Lifecycle Rules

🔄 What are Lifecycle Rules in S3?

S3 Lifecycle Rules allow you to automate management of objects in a bucket by:

Action	Description
Transition	Move objects to a cheaper storage class (e.g., IA, Glacier)
Expiration	Delete objects automatically after a set time
Noncurrent Version Expiration	Delete older versions of versioned objects after X days
Incomplete Multipart Expiration	Remove failed/incomplete uploads that consume storage

✅ Lifecycle rules reduce cost, improve data hygiene, and enforce compliance.

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🧠 Key Concepts

Concept	Description
Rule	Each lifecycle configuration is defined by a rule
Filter	Defines which objects the rule applies to (prefix, tags)
Transition	Move objects to other storage classes
Expiration	Delete objects or old versions
Abort Incomplete Uploads	Cleans up incomplete multipart uploads

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🎯 Real-Life Use Cases

Scenario	Rule Strategy
Logs older than 30 days → IA, then Glacier	Use transitions
Delete images after 90 days	Use expiration
Clean up old versions after 60 days	Use noncurrent version expiration
Remove incomplete uploads after 7 days	Use abort incomplete multipart uploads

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📘 Example: JSON Lifecycle Policy

{
  "Rules": [
    {
      "ID": "archive-logs",
      "Prefix": "logs/",
      "Status": "Enabled",
      "Transitions": [
        {
          "Days": 30,
          "StorageClass": "STANDARD_IA"
        },
        {
          "Days": 90,
          "StorageClass": "GLACIER"
        }
      ],
      "Expiration": {
        "Days": 365
      },
      "NoncurrentVersionExpiration": {
        "NoncurrentDays": 60
      },
      "AbortIncompleteMultipartUpload": {
        "DaysAfterInitiation": 7
      }
    }
  ]
}

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🛠️ Terraform Example: S3 Lifecycle Rules

resource "aws_s3_bucket" "my_bucket" {
  bucket = "yuva-lifecycle-bucket"
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_versioning" "versioning" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.my_bucket.id
  versioning_configuration {
    status = "Enabled"
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "example" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.my_bucket.id

  rule {
    id     = "archive-logs"
    status = "Enabled"

    filter {
      prefix = "logs/"
    }

    transition {
      days          = 30
      storage_class = "STANDARD_IA"
    }

    transition {
      days          = 90
      storage_class = "GLACIER"
    }

    expiration {
      days = 365
    }

    noncurrent_version_expiration {
      noncurrent_days = 60
    }

    abort_incomplete_multipart_upload {
      days_after_initiation = 7
    }
  }
}

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📋 Terraform Options Explained

Block	Purpose
transition	Move object to another storage class
expiration	Deletes current version of object
noncurrent_version_expiration	Deletes older versions of versioned objects
abort_incomplete_multipart_upload	Deletes incomplete uploads after X days
filter with prefix or tags	Limit rule to specific objects

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🧮 Cost Optimization Strategy (Best Practice)

Phase	Time	Action
0–30 days	Frequent access	Keep in STANDARD
30–90 days	Rare access	Move to IA
>90 days	Archive	Move to GLACIER
>365 days	Delete	Auto-delete from bucket

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✅ TL;DR Cheat Sheet

Feature	Use Case
transition	Move to cheaper storage (IA/Glacier)
expiration	Auto-delete data
noncurrent_version_expiration	Clean old versions
abort_incomplete_multipart_upload	Clean broken uploads
filter	Apply rules only to specific paths/tags

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