Detailed explantion about how to upload Blobs in Azure

Uploading blobs to Azure Blob Storage is a key task when managing files in the cloud.

Azure provides multiple methods to upload blobs, depending on your use case and environment.

Below is a detailed guide covering several methods to upload blobs to Azure Blob Storage using the Azure Portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, and programmatically with Azure SDKs.

Method 1: Upload Blobs Using the Azure Portal

The Azure Portal provides an easy-to-use graphical interface to upload files to Blob Storage.

Steps to Upload Blobs via Azure Portal

1. Sign in to Azure Portal

• Go to Azure Portal.

• Log in with your Azure account credentials.

2. Navigate to Your Storage Account

• In the left-hand menu, select Storage accounts.

• Click on the desired Storage Account.

3. Open Blob Containers

• Under Data Storage, click on Containers.

• Choose the Blob Container where you want to upload the blob, or create a new one by clicking + Container.

4. Upload the Blob

• Inside the container, click on the Upload button at the top.

• In the Upload Blob pane, click Browse for files to select the file(s) from your local machine that you want to upload.

• You can also drag and drop files directly into the pane.

• (Optional) Configure Blob tier for the uploaded files (Hot, Cool, or Archive).

• Click Upload to start the upload process.

5. Verify Upload

Once the upload is complete, you can see the uploaded blob listed in the container.

You can click on the blob name to view additional details like metadata, access properties, and access URLs.

Method 2: Upload Blobs Using Azure CLI

The Azure CLI is a command-line tool that allows you to manage Azure resources and upload files to Blob Storage.

Steps to Upload Blobs via Azure CLI

1. Install Azure CLI

If you don’t have the Azure CLI installed, follow the instructions to install it from the official Azure CLI installation guide.

2. Log in to Azure

Open a terminal or command prompt and run:

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az login

3. Upload Blob

Use the az storage blob upload command to upload a file to a container in your storage account.

Example:

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az storage blob upload \
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--account-name <your-storage-account> \
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--container-name <your-container> \
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--file <path-to-local-file> \
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--name <blob-name>

• Replace <your-storage-account> with the name of your storage account.

• Replace <your-container> with the name of the container you want to upload the blob to.

• Replace <path-to-local-file> with the local file path of the file to upload.

• Replace <blob-name> with the desired name for the blob in the storage container.

Example command:

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az storage blob upload \
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--account-name mystorageacct \
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--container-name mycontainer \
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--file /path/to/file.txt \
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--name file.txt

4. Verify the Upload

To confirm the blob has been uploaded, list the blobs in the container using:

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az storage blob list \
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--account-name <your-storage-account> \
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--container-name <your-container> \
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--output table

Method 3: Upload Blobs Using Azure PowerShell

If you prefer using PowerShell to manage Azure resources, you can upload blobs using the Az.Storage module in Azure PowerShell.

Steps to Upload Blobs via Azure PowerShell

1. Install Azure PowerShell

If you don't have Azure PowerShell installed, follow the installation instructions on Install Azure PowerShell.

2. Log in to Azure

Open PowerShell and run:

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Connect-AzAccount

3. Upload Blob

Use the Set-AzStorageBlobContent cmdlet to upload a blob from a local file to your container.

Example:

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Set-AzStorageBlobContent `
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-File <path-to-local-file> `
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-Container <your-container> `
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-Blob <blob-name> `
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-Context $context

• Replace <path-to-local-file> with the full path to your local file.

• Replace <your-container> with the name of the target container.

• Replace <blob-name> with the desired name for the blob.

• $context is your storage account context, which can be created like this:

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$context = New-AzStorageContext `
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-StorageAccountName <your-storage-account> `
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-StorageAccountKey <your-storage-account-key>

Example command:

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Set-AzStorageBlobContent `
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-File C:\files\file.txt `
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-Container mycontainer `
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-Blob file.txt `
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-Context $context

4. Verify the Upload

List the blobs in the container to confirm the upload:

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Get-AzStorageBlob `
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-Container <your-container> `
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-Context $context

Method 4: Upload Blobs Programmatically Using Azure SDKs

You can also upload blobs programmatically using Azure SDKs for various programming languages such as C#, Python, Java, and JavaScript.

Upload Blob Using Azure SDK for Python

1. Install Azure Storage Blob SDK

Install the required package using pip:

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pip install azure-storage-blob

2. Upload Blob Using Python

Here's a sample Python script that uploads a blob to Azure Blob Storage.

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from azure.storage.blob import BlobServiceClient
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# Replace with your storage account connection string
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connection_string = "<your-connection-string>"
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container_name = "<your-container>"
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blob_name = "<blob-name>"
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file_path = "<path-to-local-file>"
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# Create a BlobServiceClient
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blob_service_client = BlobServiceClient.from_connection_string(connection_string)
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# Get the container client
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container_client = blob_service_client.get_container_client(container_name)
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# Upload the file
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with open(file_path, "rb") as data:
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   container_client.upload_blob(blob_name, data)
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print(f"Blob {blob_name} uploaded successfully.")

Replace the placeholders with your connection string, container name, blob name, and local file path.

3. Verify the Upload

You can list the blobs in the container using the SDK or the Azure Portal to confirm the upload.

Method 5: Upload Large Files Using AzCopy

AzCopy is a command-line utility designed specifically for managing large-scale data transfers to and from Azure Blob Storage.

It is ideal for uploading large datasets efficiently.

Steps to Upload Large Files with AzCopy:

1. Install AzCopy

Download and install AzCopy from the official AzCopy download page.

2. Log in to Azure

Run the following command to log in:

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azcopy login

3. Upload Blob

Use the azcopy copy command to upload a file to Azure Blob Storage.

Example:

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azcopy copy "<path-to-local-file>" "https://<your-storage-account>.blob.core.windows.net/<your-container>/<blob-name>?<sas-token>"

• Replace <path-to-local-file> with the path to your local file.

• Replace <your-storage-account>, <your-container>, <blob-name>, and <sas-token> with your actual storage account name, container name, blob name, and SAS token (if using SAS for authentication).

4. Verify the Upload

Use the azcopy list command to confirm the blob exists in the container:

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azcopy list "https://<your-storage-account>.blob.core.windows.net/<your-container>?<sas-token>"

Summary

Azure Blob Storage offers several ways to upload files, each catering to different needs:

• Azure Portal: User-friendly, ideal for small uploads.

• Azure CLI: Efficient for automation via command line.

• Azure PowerShell: Suitable for users familiar with PowerShell scripts.

• Azure SDKs: For programmatic uploads in different languages (Python, C#, Java, etc.).

• AzCopy: Best for uploading large files or large datasets at scale.

Choose the method that best fits your workflow, whether it's manual, automated, or programmatically driven.