minkms server

Starts a single MinIO KMS process on the host machine. If started outside of a control process such as systemd, the server runs until you close the active terminal session.

SYNTAX

minkms server           \
  DIR                   \
  [--address IP:[PORT]  \
  [--host HOST]         \
  [--config FILE]       \
  [--license FILE]      \
  [--dev]

PARAMETERS

`DIR`

Required

The data directory where the MinIO KMS stores all data, including the encryption key database.

`--address`

Optional

Specify the IP and optional port as IP[:PORT] which the MinIO KMS listens for incoming traffic.

By default MinIO KMS uses 0.0.0.0:7373 to listen on port 7373 on all available network interfaces. Omit the [:PORT] to limit listening to the specified network interface on port 7373.

`--host`

Optional

The public IP or FQDN and port of this MinIO KMS server. Defaults to the first unicast IP address and the port specified by --addr.

If no unicast IP address is available, defaults to the link-local IP 127.0.0.1 and the port specified by --addr.

`--config`

Optional

An optional config file.

Omit to use the following default configuration directories:

For Linux/Unix systems - $USER/.minkms
For Windows systems - $USERPROFILE/.minkms

`--dev`

Optional

Start the server in dev mode with a randomly generated root encryption key and an ephemeral on-disk state.

Restarting or stopping the server results in the loss of all stored data during the developer session.

`--license`

Optional | Deprecated

As of release RELEASE.2025-11-12T19-14-51Z, MinIO KMS no longer requires a MinIO Commercial License. This flag is accepted for backward compatibility but is ignored.

Previous versions (prior to RELEASE.2025-11-12T19-14-51Z) require this flag or the MINIO_LICENSE environment variable.

For license configuration instructions for previous versions, see the Legacy License Installation Guide.

The path to the license file. This flag is deprecated and ignored in current versions of MinIO KMS.