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A Cloud Guru

Using Azure Files with a Linux VM

Azure file shares provide a simple and reliable way to store data in a typical directory hierarchy. Moreover, file share data can be accessed using the widely supported Samba protocol. This enables you to mount Azure file shares to a virtual machine and easily interact with the files from your VM. In this lab, you will have the opportunity to mount an Azure file share to a Linux VM. By the time you have completed the lab, you will be able to read and write to an Azure file share from your Linux VM.

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Path Info

Level

Intermediate

Duration

30m

Published

Feb 14, 2020

Challenge

Create a Secure Credentials File to Store Credentials for the Samba Share
1. Create a file that will contain the Samba credentials for the storage account. Note that for the file name, you should enter your unique service account name:
```
sudo mkdir -p /etc/smbcredentials
```
```
sudo vi /etc/smbcredentials/<STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME>.cred
```
2. Store the Samba user (storage account name) and password (storage account key) in the file. Input your unique storage account name and key, which you can find via Azure portal.
3. The file should look like this:
```
username=<STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME>
password=<STORAGE_ACCOUNT_KEY>
```
4. Set permissions on the credential file so that only root can read it:
```
sudo chmod 600 /etc/smbcredentials/<STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME>.cred
```
Challenge

Mount the File Share to the Linux VM
1. Create a directory for the mount:
```
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/sattrecords
```
2. Edit the fstab file:
```
sudo vi /etc/fstab
```
3. At the end of the file, add a line to automatically mount the Azure file share whenever the server starts up:
```
//<STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME>.file.core.windows.net/records /mnt/sattrecords cifs nofail,vers=3.0,credentials=/etc/smbcredentials/<STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME>.cred,serverino
```
4. Mount the file share by mounting all filesystems in fstab.
```
sudo mount -a
```
5. Browse the mounted directory. You should see files there that are stored in the Azure file share:
```
cd /mnt/sattrecords
```
```
ls -la
```
6. Test your ability to write to the Azure file share by creating a test file:
```
sudo vi test_file.txt
```
7. Write some text to your test file and save it. If you wish, you can navigate to the file share in the Azure portal and view your new file there.

Author

A Cloud Guru

The Cloud Content team comprises subject matter experts hyper focused on services offered by the leading cloud vendors (AWS, GCP, and Azure), as well as cloud-related technologies such as Linux and DevOps. The team is thrilled to share their knowledge to help you build modern tech solutions from the ground up, secure and optimize your environments, and so much more!

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