With Microsoft Storage Explorer you only download selected entities and that too in either CSV or Typed CSV format (which is a system wide setting and not a per download setting). Copy Entities: Microsoft Storage Explorer only allows you to copy an entire table. With Cerulean, you can copy selected entities, entities matching a certain query. Start managing Azure storage resources with Storage Explorer. Download and install Azure Storage Explorer, connect to a storage account or service, and more. In my research, I've found a number of 3rd-party apps that allow you to 'mount' an Azure drive in Explorer, but only found 1 article (mentioning mapping Azure in Explorer.
-->Storage Explorer 1.10.0 enables users to upload, download, and copy managed disks, as well as create snapshots. Because of these additional capabilities, you can use Storage Explorer to migrate data from on-premises to Azure, and migrate data across Azure regions.
Prerequisites
To complete this article, you'll need the following:
- An Azure subscription
- One or more Azure managed disks
- The latest version of Azure Storage Explorer
Connect to an Azure subscription
If your Storage Explorer isn't connected to Azure, you will not be able to use it to manage resources. This section goes over connecting it to your Azure account so that you can manage resources using Storage Explorer.
Launch Azure Storage Explorer and click the plug-in icon on the left.
Select Add an Azure Account, and then click Next.
In the Azure Sign in dialog box, enter your Azure credentials.
Select your subscription from the list and then click Apply.
Upload a managed disk from an on-prem VHD
On the left pane, expand Disks and select the resource group that you want to upload your disk to.
Select Upload.
In Upload VHD specify your source VHD, the name of the disk, the OS type, the region you want to upload the disk to, as well as the account type. In some regions Availability zones are supported, for those regions you can select a zone of your choice.
Select Create to begin uploading your disk.
The status of the upload will now display in Activities.
If the upload has finished and you don't see the disk in the right pane, select Refresh.
Download a managed disk
The following steps explain how to download a managed disk to an on-prem VHD. A disk's state must be Unattached in order to be downloaded, you cannot download an Attached disk.
On the left pane, if it isn't already expanded, expand Disks and select the resource group that you want to download your disk from.
On the right pane, select the disk you want to download.
Select Download and then choose where you would like to save the disk.
Select Save and your disk will begin downloading. The status of the download will display in Activities.
Microsoft Storage Explorer App
Copy a managed disk
With Storage Explorer, you can copy a manged disk within or across regions. To copy a disk:
From the Disks dropdown on the left, select the resource group that contains the disk you want to copy.
On the right pane, select the disk you'd like to copy and select Copy.
On the left pane, select the resource group you'd like to paste the disk in.
Select Paste on the right pane.
In the Paste Disk dialog, fill in the values. You can also specify an Availability zone in supported regions.
Select Paste and your disk will begin copying, the status is displayed in Activities.
Create a snapshot
From the Disks dropdown on the left, select the resource group that contains the disk you want to snapshot.
On the right, select the disk you'd like to snapshot and select Create Snapshot.
In Create Snapshot, specify the name of the snapshot as well as the resource group you want to create it in. Then select Create.
Once the snapshot has been created, you can select Open in Portal in Activities to view the snapshot in the Azure portal.
Next steps
Learn how to Create a VM from a VHD by using the Azure portal.
Learn how to Attach a managed data disk to a Windows VM by using the Azure portal.
-->Azure File storage is a service that offers file shares in the cloud using the standard Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol. Both SMB 2.1 and SMB 3.0 are supported. With Azure File storage, you can migrate legacy applications that rely on file shares to Azure quickly and without costly rewrites. You can use File storage to expose data publicly to the world, or to store application data privately. In this article, you'll learn how to use Storage Explorer to work with file shares and files.
Prerequisites
To complete the steps in this article, you'll need the following:
Microsoft Storage Explorer Desktop
Create a File Share
All files must reside in a file share, which is simply a logical grouping of files. An account can contain an unlimited number of file shares, and each share can store an unlimited number of files.
The following steps illustrate how to create a file share within Storage Explorer.
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account within which you wish to create the File Share
Right-click File Shares, and - from the context menu - select Create File Share.
A text box will appear below the File Shares folder. Enter the name for your file share. See the Share naming rules section for a list of rules and restrictions on naming file shares.
Press Enter when done to create the file share, or Esc to cancel. Once the file share has been successfully created, it will be displayed under the File Shares folder for the selected storage account.
View a file share's contents
File shares contain files and folders (that can also contain files).
The following steps illustrate how to view the contents of a file share within Storage Explorer:+
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account containing the file share you wish to view.
Expand the storage account's File Shares.
Right-click the file share you wish to view, and - from the context menu - select Open. You can also double-click the file share you wish to view.
The main pane will display the file share's contents.
Microsoft Storage Explorer Logs
Delete a file share
File shares can be easily created and deleted as needed. (To see how to delete individual files, refer to the section, Managing files in a file share.)
The following steps illustrate how to delete a file share within Storage Explorer:
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account containing the file share you wish to view.
Expand the storage account's File Shares.
Right-click the file share you wish to delete, and - from the context menu - select Delete. You can also press Delete to delete the currently selected file share.
Select Yes to the confirmation dialog.
Copy a file share
Storage Explorer enables you to copy a file share to the clipboard, and then paste that file share into another storage account. (To see how to copy individual files, refer to the section, Managing files in a file share.)
The following steps illustrate how to copy a file share from one storage account to another.
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account containing the file share you wish to copy.
Expand the storage account's File Shares.
Right-click the file share you wish to copy, and - from the context menu - select Copy File Share.
Right-click the desired 'target' storage account into which you want to paste the file share, and - from the context menu - select Paste File Share.
Get the SAS for a file share
A shared access signature (SAS) provides delegated access to resources in your storage account. This means that you can grant a client limited permissions to objects in your storage account for a specified period of time and with a specified set of permissions, without having to share your account access keys.
The following steps illustrate how to create a SAS for a file share:+
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account containing the file share for which you wish to get a SAS.
Expand the storage account's File Shares.
Right-click the desired file share, and - from the context menu - select Get Shared Access Signature.
In the Shared Access Signature dialog, specify the policy, start and expiration dates, time zone, and access levels you want for the resource.
When you're finished specifying the SAS options, select Create.
A second Shared Access Signature dialog will then display that lists the file share along with the URL and QueryStrings you can use to access the storage resource. Select Copy next to the URL you wish to copy to the clipboard.
When done, select Close.
Microsoft Storage Explorer Tool
Manage Access Policies for a file share
The following steps illustrate how to manage (add and remove) access policies for a file share:+ . The Access Policies is used for creating SAS URLs through which people can use to access the Storage File resource during a defined period of time.
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account containing the file share whose access policies you wish to manage.
Expand the storage account's File Shares.
Select the desired file share, and - from the context menu - select Manage Access Policies.
The Access Policies dialog will list any access policies already created for the selected file share.
Follow these steps depending on the access policy management task:
Add a new access policy - Select Add. Once generated, the Access Policies dialog will display the newly added access policy (with default settings).
Edit an access policy - Make any desired edits, and select Save.
Remove an access policy - Select Remove next to the access policy you wish to remove.
Create a new SAS URL using the Access Policy you created earlier:
Managing files in a file share
Once you've created a file share, you can upload a file to that file share, download a file to your local computer, open a file on your local computer, and much more.
The following steps illustrate how to manage the files (and folders) within a file share.
Open Storage Explorer.
In the left pane, expand the storage account containing the file share you wish to manage.
Expand the storage account's File Shares.
Double-click the file share you wish to view.
The main pane will display the file share's contents.
The main pane will display the file share's contents.
Follow these steps depending on the task you wish to perform:
Upload files to a file share
a. On the main pane's toolbar, select Upload, and then Upload Files from the drop-down menu.
b. In the Upload files dialog, select the ellipsis (…) button on the right side of the Files text box to select the file(s) you wish to upload.
c. Select Upload.
Upload a folder to a file share
a. On the main pane's toolbar, select Upload, and then Upload Folder from the drop-down menu.
b. In the Upload folder dialog, select the ellipsis (…) button on the right side of the Folder text box to select the folder whose contents you wish to upload.
c. Optionally, specify a target folder into which the selected folder's contents will be uploaded. If the target folder doesn’t exist, it will be created.
d. Select Upload.
Download a file to your local computer
a. Select the file you wish to download.
b. On the main pane's toolbar, select Download.
c. In the Specify where to save the downloaded file dialog, specify the location where you want the file downloaded, and the name you wish to give it.
d. Select Save.
Open a file on your local computer
a. Select the file you wish to open.
b. On the main pane's toolbar, select Open.
c. The file will be downloaded and opened using the application associated with the file's underlying file type.
Copy a file to the clipboard
a. Select the file you wish to copy.
b. On the main pane's toolbar, select Copy.
c. In the left pane, navigate to another file share, and double-click it to view it in the main pane.
d. On the main pane's toolbar, select Paste to create a copy of the file.
Delete a file
a. Select the file you wish to delete.
b. On the main pane's toolbar, select Delete.
c. Select Yes to the confirmation dialog.
Next steps
View the latest Storage Explorer release notes and videos.
Learn how to create applications using Azure blobs, tables, queues, and files.