How to use Azure Blob Storage for file hosting

Posted on by Panther

Azure Blob Storage is an object storage service provided by Microsoft Azure. It allows users to store and retrieve large amounts of unstructured data such as documents, images, videos, and other types of files. In this tutorial, we will explore the basics of Azure Blob Storage and how it can be used for file hosting.

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have the following:

  • A Microsoft Azure account
  • Azure Storage Account

Create a Storage Account

The first step is to create a Storage Account in the Azure portal. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Log in to the Azure portal
  2. Click on the “Create a resource” button
  3. Search for “Storage Account” and select “Storage Account – blob, file, queue, table”
  4. Click on the “Create” button
  5. Enter the required information such as the subscription, resource group, storage account name, and location
  6. Click on the “Review + create” button
  7. Review the settings and click on the “Create” button to create the storage account

Create a Blob Container

After creating the Storage Account, the next step is to create a Blob Container where we will store our files. To create a Blob Container, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Storage Account in the Azure portal
  2. Click on “Containers” in the left-hand menu
  3. Click on the “+ Container” button
  4. Enter a name for the container
  5. Choose the access level for the container (private or public)
  6. Click on the “Create” button

Upload a File to Blob Storage

Now that we have created a Blob Container, we can begin uploading our files to Azure Blob Storage. To upload a file, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Blob Container in the Azure portal
  2. Click on the “Upload” button
  3. Select the file you want to upload
  4. Click on the “Upload” button

Generate a Shared Access Signature (SAS)

To access the files stored in Azure Blob Storage, we need to generate a Shared Access Signature (SAS). A SAS is a query string that allows clients to access a resource for a specific amount of time and with specific permissions. To generate a SAS, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Blob Container in the Azure portal
  2. Click on the “Access policy” button
  3. Click on the “+ Add” button to add a new policy
  4. Enter a name for the policy and select the permissions you want to grant
  5. Click on the “OK” button
  6. Click on the “Generate SAS” button
  7. Choose the start time, expiry time, and permissions for the SAS
  8. Click on the “Generate SAS and connection string” button
  9. Copy the SAS token

Accessing File in Blob Storage using the SAS

After generating the SAS token, we can access our files stored in Azure Blob Storage using the SAS token. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Copy the SAS token generated in the previous step
  2. Open a new browser window and paste the SAS token in the address bar
  3. Add the name of the file you want to access at the end of the URL
  4. Press “Enter” to access the file

Programmatic Access to Blob Storage

Azure Blob Storage can also be accessed programmatically using the Azure Storage SDKs for popular programming languages. In this tutorial, we will use Python to interact with Azure Blob Storage programmatically.

Requirements

Before we start, make sure you have the following:

  • Python 3.x
  • Azure Storage SDK for Python

Uploading a File

To upload a file to Azure Blob Storage programmatically, follow the steps below:

  1. Import the necessary libraries
from azure.storage.blob import BlockBlobService
  1. Create a connection to Azure Blob Storage using your account name and account key
account_name = "youraccountname"
account_key = "youraccountkey"

service = BlockBlobService(account_name=account_name, account_key=account_key)
  1. Upload the file to Azure Blob Storage
container_name = "yourcontainername"
blob_name = "yourblobname"
file_path = "yourfilepath"

service.create_blob_from_path(container_name, blob_name, file_path)

Downloading a File

To download a file from Azure Blob Storage programmatically, follow the steps below:

  1. Import the necessary libraries
from azure.storage.blob import BlockBlobService
  1. Create a connection to Azure Blob Storage using your account name and account key
account_name = "youraccountname"
account_key = "youraccountkey"

service = BlockBlobService(account_name=account_name, account_key=account_key)
  1. Download the file from Azure Blob Storage
container_name = "yourcontainername"
blob_name = "yourblobname"
file_path = "yourdownloadpath"

service.get_blob_to_path(container_name, blob_name, file_path)

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have explored the basics of Azure Blob Storage and how it can be used for file hosting. We have gone through the process of creating a Storage Account, creating a Blob Container, uploading and accessing files, generating a Shared Access Signature, and accessing Blob Storage programmatically using the Azure Storage SDK for Python. With the powerful features of Azure Blob Storage and the ease of use provided by the Azure portal and SDKs, managing and hosting files has never been easier.

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