The applicationKey is shown once; copy it before closing the sheet.

A key scoped to a bucket cannot manage keys or delete buckets, and the form says so. To revoke a key, select it and click Delete Key. Bucketree will not delete the key it is signed in with.

Find Files Across Buckets​

  1. Click Search in the sidebar, or press Option-Command-F.
  2. Under Search in, choose one bucket or all of them, and Current files, All versions or Hidden files.
  3. Add one or more conditions: Name (with * and ? wildcards), Extension, Size, Date modified, Kind or Encryption.
  4. Click Search. Results show which bucket each file is in, and you can download, share or delete from the results.

See What a Bucket Is Storing, and Remove What Is Not Needed​

  1. Press Command-2 to open Storage.
  2. Click Scan Bucket for one bucket, or Scan All Buckets. Bucketree lists each bucket's live files, old versions, hidden files and unfinished large-file uploads, with the bytes each group holds.
  3. Select a bucket and click Clean Up.
  4. Choose which groups to remove: old versions, hidden files, or unfinished uploads. Hide markers are listed and not offered, because removing one unhides a file rather than freeing space.
  5. Review the list and confirm. Bucketree shows what it will remove before it touches anything.

Set Lifecycle Rules, Object Lock and Encryption​

  1. Press Command-1 to open Buckets.
  2. Double-click a bucket to edit it.
  3. Under Lifecycle, add rules; each rule is described in words as what it will do to files.
  4. Under Object Lock, enable file lock and set a default retention if you want one; under Encryption, turn on SSE-B2.
  5. Click Save.

Copy a Bucket to Another Bucket or Account​

Bucketree sets up Cloud Replication, so the files are copied by Backblaze without passing through your Mac.

  1. Select a bucket in Buckets and click Replicate or Migrate, or press + in the Migrations or Replications pane.
  2. Choose Migration (copy everything now and finish when done) or Replication (keep copying what arrives from now on).
  3. Choose the whole bucket or one folder, the destination bucket, and the account if the destination is in another one.
  4. Review what will and will not be copied, then click Start Migration or Start Replication. Bucketree creates the replication keys and the rule for you.
  5. Watch progress in the Migrations or Replications pane, which shows what has been copied and what is still to come.

Delete a Bucket That Is Not Empty​

  1. Press Command-1 to open Buckets.
  2. Select the bucket and click Delete Bucket.
  3. Bucketree counts every version, hide marker and unfinished upload in the bucket and lists them.
  4. Type the bucket's name to confirm. Bucketree removes everything and then the bucket.

Get Help​

Bucketree's documentation is at https://docs.macupp.com/bucketree/, and support is at https://bucketree.app/support/.