How to create an SMB Azure file share

To create a storage account via the Azure portal, use the search box at the top of the Azure portal to search for storage accounts and select the matching result.

This shows a list of all existing storage accounts available in your visible subscriptions. Click + Create to create a new storage account.

The first tab to complete to create a storage account is labeled Basics, which contains the required fields to create a storage account.

The Advanced tab is optional, but provides more granular settings for the storage account. The first section relates to Security settings.

The Hierarchical Namespace section applies only to Azure Blob storage use, even in FileStorage storage accounts using the provisioned v1 or provisioned v2 billing models which can only contain Azure Files. Azure file shares support a hierarchical namespace regardless of the value of these settings.

The Access protocols section applies only to Azure Blob storage use, even in FileStorage storage accounts using the provisioned v1 or provisioned v2 billing models which can only contain Azure Files.

The Blob storage section applies only to Azure Blob storage use, even in FileStorage storage accounts using the provisioned v1 model which can only contain Azure Files.

The networking section allows you to configure networking options. These settings are optional for the creation of the storage account and can be configured later if desired. For more information on these options, see Azure Files networking considerations.

The Data protection tab contains ability to enable or disable soft-delete. The soft-delete option for Azure Files is under the Recovery section.

The Tracking section applies only to Azure Blob storage use, even in FileStorage storage accounts using the provisioned v1 billing model which can only contain Azure Files.

The Access control section applies only to Azure Blob storage use, even in FileStorage storage accounts using the provisioned v1 billing model which can only contain Azure Files.

The Encryption tab controls settings related to encryption at rest.

Tags are name/value pairs that enable you to categorize resources and view consolidated billing by applying the same tag to multiple resources and resource groups. These are optional and can be applied after storage account creation.

The final step to create the storage account is to select the Create button on the Review + create tab. This button isn't available until all the required fields for a storage account are completed.

To create a provisioned v1 or pay-as-you-go storage account using PowerShell, use the New-AzStorageAccount cmdlet in the Az.Storage PowerShell module. This cmdlet has many options; only the required options are shown. To learn more about advanced options, see the New-AzStorageAccount cmdlet documentation.

To create a storage account for provisioned v1 or pay-as-you-go file shares, use the following command. Remember to replace the values for the variables $resourceGroupName, $storageAccountName, $region, $storageAccountKind, and $storageAccountSku with the desired values for your storage account deployment.

$resourceGroupName = "<my-resource-group>"
$storageAccountName = "<my-storage-account-name>"
$region = "<my-region>"

# Valid storage account kinds are FileStorage (SSD provisioned v1) and StorageV2 
# (HDD pay-as-you-go). Create HDD provisioned v2 storage accounts with 
# New-AzResource.
$storageAccountKind = "FileStorage"

# Valid SKUs for FileStorage are Premium_LRS (SSD Local provisioned v1) and 
# Premium_ZRS (SSD Zone provisioned v1).
# 
# Valid SKUs for StorageV2 are Standard_LRS (HDD Local pay-as-you-go), 
# Standard_ZRS (HDD Zone pay-as-you-go), Standard_GRS (HDD Geo pay-as-you-go),
# and Standard_GZRS (HDD GeoZone pay-as-you-go).
$storageAccountSku = "Premium_LRS"

$storageAccount = New-AzStorageAccount `
        -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
        -Name $storageAccountName `
        -Location $region `
        -Kind $storageAccountKind `
        -SkuName $storageAccountSku

To create a provisioned v1 or pay-as-you-go storage account using Azure CLI, use the az storage account create command. This command has many options; only the required options are shown. To learn more about the advanced options, see the az storage account create command documentation.

To create a storage account for provisioned v1 or pay-as-you-go file shares, use the following command. Remember to replace the values for the variables resourceGroupName, storageAccountName, region, storageAccountKind, and storageAccountSku with the desired values for your storage account deployment.

resourceGroupName="<my-resource-group>"
storageAccountName="<my-storage-account-name>"
region="<my-region>"

# Valid storage account kinds are FileStorage (SSD provisioned v1) and StorageV2 
# (HDD pay-as-you-go). Create HDD provisioned v2 storage accounts with 
# az resource create.
storageAccountKind="FileStorage"

# Valid SKUs for FileStorage are Premium_LRS (SSD Local provisioned v1) and 
# Premium_ZRS (SSD Zone provisioned v1).
# 
# Valid SKUs for StorageV2 are Standard_LRS (HDD Local pay-as-you-go), 
# Standard_ZRS (HDD Zone pay-as-you-go), Standard_GRS (HDD Geo pay-as-you-go),
# and Standard_GZRS (HDD GeoZone pay-as-you-go).
storageAccountSku="Premium_LRS"

az storage account create \
    --resource-group $resourceGroupName \
    --name $storageAccountName \
    --location $region \
    --kind $storageAccountKind \
    --sku $storageAccountSku \
    --output none

Follow these instructions to create a new Azure file share using the Azure portal.

1. In your newly created storage account, select File shares under Data storage in the table of contents for the storage account.

   

2. In the file share listing, you should see any previously created file shares in this storage account or an empty table if no file shares exist. Select + File share to create a new file share.

3. Complete the fields in the Basics tab of new file share blade:

   

   • Name: The name of the file share to be created.

   • Provisioned storage (GiB): The amount of storage to provision on the share. The provisioned storage capacity is the amount that you're billed for regardless of actual usage.

   • Protocol: The file sharing protocol to use on the share. By default, new shares use the SMB protocol. Select the NFS protocol for NFS v4.1 shares.

   • Root Squash: When NFS is selected as the chosen protocol, toggling the root squash behavior reduces the rights of the root user for NFS file shares.

4. Select Review + create and then Create to create the Azure file share.

You can create an Azure file share with the New-AzRmStorageShare cmdlet. The following PowerShell commands assume you set the variables $resourceGroupName and $storageAccountName as defined in the creating a storage account in the Azure PowerShell section.

To create a provisioned v1 file share, use the following command. Remember to replace the values for the variables $shareName, $provisionedStorageGib, and $protocol with the desired selections for your file share deployment.

$shareName = "<file-share>"

# The provisioned storage size of the share in GiB. Valid range is 100 to 
# 102,400.
$provisionedStorageGib = 1024

# The protocol chosen for the file share. Valid set contains "SMB" and "NFS".
$protocol = "SMB"

New-AzRmStorageShare `
        -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
        -StorageAccountName $storageAccountName `
        -Name $shareName `
        -QuotaGiB $provisionedStorageGib `
        -EnabledProtocol $protocol | `
    Out-Null

You can create an Azure file share with az storage share-rm create command. The following PowerShell commands assume you set the variables resourceGroupName and storageAccountName as defined in the creating a storage account with Azure CLI section.

To create a provisioned v1 file share, use the following command. Remember to replace the values for the variables shareName, provisionedStorageGib, and protocol with the desired selections for your file share deployment.

shareName="<file-share>"

# The provisioned storage size of the share in GiB. Valid range is 100 to 
# 102,400.
provisionedStorageGib=1024

# The protocol chosen for the file share. Valid set contains "SMB" and "NFS".
protocol="SMB"

az storage share-rm create \
    --resource-group $resourceGroupName \
    --storage-account $storageAccountName \
    --name $shareName \
    --quota $provisionedStorageGib \
    --enabled-protocols $protocol \
    --output none

Follow these instructions to create a new Azure file share using the Azure portal.

1. In your newly created storage account, select File shares under Data storage in the table of contents for the storage account.

   

2. In the file share listing, you should see any previously created file shares in this storage account or an empty table if no file shares exist. Select + File share to create a new file share.

3. Complete the fields in the Basics tab of new file share blade:

   

   • Name: The name of the file share to be created.

   • Access tier: The selected access tier for a pay-as-you-go file share. We recommend picking the transaction optimized access tier possible during a migration, to minimize transaction expenses, and then switching to a lower tier if desired after the migration is complete.

4. Select Review + create and then Create to create the Azure file share.

You can create an Azure file share with the New-AzRmStorageShare cmdlet. The following PowerShell commands assume you set the variables $resourceGroupName and $storageAccountName as defined in the creating a storage account with Azure PowerShell section.

To create a pay-as-you-go file share, use the following command. Remember to replace the values for the variables $shareName and $accessTier with the desired selections for your file share deployment.

$shareName = "<file-share>"

# The access tier of the file share. Valid set contains "TransactionOptimized",
# "Hot", "Cool"
$accessTier = "Hot"

New-AzRmStorageShare `
        -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
        -StorageAccountName $storageAccountName `
        -Name $shareName `
        -AccessTier $accessTier | `
    Out-Null

You can create an Azure file share with the az storage share-rm create command. The following Azure CLI commands assume you set the variables $resourceGroupName and $storageAccountName as defined in the creating a storage account with Azure CLI section.

To create a pay-as-you-go file share, use the following command. Remember to replace the values for the variables shareName and accessTier with the desired selections for your file share deployment.

shareName="<file-share>"

# The access tier of the file share. Valid set contains "TransactionOptimized",
# "Hot", and "Cool".
accessTier="Hot"

az storage share-rm create \
    --resource-group $resourceGroupName \
    --storage-account $storageAccountName \
    --name $shareName \
    --access-tier $accessTier \
    --output none

Follow these instructions to update the provisioning for your file share.

1. In your storage account, select File shares under Data storage in the table of contents for the storage account.

2. In the file share listing, select the file share for which you desire to change the provisioning.

3. In the file share overview select Change size and performance.

   

4. The Size and performance pop out dialog has a single option, Provisioned storage (GiB). If you require more IOPS or throughput than the given amount of provisioned storage provides, you can increase your provisioned storage capacity to get additional IOPS and throughput.

   

5. Select Save to save provisioning changes. Storage, IOPS, and throughput changes are effective within a few minutes after a provisioning change.

You can modify a provisioned v1 file share with the Update-AzRmStorageShare cmdlet. Remember to replace the values for the variables $resourceGroupName, $storageAccountName, $fileShareName, and $provisionedStorageGib with the desired values for your file share.

# The path to the file share resource to be modified.
$resourceGroupName = "<resource-group>"
$storageAccountName = "<storage-account>"
$fileShareName = "<file-share>"

# The provisioning desired on the file share.
$provisionedStorageGib = 10240

# Update the file share provisioning.
Update-AzRmStorageShare `
        -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
        -StorageAccountName $storageAccountName `
        -Name $fileShareName `
        -QuotaGiB $provisionedStorageGib

You can modify a provisioned v1 file share with the az storage share-rm update command. Remember to replace the values for the variables resourceGroupName, storageAccountName, fileShareName, and provisionedStorageGib with the desired values for your file share.

# The path to the file share resource to be modified.
resourceGroupName="<resource-group>"
storageAccountName="<storage-account>"
fileShareName="<file-share>"

# The provisioning desired on the file share.
provisionedStorageGib=10240

# Update the file share provisioning.
az storage share-rm update \
        --resource-group $resourceGroupName \
        --storage-account $storageAccountName \
        --name $fileShareName \
        --quota $provisionedStorageGib

Follow these instructions to update the access tier of your file share.

1. In your storage account, select File shares under Data storage in the table of contents for the storage account.

2. In the file share listing, select the file share for which you desire to change the access tier.

3. In the file share overview, select Change tier.

4. Select the desired Access tier from the provided drop-down list.

5. Select Apply to save the access tier change.

For these instructions to update the quota of your file share.

1. In your storage account, select File shares under Data storage in the table of contents for the storage account.

2. In the file share listing, select the file share for which you desire to change the quota.

3. In the file share overview, select Edit quota.

4. In the edit quota pop-out, enter the desired maximum size of the share or select Set to maximum. There is no cost implication of setting the share to the maximum size.

5. Click OK to save quota changes. The new quota is effective within a few minutes.

You can modify the access tier and quota settings of a pay-as-you-go file share with the Update-AzRmStorageShare cmdlet. Remember to replace the values for the variables $resourceGroupName, $storageAccountName, $fileShareName, $accessTier, and $quotaGib with the desired values for your file share.

# The path to the file share resource to be modified.
$resourceGroupName = "<resource-group>"
$storageAccountName = "<storage-account>"
$fileShareName = "<file-share>"

# The settings to be changed on the file share. Set to $null to skip setting.
$accessTier = "Cool"
$quotaGib = $null

# Construct a parameters hash table for cmdlet splatting.
$updateParams = @{
    ResourceGroupName = $resourceGroupName
    StorageAccountName = $storageAccountName
    Name = $fileShareName
}

if ($null -ne $accessTier) { $updateParams += @{ AccessTier = $accessTier } }
if ($null -ne $quotaGib) { $updateParams += @{ QuotaGiB = $quotaGib } }

# Update the file share
Update-AzRmStorageShare @updateParams

You can modify the access tier and quota settings of a pay-as-you-go file share with the az storage share-rm update command. Remember to replace the values for the variables resourceGroupName, storageAccountName, fileShareName, accessTier, and quotaGib with the desired values for your file share.

# The path to the file share resource to be modified.
resourceGroupName="<resource-group>"
storageAccountName="<storage-account>"
fileShareName="<file-share>"

# The settings to be changed on the file share. Set to the empty string to skip 
# setting.
accessTier="Cool"
quotaGib=""

command="az storage share-rm update --resource-group $resourceGroupName"
command="$command --storage-account $storageAccountName --name $fileShareName"

if [ ! -z "${accessTier}" ]; then
    command="$command --access-tier $accessTier"
fi

if [ ! -z "${quotaGib}" ]; then
    command="$command --quota $quotaGib"
fi

# Update file share (command is in variable)
$command

Follow these instructions to delete a file share.

1. In your storage account, select File shares under Data storage in the table of contents for the storage account.

2. In the file share list, select the ... for the file share you desire to delete.

3. Select Delete share from the context menu.

4. The Delete pop-out contains a survey about why you're deleting the file share. You can skip this, but we appreciate any feedback you have on Azure Files, particularly if something isn't working properly for you.

5. Enter the file share name to confirm deletion and select Delete.

You can delete a file share using the Remove-AzRmStorageShare cmdlet. Remember to replace the values for the variables $resourceGroupName, $storageAccountName, and $fileShareName with the desired values for your file share.

# The path to the file share resource to be deleted.
$resourceGroupName = "<resource-group>"
$storageAccountName = "<storage-account>"
$fileShareName = "<file-share>"

# Remove the file share
Remove-AzRmStorageShare `
        -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `
        -StorageAccountName $storageAccountName `
        -Name $fileShareName

You can delete a file share using the az storage share-rm delete command. Remember to replace the values for the variables resourceGroupName, storageAccountName, and fileShareName with the desired values for your file share.

resourceGroupName="<resource-group>"
storageAccountName="<storage-account>"
fileShareName="<file-share>"

az storage share-rm delete \
    --resource-group $resourceGroupName \
    --storage-account $storageAccountName \
    --name $fileShareName

To view region supportability based on different billing models, use Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI.

# Login to Azure account
Connect-AzAccount -Environment AzureChinaCloud

# Track down the subscription ID in GUID format
$subscriptionID = "your-subscription-id-number"

# Get Token
$token = Get-AzAccessToken

# Invoke SRP list SKU API, and get the returned SKU list
$result = Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -Uri "https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/subscriptions/$($subscriptionID)/providers/Microsoft.Storage/skus?api-version=2024-01-01" -Headers @{"Authorization" = "Bearer $($token.Token)"}

# Filter the SKU list to get the required information, customization requried here to get the best result.
$filteredResult = $result | `
    Select-Object -ExpandProperty value | `
    Where-Object {
        $_.resourceType -eq "storageAccounts" -and
        # Filter based on your needs. FileStorage kind includes pv2, and pv1 file share, where StorageV2 kind include PayGO file shares.
        $_.kind -in @("FileStorage", "StorageV2") -and
        # Filter based on your needs. "Standard_" for PayGO file share, "StandardV2_" for Pv2 file share, "Premium_" for pv1 file shares.
        # $_.name.StartsWith("StandardV2_") -and
        # Change region based on your need to see if we currently support the region (all small cases, no space in between).
        # $_.locations -eq "italynorth" -and
        $_.name -notin @("Standard_RAGRS", "Standard_RAGZRS")
    }

if ($filteredResult.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output "No results found."
} else {
    $filteredResult | `
        Select-Object `
            -Property `
                @{
                    Name = "sku";
                    Expression = { $_.name }
                }, `
                kind, `
                @{
                    Name = "mediaTier";
                    Expression = {
                        if ($_.tier -eq "Premium") {
                            "SSD"
                        } elseif ($_.tier -eq "Standard") {
                            "HDD"
                        } else {
                            "Unknown"
                        }
                    }
                }, `
                @{
                    Name = "billingModel";
                    Expression = {
                        if ($_.name.StartsWith("StandardV2_") -or
                            $_.name.StartsWith("PremiumV2_")
                        ) {
                            "ProvisionedV2"
                        } elseif ($_.name.StartsWith("Premium_")) {
                            "ProvisionedV1"
                        } else {
                            "PayAsYouGo"
                        }
                    }
                }, `
                @{
                    Name = "location";
                    Expression = { $_.locations | Select-Object -First 1 }
                } | ft sku, kind, mediaTier, billingModel, location
}

This script uses jq command line JSON processor. To download it, visit https://jqlang.org/download/

# Login to Azure account
Az login

# Track down the subscription ID in GUID format and set subscription ID
subscriptionID="your-subscription-id-number"

# Get Token
token=$(az account get-access-token --query accessToken --output tsv)

# Invoke SRP list SKU API, and get the returned SKU list
result=$(az rest --method get --uri "https://management.chinacloudapi.cn/subscriptions/$subscriptionID/providers/Microsoft.Storage/skus?api-version=2024-01-01" --headers "Authorization=Bearer $token")

# Filter the SKU list to get the required information, customization required here to get the best result.
filteredResult=$(echo $result | jq '.value[] | select(.resourceType == "storageAccounts" and (.kind == "FileStorage" or .kind == "StorageV2") and (.name | test("^(?!Standard_RAGRS|Standard_RAGZRS)")))' )

if [ -z "$filteredResult" ]; then
    echo "No results found."
else
    # Print the table header
    printf "%-30s %-15s %-10s %-20s %-15s\n" "SKU" "Kind" "MediaTier" "BillingModel" "Location"
    # Print the filtered results
    echo $filteredResult | jq -r '. | "\(.name)\t\(.kind)\t\(.tier | if . == "Premium" then "SSD" elif . == "Standard" then "HDD" else "Unknown" end)\t\(.name | if test("^StandardV2_|^PremiumV2_") then "ProvisionedV2" elif test("^Premium_") then "ProvisionedV1" else "PayAsYouGo" end)\t\(.locations)"' | while IFS=$'\t' read -r sku kind mediaTier billingModel location; do
        printf "%-30s %-15s %-10s %-20s %-15s\n" "$sku" "$kind" "$mediaTier" "$billingModel" "$location"
    done
fi