Setting up Backblaze B2

What you'll do

• Create or sign in to a Backblaze account.
• Create one private bucket for your VOD archive.
• Generate an Application Key, which is the password-like credential VOD Manager uses to save files.
• Paste the endpoint, region, bucket, keyID, and applicationKey into VOD Manager.

Plan on about 10 minutes if you already have your email handy. The only easy-to-miss step is saving the applicationKey right after Backblaze creates it.

Step 1 - Create a Backblaze account

Step 2 - Create a B2 bucket

A bucket is the storage folder where Backblaze keeps your files. In the Backblaze dashboard, open B2 Cloud Storage, choose Buckets, then choose Create a Bucket.

1. Give the bucket a globally unique name. Something like vod-manager-yourusername-archives is easier to remember than a random string.
2. Set Files in Bucket to Private so the files are not public on the web.
3. Default Encryption is optional. You can leave it off or use Backblaze's default setting if your account requires it.
4. Leave Object Lock disabled. Object Lock can block VOD Manager's later auto-purge cleanup because locked objects cannot be deleted normally.
5. Click Create Bucket.

Step 3 - Note your endpoint and region

Step 4 - Generate an Application Key

1. Open Account, then Application Keys, then Add a New Application Key.
2. Use vod-manager as the key name.
3. Set Allow access to a specific bucket, then choose the bucket you created for VOD archives.
4. Set Type of access to Read and Write, and allow listing so VOD Manager can check files after upload.
5. Leave Duration blank unless your own security policy requires key rotation.
6. Click Create New Key.

Save the keyID and applicationKey immediately. Backblaze only shows the applicationKey once. In VOD Manager and other S3-compatible tools, keyID means Access Key ID, and applicationKey means Secret Access Key.

Step 5 - Connect VOD Manager

In VOD Manager, open Storage and choose Add storage profile. Pick Backblaze B2 as the provider, then fill in the fields from the bucket and key you just created.

• Endpoint: use the full host from Backblaze, including https://, such as https://s3.us-west-002.backblazeb2.com.
• Region: use the middle segment, such as us-west-002.
• Bucket: use the exact bucket name from step 2.
• Access Key ID: paste the Backblaze keyID.
• Secret Access Key: paste the Backblaze applicationKey.

Click Test connection before saving. A passing test means VOD Manager can reach the bucket, list it, and write a small test file.

Common issues

• Bucket not found: check for a typo. B2 bucket names are globally unique and case-sensitive.
• Access denied: the Application Key may be scoped to a different bucket. Regenerate it for the correct bucket.
• Region mismatch: use the middle segment from the endpoint host, not a shortened value like us-west or us-east.