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Use PowerShell to manage directories and files in Azure Data Lake Storage

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This article shows you how to use PowerShell to create and manage directories and files in storage accounts that have a hierarchical namespace.

To learn about how to get, set, and update the access control lists (ACL) of directories and files, see Use PowerShell to manage ACLs in Azure Data Lake Storage.

Reference | Gen1 to Gen2 mapping | Give feedback

Prerequisites

  • An Azure subscription. For more information, see Get Azure free trial.

  • A storage account that has hierarchical namespace enabled. Follow these instructions to create one.

  • .NET Framework is 4.7.2 or greater installed. For more information, see Download .NET Framework.

  • PowerShell version 5.1 or higher.

Install the PowerShell module

  1. Verify that the version of PowerShell that 's installed is 5.1 or higher by using the following command.

    echo $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()

    To upgrade your version of PowerShell, see Upgrading existing Windows PowerShell

  2. Install Az.Storage module.

    Install-Module Az.Storage -Repository PSGallery -Force

    For more information about how to install PowerShell modules, see Install the Azure PowerShell module

Connect to the account

Choose how you want your commands to obtain authorization to the storage account.

Option 1: Obtain authorization by using Microsoft Entra ID

With this approach, the system ensures that your user account has the appropriate Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC) assignments and ACL permissions.

  1. Open a Windows PowerShell command window, and then sign in to your Azure subscription with the Connect-AzAccount command and follow the on-screen directions.

    Connect-AzAccount

  2. If your identity is associated with more than one subscription, then set your active subscription to subscription of the storage account that you want create and manage directories in. In this example, replace the <subscription-id> placeholder value with the ID of your subscription.

    Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId <subscription-id>

  3. Get the storage account context.

    $ctx = New-AzStorageContext -StorageAccountName '<storage-account-name>' -UseConnectedAccount

Option 2: Obtain authorization by using the storage account key

With this approach, the system doesn't check Azure RBAC or ACL permissions. Get the storage account context by using an account key.

$ctx = New-AzStorageContext -StorageAccountName '<storage-account-name>' -StorageAccountKey '<storage-account-key>'

Create a container

A container acts as a file system for your files. You can create one by using the New-AzStorageContainer cmdlet.

This example creates a container named my-file-system.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
New-AzStorageContainer -Context $ctx -Name $filesystemName

Create a directory

Create a directory reference by using the New-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet.

This example adds a directory named my-directory to a container.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
New-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname -Directory

This example adds the same directory, but also sets the permissions, umask, property values, and metadata values.

$dir = New-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname -Directory -Permission rwxrwxrwx -Umask ---rwx---  -Property @{"ContentEncoding" = "UDF8"; "CacheControl" = "READ"} -Metadata  @{"tag1" = "value1"; "tag2" = "value2" }

Show directory properties

This example gets a directory by using the Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet, and then prints property values to the console.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
$dir =  Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname
$dir.ACL
$dir.Permissions
$dir.Group
$dir.Owner
$dir.Properties
$dir.Properties.Metadata

Note

To get the root directory of the container, omit the -Path parameter.

Rename or move a directory

Rename or move a directory by using the Move-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet.

This example renames a directory from the name my-directory to the name my-new-directory.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
$dirname2 = "my-new-directory/"
Move-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname -DestFileSystem $filesystemName -DestPath $dirname2

Note

Use the -Force parameter if you want to overwrite without prompts.

This example moves a directory named my-directory to a subdirectory of my-directory-2 named my-subdirectory.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
$dirname2 = "my-directory-2/my-subdirectory/"
Move-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname -DestFileSystem $filesystemName -DestPath $dirname2

Delete a directory

Delete a directory by using the Remove-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet.

This example deletes a directory named my-directory.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
Remove-AzDataLakeGen2Item  -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname

You can use the -Force parameter to remove the file without a prompt.

Download from a directory

Download a file from a directory by using the Get-AzDataLakeGen2ItemContent cmdlet.

This example downloads a file named upload.txt from a directory named my-directory.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$filePath = "my-directory/upload.txt"
$downloadFilePath = "download.txt"
Get-AzDataLakeGen2ItemContent -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $filePath -Destination $downloadFilePath

List directory contents

List the contents of a directory by using the Get-AzDataLakeGen2ChildItem cmdlet. You can use the optional parameter -OutputUserPrincipalName to get the name (instead of the object ID) of users.

This example lists the contents of a directory named my-directory.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
Get-AzDataLakeGen2ChildItem -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname -OutputUserPrincipalName

The following example lists the ACL, Permissions, Group, and Owner properties of each item in the directory. The -FetchProperty parameter is required to get values for the ACL property.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
$properties = Get-AzDataLakeGen2ChildItem -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $dirname -Recurse -FetchProperty
$properties.ACL
$properties.Permissions
$properties.Group
$properties.Owner

Note

To list the contents of the root directory of the container, omit the -Path parameter.

Upload a file to a directory

Upload a file to a directory by using the New-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet.

This example uploads a file named upload.txt to a directory named my-directory.

$localSrcFile =  "upload.txt"
$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$dirname = "my-directory/"
$destPath = $dirname + (Get-Item $localSrcFile).Name
New-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $destPath -Source $localSrcFile -Force

This example uploads the same file, but then sets the permissions, umask, property values, and metadata values of the destination file. This example also prints these values to the console.

$file = New-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $destPath -Source $localSrcFile -Permission rwxrwxrwx -Umask ---rwx--- -Property @{"ContentEncoding" = "UDF8"; "CacheControl" = "READ"} -Metadata  @{"tag1" = "value1"; "tag2" = "value2" }
$file1
$file1.Properties
$file1.Properties.Metadata

Note

To upload a file to the root directory of the container, omit the -Path parameter.

Show file properties

This example gets a file by using the Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet, and then prints property values to the console.

$filepath =  "my-directory/upload.txt"
$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$file = Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $filepath
$file
$file.ACL
$file.Permissions
$file.Group
$file.Owner
$file.Properties
$file.Properties.Metadata

Delete a file

Delete a file by using the Remove-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet.

This example deletes a file named upload.txt.

$filesystemName = "my-file-system"
$filepath = "upload.txt"
Remove-AzDataLakeGen2Item  -Context $ctx -FileSystem $filesystemName -Path $filepath

You can use the -Force parameter to remove the file without a prompt.

Gen1 to Gen2 Mapping

The following table shows how the cmdlets used for Data Lake Storage Gen1 map to the cmdlets for Data Lake Storage.

Note

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen1 is now retired. See the retirement announcement here. Data Lake Storage Gen1 resources are no longer accessible. If you require special assistance, please contact us.

Data Lake Storage Gen1 cmdlet Data Lake Storage cmdlet Notes
Get-AzDataLakeStoreChildItem Get-AzDataLakeGen2ChildItem By default, the Get-AzDataLakeGen2ChildItem cmdlet only lists the first level child items. The -Recurse parameter lists child items recursively.
Get-AzDataLakeStoreItem
Get-AzDataLakeStoreItemAclEntry
Get-AzDataLakeStoreItemOwner
Get-AzDataLakeStoreItemPermission		 Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item The output items of the Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet have these properties: Acl, Owner, Group, Permission.
Get-AzDataLakeStoreItemContent Get-AzDataLakeGen2FileContent The Get-AzDataLakeGen2FileContent cmdlet download file content to local file.
Move-AzDataLakeStoreItem Move-AzDataLakeGen2Item
New-AzDataLakeStoreItem New-AzDataLakeGen2Item This cmdlet uploads the new file content from a local file.
Remove-AzDataLakeStoreItem Remove-AzDataLakeGen2Item
Set-AzDataLakeStoreItemOwner
Set-AzDataLakeStoreItemPermission
Set-AzDataLakeStoreItemAcl		 Update-AzDataLakeGen2Item The Update-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet updates a single item only, and not recursively. If you want to update recursively, list items by using the Get-AzDataLakeStoreChildItem cmdlet, then pipeline to the Update-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet.
Test-AzDataLakeStoreItem Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item The Get-AzDataLakeGen2Item cmdlet reports an error if the item doesn't exist.

See also