# Connect it to... Garage implements the Amazon S3 protocol, which makes it compatible with many existing software programs. In particular, you will find here instructions to connect it with: - [web applications](./apps.md) - [website hosting](./websites.md) - [software repositories](./repositories.md) - [CLI tools](./cli.md) - [your own code](./code.md) ### Generic instructions To configure S3-compatible software to interact with Garage, you will need the following parameters: - An **API endpoint**: this corresponds to the HTTP or HTTPS address used to contact the Garage server. When runing Garage locally this will usually be `http://127.0.0.1:3900`. In a real-world setting, you would usually have a reverse-proxy that adds TLS support and makes your Garage server available under a public hostname such as `https://garage.example.com`. - An **API access key** and its associated **secret key**. These usually look something like this: `GK3515373e4c851ebaad366558` (access key), `7d37d093435a41f2aab8f13c19ba067d9776c90215f56614adad6ece597dbb34` (secret key). These keys are created and managed using the `garage` CLI, as explained in the [quick start](../quick_start/index.md) guide. Most S3 clients can be configured easily with these parameters, provided that you follow the following guidelines: - **Force path style:** Garage does not support DNS-style buckets, which are now by default on Amazon S3. Instead, Garage uses the legacy path-style bucket addressing. Remember to configure your client to acknowledge this fact. - **Configuring the S3 region:** Garage requires your client to talk to the correct "S3 region", which is set in the configuration file. This is often set just to `garage`. If this is not configured explicitly, clients usually try to talk to region `us-east-1`. Garage should normally redirect your client to the correct region, but in case your client does not support this you might have to configure it manually.