Tutorial: Export data from Azure Blob storage with Azure Import/Export

Article
01/13/2023
17 minutes to read

This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the Azure Import/Export service to securely export large amounts of data from Azure Blob storage. The service requires you to ship empty drives to the Azure datacenter. The service exports data from your storage account to the drives and then ships the drives back.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

Prerequisites to export data from Azure Blob storage with Azure Import/Export
Step 1: Create an export job
Step 2: Ship the drives
Step 3: Update the job with tracking information
Step 4: Receive the disks
Step 5: Unlock the disks

Prerequisites

Before you create an export job to transfer data out of Azure Blob Storage, carefully review and complete the following list of prerequisites for this service. You must:

Have an active Azure subscription that can be used for the Import/Export service.
Have at least one Azure Storage account. See the list of Supported storage accounts and storage types for Import/Export service. For information on creating a new storage account, see How to Create a Storage Account.
Have adequate number of disks of Supported types. You can use the Azure Import/Export tool to determine how many disks to provide. For steps, see Determine drives to use.
Have a valid carrier account and a tracking number for the order:
- You must use a carrier in the Carrier names list on the Shipping tab for your order. If you don't have a carrier account, contact the carrier to create one.
- The carrier account must be valid, should have a balance, and must have return shipping capabilities. Microsoft will ship back all storage media using the selected carrier.
- Generate a tracking number for the import/export job in the carrier account. Every job should have a separate tracking number. Multiple jobs with the same tracking number aren't supported.

Step 1: Create an export job

Perform the following steps to order an import job in Azure Import/Export via the Preview portal. The Azure Import/Export service in preview will create a job of the type "Data Box."

Use your Microsoft Azure credentials to sign in at this URL: https://portal.azure.com.
Select + Create a resource and search for Azure Data Box. Select Azure Data Box.
Select Create.
To get started with the import order, select the following options:
1. Select the Export from Azure transfer type.
2. Select the subscription to use for the Import/Export job.
3. Select a resource group.
4. Select the Source Azure region for the job.
5. Select the Destination country/region for the job.
6. Then select Apply.
Choose the Select button for Import/Export Job.
In Basics:
- Enter a descriptive name for the job. Use the name to track the progress of your job.
  - The name must have from 3 to 24 characters.
  - The name must include only letters, numbers, and hyphens.
  - The name must start and end with a letter or number.
Select Next: Job details > to proceed.

In Job Details:

Select the Source Azure region where your data currently is.
Select the storage account from which you want to export data. Use a storage account close to your location.

The drop-off location is automatically populated based on the region of the storage account that you select.

Specify the blob data to export from your storage account to your blank drive or drives. For Blobs to export, choose one of the three following methods.

Choose to export All objects in the storage account.

Choose Selected containers and blobs, and specify containers and blobs to export. You can use more than one of the selection methods. Selecting an Add option opens a panel on the right where you can add your selection strings.

Option	Description
Add containers	Export all blobs in a container. Select Add containers, and enter each container name.
Add blobs	Specify individual blobs to export. Select Add blobs. Then specify the relative path to the blob, beginning with the container name. Use $root to specify the root container. You must provide the blob paths in valid format, as shown in this screenshot, to avoid errors during processing. For more information, see Examples of valid blob paths.
Add prefixes	Use a prefix to select a set of similarly named containers or similarly named blobs in a container. The prefix may be the prefix of the container name, the complete container name, or a complete container name followed by the prefix of the blob name.

Screenshot showing selected containers and blobs for a new Azure Import/Export export job in the Preview portal.

Choose Export from blob list file (XML format), and select an XML file that contains a list of paths and prefixes for the blobs to be exported from the storage account. You must construct the XML file and store it in a container for the storage account. The file cannot be empty.

Important

If you use an XML file to select the blobs to export, make sure that the XML contains valid paths and/or prefixes. If the file is invalid or no data matches the paths specified, the order terminates with partial data or no data exported.

To see how to add an XML file to a container, go to Export order using XML file.

Note

If a blob to be exported is in use during data copy, the Azure Import/Export service takes a snapshot of the blob and copies the snapshot.

Select Next: Return shipping > to proceed.

In Return shipping:
1. Select a shipping carrier from the drop-down list for Carrier. The location of the Microsoft datacenter for the selected region determines which carriers are available.
2. Enter a Carrier account number. The account number for an valid carrier account is required.
3. In the Return address area, use + Add Address to add the address to ship to.
  
  On the Add Address blade, you can add an address or use an existing one. When you finish entering address information, select Add shipping address.
4. In the Notification area, enter email addresses for the people you want to notify of the job's progress.
  
  Tip
  
  Instead of specifying an email address for a single user, provide a group email to ensure that you receive notifications even if an admin leaves.
Select Review + Create to proceed.
In Review + Create:
1. Review the Terms, and then select "I acknowledge that all the information provided is correct and agree to the terms and conditions above." Validation is then performed.
2. Review the job information. Make a note of the job name and the Azure datacenter shipping address to ship disks back to. This information is used later on the shipping label.
3. Select Create.
After the job is created, you'll see the following message.

You can select Go to resource to open the Overview of the job.

Perform the following steps to create an export job in the Azure portal using the classic Azure Import/Export service.

Sign in to the Azure portal.
Search for import/export jobs.
Select + Create.
In Basics:
1. Select a subscription.
2. Select a resource group, or select Create new and create a new one.
3. Enter a descriptive name for the import job. Use the name to track the progress of your jobs.
  - The name may contain only lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens.
  - The name must start with a letter, and may not contain spaces.
4. Select Export from Azure.
5. Select a Source Azure region.
  
  If the new import/export experience is available in the selected region, you'll see a note inviting you to try the new experience. Select Try now, and follow the steps on the Portal (Preview) tab of this section to try the new experience with this order.
Select Next: Job Details > to proceed.

In Job details:

Select the Azure region where your data currently is.
Select the storage account from which you want to export data. Use a storage account close to your location.

The drop-off location is automatically populated based on the region of the storage account selected.

Specify the blob data to export from your storage account to your blank drive or drives. Choose one of the three following methods.

Choose to Export all blob data in the storage account.

Option	Description
Add containers	Export all blobs in a container. Select Add containers, and enter each container name.
Add blobs	Specify individual blobs to export. Select Add blobs. Then specify the relative path to the blob, beginning with the container name. Use $root to specify the root container. You must provide the blob paths in valid format to avoid errors during processing, as shown in this screenshot. For more information, see Examples of valid blob paths.
Add prefixes	Use a prefix to select a set of similarly named containers or similarly named blobs in a container. The prefix may be the prefix of the container name, the complete container name, or a complete container name followed by the prefix of the blob name.

Screenshot showing selected containers and blobs for a new Azure Import/Export export job.

Choose Export from blob list file (XML format), and select an XML file that contains a list of paths and prefixes for the blobs to be exported from the storage account. You must construct the XML file and store it in a container for the storage account. The file cannot be empty.

Important

If you use an XML file to select the blobs to export, make sure that the XML contains valid paths and/or prefixes. If the file is invalid or no data matches the paths specified, the order terminates with partial data or no data exported.

To see how to add an XML file to a container, see Export order using XML file.

Note

If a blob to be exported is in use during data copy, the Azure Import/Export service takes a snapshot of the blob and copies the snapshot.

Select Next: Shipping > to proceed.

In Shipping:
1. Select the carrier that you want to use from the dropdown list for Carrier name. Microsoft will use the selected carrier to ship back all storage media.
2. Enter the Carrier account number for a valid account that you've created with the carrier. For carrier account requirements, see "Prerequisites," above.
3. Provide a complete and valid contact name, phone, email, street address, city, ZIP code, state/province, and country/region.
  
  Tip
  
  Instead of specifying an email address for a single user, provide a group email to ensure that you receive notifications even if an admin leaves.
Select Review + create to proceed.
In Review + create:
1. Review the details of the job.
2. Make a note of the job name and provided Azure datacenter shipping address for shipping disks to Azure.
  
  Note
  
  Always send the disks to the datacenter noted in the Azure portal. If the disks are shipped to the wrong datacenter, the job will not be processed.
3. Review the Terms for your order for privacy and source data deletion. If you agree to the terms, select the check box beneath the terms. Validation of the order begins.
After validation passes, select Create.

Use the following steps to create an export job in the Azure portal. Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell create jobs in the classic Azure Import/Export service and hence create an Azure resource of the type "Import/Export job."

Prepare your environment for the Azure CLI

Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.
If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.
- If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
- When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
- Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Create a job

Use the az extension add command to add the az import-export extension:
```
az extension add --name import-export
```
To get a list of the locations from which you can receive disks, use the az import-export location list command:
```
az import-export location list
```

Run the following az import-export create command to create an export job that uses your existing storage account:

az import-export create \
    --resource-group myierg \
    --name Myexportjob1 \
    --location "West US" \
    --backup-drive-manifest true \
    --diagnostics-path waimportexport \
    --export blob-path=/ \
    --type Export \
    --log-level Verbose \
    --shipping-information recipient-name="Microsoft Azure Import/Export Service" \
        street-address1="3020 Coronado" city="Santa Clara" state-or-province=CA postal-code=98054 \
        country-or-region=USA phone=4083527600 \
    --return-address recipient-name="Gus Poland" street-address1="1020 Enterprise way" \
        city=Sunnyvale country-or-region=USA state-or-province=CA postal-code=94089 \
        email=gus@contoso.com phone=4085555555" \
    --storage-account myssdocsstorage

Tip

Instead of specifying an email address for a single user, provide a group email to ensure that you receive notifications even if an admin leaves.

This job exports all the blobs in your storage account. You can specify a blob for export by replacing this value for --export:

--export blob-path=$root/logo.bmp

This parameter value exports the blob named logo.bmp in the root container.

You also have the option of selecting all the blobs in a container by using a prefix. Replace this value for --export:

blob-path-prefix=/myiecontainer

For more information, see Examples of valid blob paths.

Note

If the blob to be exported is in use during data copy, Azure Import/Export service takes a snapshot of the blob and copies the snapshot.

Use the az import-export list command to see all the jobs for the resource group myierg:
```
az import-export list --resource-group myierg
```

To update your job or cancel your job, run the az import-export update command:

az import-export update --resource-group myierg --name MyIEjob1 --cancel-requested true

Use the following steps to create an export job in Azure PowerShell. Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell create jobs in the classic Azure Import/Export service and hence create an Azure resource of the type "Import/Export job."

Requirements

If you choose to use Azure PowerShell locally:
- Install the Az PowerShell module.
- Connect to your Azure account using the Connect-AzAccount cmdlet.
If you choose to use Azure Cloud Shell:
- See Overview of Azure Cloud Shell for more information.

Important

While the Az.ImportExport PowerShell module is in preview, you must install it separately using the Install-Module cmdlet. After this PowerShell module becomes generally available, it will be part of future Az PowerShell module releases and available by default from within Azure Cloud Shell.

Install-Module -Name Az.ImportExport

Create a job

To get a list of the locations from which you can receive disks, use the Get-AzImportExportLocation cmdlet:
```
Get-AzImportExportLocation
```

Run the following New-AzImportExport example to create an export job that uses your existing storage account:

$Params = @{
   ResourceGroupName = 'myierg'
   Name = 'Myexportjob1'
   Location = 'westus'
   BackupDriveManifest = $true
   DiagnosticsPath = 'waimportexport'
   ExportBlobListblobPath = '\'
   JobType = 'Export'
   LogLevel = 'Verbose'
   ShippingInformationRecipientName = 'Microsoft Azure Import/Export Service'
   ShippingInformationStreetAddress1 = '3020 Coronado'
   ShippingInformationCity = 'Santa Clara'
   ShippingInformationStateOrProvince = 'CA'
   ShippingInformationPostalCode = '98054'
   ShippingInformationCountryOrRegion = 'USA'
   ShippingInformationPhone = '4083527600'
   ReturnAddressRecipientName = 'Gus Poland'
   ReturnAddressStreetAddress1 = '1020 Enterprise way'
   ReturnAddressCity = 'Sunnyvale'
   ReturnAddressStateOrProvince = 'CA'
   ReturnAddressPostalCode = '94089'
   ReturnAddressCountryOrRegion = 'USA'
   ReturnAddressPhone = '4085555555'
   ReturnAddressEmail = 'gus@contoso.com'
   StorageAccountId = '/subscriptions/<SubscriptionId>/resourceGroups/myierg/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/myssdocsstorage'
}
New-AzImportExport @Params

Tip

Instead of specifying an email address for a single user, provide a group email to ensure that you receive notifications even if an admin leaves.

This job exports all the blobs in your storage account. You can specify a blob for export by replacing this value for -ExportBlobListblobPath:

-ExportBlobListblobPath $root\logo.bmp

This parameter value exports the blob named logo.bmp in the root container.

You also have the option of selecting all the blobs in a container by using a prefix. Replace this value for -ExportBlobListblobPath:

-ExportBlobListblobPath '/myiecontainer'

For more information, see Examples of valid blob paths.

Note

If the blob to be exported is in use during data copy, Azure Import/Export service takes a snapshot of the blob and copies the snapshot.

Use the Get-AzImportExport cmdlet to see all the jobs for the resource group myierg:
```
Get-AzImportExport -ResourceGroupName myierg
```

To update your job or cancel your job, run the Update-AzImportExport cmdlet:

Update-AzImportExport -Name MyIEjob1 -ResourceGroupName myierg -CancelRequested

Step 2: Ship the drives

If you do not know the number of drives you need, see Determine how many drives you need. If you know the number of drives, proceed to ship the drives.

FedEx, UPS, or DHL can be used to ship the package to Azure datacenter. If you want to use a carrier other than FedEx/DHL, contact Azure Data Box Operations team at adbops@microsoft.com

Provide a valid FedEx, UPS, or DHL carrier account number that Microsoft will use to ship the drives back.
- A FedEx, UPS, or DHL account number is required for shipping drives back from the US and Europe locations.
  - A DHL account number is preferred for shipping drives back from Asia and Australia locations.
  - If you do not have an account number, create a FedEx or DHL carrier account.
When shipping your packages, you must follow the Microsoft Azure Service Terms.
Properly package your disks to avoid potential damage and delays in processing.

Step 3: Update the job with tracking information

After you ship the disks, return to the job in the Azure portal and fill in the tracking information.

After you provide tracking details, the job status changes to Shipping, and the job can't be canceled. You can only cancel a job while it's in Creating state.

Important

If the tracking number is not updated within 2 weeks of creating the job, the job expires.

To complete the tracking information for a job that you created in the Preview portal, do these steps:

Open the job in the Azure portal/.
On the Overview pane, scroll down to Tracking information and complete the entries:
1. Provide the Carrier and Tracking number.
2. Make sure the Ship to address is correct.
3. Select the checkbox by "Drives have been shipped to the above mentioned address."
4. When you finish, select Update.

You can track the job progress on the Overview pane. For a description of each job state, go to View your job status.

Screenshot showing status tracking on the Overview pane for an Azure Import Export job in the Preview portal.

Step 4: Receive the disks

When the dashboard reports the job is complete, the disks are shipped to you and the tracking number for the shipment is available in the portal.

After you receive the drives with exported data, you need to get the BitLocker keys to unlock the drives. Go to the export job in the Azure portal. Click Import/Export tab.
Select and click your export job from the list. Go to Encryption and copy the keys.
Use the BitLocker keys to unlock the disks.

The export is complete.

Step 5: Unlock the disks

Use the following command to unlock the drive:

WAImportExport Unlock /bk:<BitLocker key (base 64 string) copied from Encryption blade in Azure portal> /driveLetter:<Drive letter>

Here is an example of the sample input.

WAImportExport.exe Unlock /bk:CAAcwBoAG8AdQBsAGQAIABiAGUAIABoAGkAZABkAGUAbgA= /driveLetter:e

You can use the copy logs from the job to verify that all data transferred successfully:

Use the verbose log to verify each successfully transferred file.
Use the copy log to find the source of each failed data copy.

To find the log locations, open the job in the Azure portal/. The Data copy details show the Copy log path and Verbose log path for each drive that was included in the order.

At this time, you can delete the job or leave it. Jobs automatically get deleted after 90 days.

Tutorial: Export data from Azure Blob storage with Azure Import/Export

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create an export job

Prepare your environment for the Azure CLI

Create a job

Requirements

Create a job

Step 2: Ship the drives

Step 3: Update the job with tracking information

Step 4: Receive the disks

Step 5: Unlock the disks

Next steps

Feedback

Additional resources

Additional resources