Configuring object storage
User-uploaded files can be stored on the main server’s file system, or using an external object storage server, which can be required for scaling. Using the filesystem The simplest way to store user uploads is by using the server’s file system. This is how it works by default and is suitable for small servers. By default, Mastodon will store file uploads under public/system in its installation directory, but that can be overridden using the PAPERCLIP_ROOT_PATH environment variable.