Exercise - Connect Azure Storage Explorer to Azure Data Lake Storage

  • 10 minutes

Azure Storage Explorer isn't just about storage accounts. You can also use it to investigate and download data from Azure Data Lake Storage.

You've learned how simple creating and managing blob and queue resources in your Azure Storage account is. Now you want to push your understanding further and learn how the storage account connects to your developers' data lake, which they use to store infrastructure data for the CRM system.

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 isn't a dedicated service or account type. It's a set of capabilities that you unlock by enabling the hierarchical namespace feature of an Azure Storage account.

Here, you'll learn how to use Storage Explorer to connect to Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, create a container, and upload data into it.

Note

This exercise is optional. If you want to complete this exercise, you'll need to create an Azure subscription before you begin. If you don't have an Azure account or you don't want to create one at this time, you can read through the instructions so you understand the information that's being presented.

Note

In this unit, you use Azure Cloud Shell as a terminal. You can access Cloud Shell through the Azure portal or the Cloud Shell sign-in. You don't have to install anything on your PC or laptop to use it.

Note

You need to use a resource group to complete the steps in this exercise. You can use a resource group that you already created, or you can create a new resource group specifically for this exercise. If you choose to create a new resource group, that will make it easier to clean up any resources that you create as you complete the exercise. If you don't have an existing resource group or you want to create a new one specifically for this exercise, you can follow the steps in Use the Azure portal and Azure Resource Manager to manage resource groups to create a resource group by using the Azure portal, or you can follow the steps in Manage Azure resource groups by using Azure CLI to create a resource group by using the the Azure CLI.

Create a storage account with Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 capabilities

Let's look at connecting to a Data Lake Storage Gen2-enabled account. Before you can use Storage Explorer to manage your Data Lake Storage Gen2-enabled account, you need to create the storage account in Azure.

To create the storage account, open the Azure Cloud Shell and run the az storage account create command. Replace myResourceGroupName with the name of your resource group.

az storage account create \
    --name dlstoragetest$RANDOM \
    --resource-group "myResourceGroupName" \
    --location westus2 \
    --sku Standard_LRS \
    --kind StorageV2 \
    --hns

Note

Please give the storage account several minutes to complete.

Connect to your Data Lake Gen2 enabled storage account

Now that you've created a Gen2-enabled storage account, Storage Explorer should automatically connect to it.

  1. In Storage Explorer, in the EXPLORER pane, locate your subscription and expand it to show all the storage accounts.

    Note

    It might take several minutes for the storage account to display in Storage Explorer. If you don't see the storage account, wait a few moments and select Refresh all.

  2. You'll see the dlstoragetest001 (ADLS Gen2) storage account displayed under the storage accounts. Your account will have a different number suffix.

    Screenshot that shows the Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 account.

Create a container

All containers in a Data Lake Gen2-enabled storage account are blobs. To create a new container:

  1. Expand the dlstoragetest001 storage account, right-click Blob Containers, and select Create Blob Container from the shortcut menu.

    Screenshot that shows the shortcut menu for adding a container.

  2. Name the new container myfilesystem.

  3. When the container is created, the pane for the container appears. There, you can manage the container contents.

    Screenshot that shows the myfilesystem control ribbon and view.

Upload and view blob data

With the new myfilesystem container created, you can now upload files or folders to it.

  1. To upload a file, select the Upload option, then select Upload Files.

    Screenshot that shows the upload options.

  2. In the dialog box, use the ellipsis (...) to select the file that you want to upload.

  3. Select the file you want to upload, then select Open.

  4. Select the Upload button.

  5. The file is available to the myfilesystem container.

    Screenshot that shows the uploaded file.

You can upload as many files as you want to this folder. Also, you can create an unlimited number of folders. You can then organize and manage the content in your folders as you do with your file system.