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Object Storage Service:Quick Start (C SDK)

Last Updated:Mar 20, 2026

This guide covers the five core operations of OSS SDK for C: creating a bucket, uploading an object, downloading an object, listing objects, and deleting an object. Run these operations in order — you must create a bucket before uploading objects.

All examples share the same initialization pattern: configure credentials from environment variables, set up a memory pool, and call the operation. Only the core operation differs between examples.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have:

  • Installed OSS SDK for C. For instructions, see Installation.

  • Set the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables with your AccessKey ID and AccessKey Secret.

Create a bucket

oss_create_bucket creates a bucket with the access control list (ACL) you specify. The example below sets the ACL to OSS_ACL_PRIVATE (private access). If the bucket is created successfully, aos_status_is_ok returns true.

#include "oss_api.h"
#include "aos_http_io.h"
/* Specify the endpoint of the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com. */
const char *endpoint = "yourEndpoint";
/* Specify the name of the bucket. Example: examplebucket. */
const char *bucket_name = "examplebucket";
/* Specify the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the region to cn-hangzhou. */
const char *region = "yourRegion";

void init_options(oss_request_options_t *options)
{
    options->config = oss_config_create(options->pool);
    /* Use a char* string to initialize data of the aos_string_t type. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->endpoint, endpoint);
    /* Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run the sample code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_id, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"));
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_secret, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET"));
    // Specify two additional parameters.
    aos_str_set(&options->config->region, region);
    options->config->signature_version = 4;
    /* Specify whether to use CNAME to access OSS. The value of 0 indicates that CNAME is not used.  */
    options->config->is_cname = 0;
    /* Configure network parameters, such as the timeout period. */
    options->ctl = aos_http_controller_create(options->pool, 0);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    /* Call the aos_http_io_initialize method in main() to initialize global resources, such as network resources and memory resources.  */
    if (aos_http_io_initialize(NULL, 0) != AOSE_OK) {
        exit(1);
    }
    /* Create a memory pool to manage memory. aos_pool_t is equivalent to apr_pool_t. The code used to create a memory pool is included in the APR library. */
    aos_pool_t *pool;
    /* Create a memory pool. The value of the second parameter is NULL. This value specifies that the pool does not inherit other memory pools. */
    aos_pool_create(&pool, NULL);
    /* Create and initialize options. This parameter includes global configuration information, such as endpoint, access_key_id, access_key_secret, is_cname, and curl. */
    oss_request_options_t *oss_client_options;
    /* Allocate the memory resources in the memory pool to the options. */
    oss_client_options = oss_request_options_create(pool);
    /* Initialize oss_client_options. */
    init_options(oss_client_options);
    /* Initialize the parameters. */
    aos_string_t bucket;
    oss_acl_e oss_acl = OSS_ACL_PRIVATE;
    aos_table_t *resp_headers = NULL;
    aos_status_t *resp_status = NULL;
    /* Assign char* data to a bucket of the aos_string_t type.  */
    aos_str_set(&bucket, bucket_name);
    /* Create the bucket. */
    resp_status = oss_create_bucket(oss_client_options, &bucket, oss_acl, &resp_headers);
    /* Determine whether the bucket is created.  */
    if (aos_status_is_ok(resp_status)) {
        printf("create bucket succeeded\n");
    } else {
        printf("create bucket failed\n");
    }
    /* Release the memory pool. This operation releases the memory resources allocated for the request. */
    aos_pool_destroy(pool);
    /* Release the allocated global resources.  */
    aos_http_io_deinitialize();
    return 0;
}

Upload an object

oss_put_object_from_buffer uploads object content from an in-memory buffer using streaming upload. The bucket must already exist. The example packs a string into a buffer and uploads it to exampledir/exampleobject.txt.

#include "oss_api.h"
#include "aos_http_io.h"
/* Specify the endpoint of the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com. */
const char *endpoint = "yourEndpoint";
/* Specify the name of the bucket. Example: examplebucket. */
const char *bucket_name = "examplebucket";
/* Specify the full path of the object. Do not include the bucket name in the full path. Example: exampledir/exampleobject.txt. */
const char *object_name = "exampledir/exampleobject.txt";
const char *object_content = "More than just cloud.";
/* Specify the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the region to cn-hangzhou. */
const char *region = "yourRegion";
void init_options(oss_request_options_t *options)
{
    options->config = oss_config_create(options->pool);
    /* Use a char* string to initialize data of the aos_string_t type. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->endpoint, endpoint);
    /* Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run the sample code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_id, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"));
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_secret, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET"));
    // Specify two additional parameters.
    aos_str_set(&options->config->region, region);
    options->config->signature_version = 4;
    /* Specify whether to use CNAME. The value 0 indicates that CNAME is not used. */
    options->config->is_cname = 0;
    /* Configure network parameters, such as the timeout period. */
    options->ctl = aos_http_controller_create(options->pool, 0);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    /* Call the aos_http_io_initialize method in main() to initialize global resources, such as network resources and memory resources. */
    if (aos_http_io_initialize(NULL, 0) != AOSE_OK) {
        exit(1);
    }
    /* Create a memory pool to manage memory. aos_pool_t is equivalent to apr_pool_t. The code used to create a memory pool is included in the APR library. */
    aos_pool_t *pool;
    /* Create a memory pool. The value of the second parameter is NULL. This value indicates that the pool does not inherit other memory pools. */
    aos_pool_create(&pool, NULL);
    /* Create and initialize options. This parameter includes global configuration information, such as endpoint, access_key_id, access_key_secret, is_cname, and curl. */
    oss_request_options_t *oss_client_options;
    /* Allocate the memory resources in the memory pool to the options. */
    oss_client_options = oss_request_options_create(pool);
    /* Initialize oss_client_options. */
    init_options(oss_client_options);
    /* Initialize the parameters. */
    aos_string_t bucket;
    aos_string_t object;
    aos_list_t buffer;
    aos_buf_t *content = NULL;
    aos_table_t *headers = NULL;
    aos_table_t *resp_headers = NULL;
    aos_status_t *resp_status = NULL;
    aos_str_set(&bucket, bucket_name);
    aos_str_set(&object, object_name);
    aos_list_init(&buffer);
    content = aos_buf_pack(oss_client_options->pool, object_content, strlen(object_content));
    aos_list_add_tail(&content->node, &buffer);
    /* Upload the object. */
    resp_status = oss_put_object_from_buffer(oss_client_options, &bucket, &object, &buffer, headers, &resp_headers);
    /* Check whether the object is uploaded. */
    if (aos_status_is_ok(resp_status)) {
        printf("put object from buffer succeeded\n");
    } else {
        printf("put object from buffer failed\n");
    }
    /* Release the memory pool. This operation releases the memory resources allocated for the request. */
    aos_pool_destroy(pool);
    /* Release the allocated global resources. */
    aos_http_io_deinitialize();
    return 0;
}

Download an object

oss_get_object_to_file downloads an object to a local file. If a file with the same name already exists at the destination path, the download overwrites it. Otherwise, a new file is created.

#include "oss_api.h"
#include "aos_http_io.h"
/* Specify the endpoint of the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com. */
const char *endpoint = "yourEndpoint";

/* Specify the name of the bucket. Example: examplebucket. */
const char *bucket_name = "examplebucket";
/* Specify the full path of the object. Do not include the bucket name in the full path. Example: exampledir/exampleobject.txt. */
const char *object_name = "exampledir/exampleobject.txt";
/* Specify the full path of the local file. */
const char *local_filename = "yourLocalFilename";
/* Specify the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the region to cn-hangzhou. */
const char *region = "yourRegion";
void init_options(oss_request_options_t *options)
{
    options->config = oss_config_create(options->pool);
    /* Use a char* string to initialize data of the aos_string_t type. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->endpoint, endpoint);
    /* Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run the sample code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_id, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"));
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_secret, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET"));
    // Specify two additional parameters.
    aos_str_set(&options->config->region, region);
    options->config->signature_version = 4;
    /* Specify whether to use CNAME. The value 0 indicates that CNAME is not used. */
    options->config->is_cname = 0;
    /* Specify network parameters, such as the timeout period. */
    options->ctl = aos_http_controller_create(options->pool, 0);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    /* Call the aos_http_io_initialize method in main() to initialize global resources, such as network resources and memory resources. */
    if (aos_http_io_initialize(NULL, 0) != AOSE_OK) {
        exit(1);
    }
    /* Create a memory pool to manage memory. aos_pool_t is equivalent to apr_pool_t. The code used to create a memory pool is included in the APR library. */
    aos_pool_t *pool;
    /* Create a memory pool. The value of the second parameter is NULL. This value indicates that the pool does not inherit other memory pools. */
    aos_pool_create(&pool, NULL);
    /* Create and initialize options. This parameter includes global configuration information, such as endpoint, access_key_id, access_key_secret, is_cname, and curl. */
    oss_request_options_t *oss_client_options;
    /* Allocate the memory resources in the memory pool to the options. */
    oss_client_options = oss_request_options_create(pool);
    /* Initialize oss_client_options. */
    init_options(oss_client_options);
    /* Initialize the parameters. */
    aos_string_t bucket;
    aos_string_t object;
    aos_string_t file;
    aos_table_t *params;
    aos_table_t *headers = NULL;
    aos_table_t *resp_headers = NULL;
    aos_status_t *resp_status = NULL;
    aos_str_set(&bucket, bucket_name);
    aos_str_set(&object, object_name);
    aos_str_set(&file, local_filename);
    params = aos_table_make(pool, 0);
    /* Download the object to your local file. If a file with the same name already exists, the downloaded object overwrites the file. Otherwise, a new file is created. */
    resp_status = oss_get_object_to_file(oss_client_options, &bucket, &object, headers, params, &file, &resp_headers);
    if (aos_status_is_ok(resp_status)) {
        printf("Get object from file succeeded\n");
    } else {
        printf("Get object from file failed\n");
    }
    /* Release the memory pool. This operation releases memory resources allocated for the request. */
    aos_pool_destroy(pool);
    /* Release the allocated global resources. */
    aos_http_io_deinitialize();
    return 0;
}

List objects

oss_list_object lists objects in a bucket, returning up to 1,000 objects per call in alphabetical order. When the result is truncated, params->truncated is set to AOS_TRUE and params->next_marker is returned as the starting point for the next call. The example sets max_ret to 100 and loops until all objects are listed.

#include "oss_api.h"
#include "aos_http_io.h"
/* Specify the endpoint of the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com. */
const char *endpoint = "yourEndpoint";
/* Specify the name of the bucket. Example: examplebucket. */
const char *bucket_name = "examplebucket";
/* Specify the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the region to cn-hangzhou. */
const char *region = "yourRegion";
void init_options(oss_request_options_t *options)
{
    options->config = oss_config_create(options->pool);
    /* Use a char* string to initialize data of the aos_string_t type. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->endpoint, endpoint);
    /* Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run the sample code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_id, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"));
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_secret, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET"));
    // Specify two additional parameters.
    aos_str_set(&options->config->region, region);
    options->config->signature_version = 4;
    /* Specify whether to use CNAME. The value 0 indicates that CNAME is not used. */
    options->config->is_cname = 0;
    /* Specify network parameters, such as the timeout period. */
    options->ctl = aos_http_controller_create(options->pool, 0);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    /* Call the aos_http_io_initialize method in main() to initialize global resources, such as network resources and memory resources. */
    if (aos_http_io_initialize(NULL, 0) != AOSE_OK) {
        exit(1);
    }
    /* Create a memory pool to manage memory. aos_pool_t is equivalent to apr_pool_t. The code used to create a memory pool is included in the APR library. */
    aos_pool_t *pool;
    /* Create a memory pool. The value of the second parameter is NULL. This value indicates that the pool does not inherit other memory pools. */
    aos_pool_create(&pool, NULL);
    /* Create and initialize options. This parameter includes global configuration information, such as endpoint, access_key_id, access_key_secret, is_cname, and curl. */
    oss_request_options_t *oss_client_options;
    /* Allocate the memory resources in the memory pool to the options. */
    oss_client_options = oss_request_options_create(pool);
    /* Initialize oss_client_options. */
    init_options(oss_client_options);
    /* Initialize the parameters. */
    aos_string_t bucket;
    aos_status_t *resp_status = NULL;
    oss_list_object_params_t *params = NULL;
    oss_list_object_content_t *content = NULL;
    int size = 0;
    char *line = NULL;
    char *prefix = "";
    char *nextMarker = "";
    aos_str_set(&bucket, bucket_name);
    params = oss_create_list_object_params(pool);
    /* Set the max_ret parameter to specify the maximum number of objects to return. */
    /* By default, a maximum of 1,000 objects can be listed at a time. If the number of objects to list exceed 1,000, only the first 1,000 objects in alphabetical order are returned. In the returned results, the value of truncated is true, and the value of next_marker is returned as the start point for the next query. */
    params->max_ret = 100;
    aos_str_set(&params->prefix, prefix);
    aos_str_set(&params->marker, nextMarker);
    printf("Object\tSize\tLastModified\n");
    /* List all objects. */
    do {
        resp_status = oss_list_object(oss_client_options, &bucket, params, NULL);
        if (!aos_status_is_ok(resp_status))
        {
            printf("list object failed\n");
            break;
        }
        aos_list_for_each_entry(oss_list_object_content_t, content, &params->object_list, node) {
            ++size;
            line = apr_psprintf(pool, "%.*s\t%.*s\t%.*s\n", content->key.len, content->key.data,
                content->size.len, content->size.data,
                content->last_modified.len, content->last_modified.data);
            printf("%s", line);
        }
        nextMarker = apr_psprintf(pool, "%.*s", params->next_marker.len, params->next_marker.data);
        aos_str_set(&params->marker, nextMarker);
        aos_list_init(&params->object_list);
        aos_list_init(&params->common_prefix_list);
    } while (params->truncated == AOS_TRUE);
    printf("Total %d\n", size);
    /* Release the memory pool. This operation releases the memory resources allocated for the request. */
    aos_pool_destroy(pool);
    /* Release the allocated global resources. */
    aos_http_io_deinitialize();
    return 0;
}

Delete an object

oss_delete_object permanently deletes a single object.

#include "oss_api.h"
#include "aos_http_io.h"
/* Specify the endpoint of the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the endpoint to https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com. */
const char *endpoint = "https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com";
/* Specify the name of the bucket. Example: examplebucket. */
const char *bucket_name = "examplebucket";
/* Specify the full path of the object that you want to delete. Do not include the bucket name in the full path. */
const char *object_name = "exampleobject.jpg";
/* Specify the region in which the bucket is located. For example, if the bucket is located in the China (Hangzhou) region, set the region to cn-hangzhou. */
const char *region = "yourRegion";
void init_options(oss_request_options_t *options)
{
    options->config = oss_config_create(options->pool);
    /* Use a char* string to initialize data of the aos_string_t type. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->endpoint, endpoint);
    /* Obtain access credentials from environment variables. Before you run the sample code, make sure that the OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET environment variables are configured. */
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_id, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"));
    aos_str_set(&options->config->access_key_secret, getenv("OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET"));
    // Specify two additional parameters.
    aos_str_set(&options->config->region, region);
    options->config->signature_version = 4;
    /* Specify whether to use CNAME. The value 0 indicates that CNAME is not used. */
    options->config->is_cname = 0;
    /* Specify network parameters, such as the timeout period. */
    options->ctl = aos_http_controller_create(options->pool, 0);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    /* Call the aos_http_io_initialize method in main() to initialize global resources, such as network resources and memory resources. */
    if (aos_http_io_initialize(NULL, 0) != AOSE_OK) {
        exit(1);
    }
    /* Create a memory pool to manage memory. aos_pool_t is equivalent to apr_pool_t. The code used to create a memory pool is included in the APR library. */
    aos_pool_t *pool;
    /* Create a memory pool. The value of the second parameter is NULL. This value indicates that the pool does not inherit other memory pools. */
    aos_pool_create(&pool, NULL);
    /* Create and initialize options. This parameter includes global configuration information, such as endpoint, access_key_id, access_key_secret, is_cname, and curl. */
    oss_request_options_t *oss_client_options;
    /* Allocate the memory resources in the memory pool to the options. */
    oss_client_options = oss_request_options_create(pool);
    /* Initialize oss_client_options. */
    init_options(oss_client_options);
    /* Initialize the parameters. */
    aos_string_t bucket;
    aos_string_t object;
    aos_table_t *resp_headers = NULL;
    aos_status_t *resp_status = NULL;
    /* Assign char* data to a bucket of the aos_string_t type. */
    aos_str_set(&bucket, bucket_name);
    aos_str_set(&object, object_name);
    /* Delete the object. */
    resp_status = oss_delete_object(oss_client_options, &bucket, &object, &resp_headers);
    /* Determine whether the object is deleted. */
    if (aos_status_is_ok(resp_status)) {
        printf("delete object succeed\n");
    } else {
        printf("delete object failed\n");
    }
    /* Release the memory pool. This operation releases the memory resources allocated for the request. */
    aos_pool_destroy(pool);
    /* Release the allocated global resources. */
    aos_http_io_deinitialize();
    return 0;
}

What's next

Explore the API operations behind each example: