View Button from attachment files not using correct url

[matbalba09]

I have a local setup of bigcapital, I am now able to upload attachments to the modules lng bills etc. But when checking the attached file there is the view and delete button beside it and when clicking the view button it redirects to an incorrect url so I'm getting "This site can’t be reached".

I am using a minio container for the storage of file attachments.
I think my configuration could be the cause like the env varialbes in my .env or the env called in the docker-compose.prod.yml file. How do I configure this. I opened an issue for this which has a detailed data of my configurations #1001

[abouolia]

It works from my side though, on real s3, pretty sure it's misconfiguration.

[matbalba09]

Yes I get that, but what part of my configuration is wrong? is it in the .env? or maybe docker-compose?

[matbalba09]

because the s3 setup is not here docs.bigcapital.app

[abouolia]

The "View" button works by asking the server for a presigned URL for the attachment, then opening that URL in the browser. The URL is generated on the server using the S3 client config, so the problem is almost certainly what the server thinks the S3/Minio endpoint is (i.e. your env and how it’s passed into the container).

Why you see "This site can't be reached"

The server builds the presigned URL from the same S3 client it uses for uploads. That client is configured from env (see packages/server/src/common/config/s3.ts and packages/server/src/modules/S3/S3.module.ts). The presigned URL’s host is exactly S3_ENDPOINT.

So:

• If you set S3_ENDPOINT=http://minio:9000 (or another internal hostname), the presigned URL will look like http://minio:9000/.... The browser then tries to open that. The browser runs on the user’s machine and cannot resolve minio (that name only works inside the Docker network), so you get "This site can't be reached".
• The same happens if the endpoint is wrong for your setup (e.g. port, or a hostname only valid inside Docker).

So the fix is: S3_ENDPOINT must be the URL that the end‑user’s browser can use to reach Minio, not the URL that the server uses internally to talk to Minio (unless they are the same).

What to set

1. S3_ENDPOINT (main fix)

Set it to the browser‑reachable Minio URL:

• Local dev, app and Minio on same machine
  Minio API is usually exposed on port 9001 (docker-compose maps 9001:9000). Use:

  S3_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:9001

• Server in Docker, browser on host (e.g. Mac/Windows)
  The server (in Docker) must generate URLs the host can open. Use the host’s address and the port where Minio is mapped (e.g. 9001):

  S3_ENDPOINT=http://host.docker.internal:9001

  (On Linux you may need the host’s IP instead of host.docker.internal.)

• Production / custom domain
  Use the URL that users (and their browsers) use to reach Minio, e.g.:

  S3_ENDPOINT=https://minio.yourdomain.com

  or whatever host/port you expose Minio on.

So: both in .env and in docker-compose.prod.yml (or wherever the server gets its env), S3_ENDPOINT must be this browser‑reachable URL. If the server runs in Docker and you only set an internal URL (e.g. http://minio:9000), the View button will keep failing.

2. Minio‑specific: path style

Minio expects path‑style requests. The app supports that via (see packages/server/src/common/config/s3.ts):

forcePathStyle: process.env.S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE === 'true',

So in .env you should have:

S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=true

And if you run the server via docker-compose.prod.yml, that file currently passes only:

• S3_REGION
• S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID
• S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
• S3_ENDPOINT
• S3_BUCKET

It does not pass S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE. For Minio you should add it to the server’s environment in docker-compose.prod.yml, e.g.:

- S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=${S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE:-true}

(and set S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=true in .env when using Minio).

3. Checklist

• .env: S3_ENDPOINT = URL the browser can use to reach Minio (e.g. http://localhost:9001 or http://host.docker.internal:9001).
• .env: S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=true when using Minio.
• docker-compose.prod.yml (if you use it): same S3_ENDPOINT and add S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE to the server service env.
• Minio port: in your compose, Minio API is on 9000 inside the container; if you map it as 9001:9000, then the browser uses port 9001 in S3_ENDPOINT.

Once S3_ENDPOINT points to a URL the browser can actually open (and path style is set for Minio), the View button should work. If you can share your current S3_* env and whether the server runs on the host or in Docker, we can double‑check the exact value you need.

[matbalba09]

Hi @abouolia is the correct result of clicking the "View" button downloading the uploaded file?
because this is what happens now.