Mount Azure File Share onto Windows 10 without access key

Ibrahim Kabbash 5 Reputation points
2023-04-28T13:19:01.3033333+00:00

Hello and good day!

I honestly want a way to mount a storage from Azure Storage Account as a network drive onto the end user's PC without having to give access keys to avoid security risks to the storage account, I tried many solutions but most aren't suitable for the workflow's needs as the end user wants to use an application on these files that are in the File Share.

Here's what I tried:

-Creating Blob Storage and connecting it using rclone, it wasn't a stable solution sadly as the storage is also shared with a Kubernetes cluster in Azure and there's a big lag in between.

-Can't mount the storage with network drive using Azure's AD Connect because it requires Windows Server operating system.

-AZCopy will have the risk to introduce conflict if two users are working on the same file also I can't make the clients use the command every time to sync.

-SAS tokens don't have the ability to mount the storage as a network drive as well sadly.

Can anyone please suggest if a solution exists without putting the sensitive data to risk? Thank you.

Azure Files
Azure Files
An Azure service that offers file shares in the cloud.
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Azure Storage Accounts
Azure Storage Accounts
Globally unique resources that provide access to data management services and serve as the parent namespace for the services.
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  1. Boris Von Dahle 3,126 Reputation points
    2023-04-29T15:08:45.88+00:00

    Hello,

    One solution you can consider is using Azure File Sync.

    Azure File Sync can be used to synchronize your Azure File Share with an on-premises Windows Server. End users can then access the files on this local server as they would with any other network drive. By doing this, you avoid giving them direct access to the storage account and its keys.

    For more details on setting up Azure File Sync, refer to the official documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-sync-files-deployment-guide?tabs=azure-portal


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