Azure Storage File Share client library for JavaScript

Article
09/26/2024

Azure Files offers fully managed file shares in the cloud that are accessible via the industry standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. Azure file shares can be mounted concurrently by cloud or on-premises deployments of Windows, Linux, and macOS. Additionally, Azure file shares can be cached on Windows Servers with Azure File Sync for fast access near where the data is being used.

This project provides a client library in JavaScript that makes it easy to consume Microsoft Azure File Storage service.

Use the client libraries in this package to:

Get/Set File Service Properties
Create/List/Delete File Shares
Create/List/Delete File Directories
Create/Read/List/Update/Delete Files

Note: This package was previously published under the name @azure/storage-file. It has been renamed to @azure/storage-file-share to better align with the upcoming new package for Azure Storage Files DataLake and provide a consistent set of APIs for working with files on Azure.

Key links:

Getting started

Currently supported environments

LTS versions of Node.js
Latest versions of Safari, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.

See our support policy for more details.

Prerequisites

An Azure subscription
A Storage Account

Install the package

The preferred way to install the Azure File Storage client library for JavaScript is to use the npm package manager. Type the following into a terminal window:

npm install @azure/storage-file-share

Authenticate the client

Azure Storage supports several ways to authenticate. In order to interact with the Azure Storage File Share service you'll need to create an instance of a Storage client - ShareServiceClient, ShareClient, or ShareDirectoryClient for example. See samples for creating the ShareServiceClient to learn more about authentication.

Shared Key
Shared access signatures

Compatibility

This library is compatible with Node.js and browsers, and validated against LTS Node.js versions (>=8.16.0) and latest versions of Chrome, Firefox and Edge.

Web Workers

This library requires certain DOM objects to be globally available when used in the browser, which web workers do not make available by default. You will need to polyfill these to make this library work in web workers.

For more information please refer to our documentation for using Azure SDK for JS in Web Workers

This library depends on following DOM APIs which need external polyfills loaded when used in web workers:

Differences between Node.js and browsers

There are differences between Node.js and browsers runtime. When getting started with this library, pay attention to APIs or classes marked with "ONLY AVAILABLE IN NODE.JS RUNTIME" or "ONLY AVAILABLE IN BROWSERS".

If a file holds compressed data in gzip or deflate format and its content encoding is set accordingly, downloading behavior is different between Node.js and browsers. In Node.js storage clients will download the file in its compressed format, while in browsers the data will be downloaded in de-compressed format.

Following features, interfaces, classes or functions are only available in Node.js

Shared Key Authorization based on account name and account key
- StorageSharedKeyCredential
Shared Access Signature(SAS) generation
- generateAccountSASQueryParameters()
- generateFileSASQueryParameters()
Parallel uploading and downloading. Note that ShareFileClient.uploadData() is available in both Node.js and browsers.
- ShareFileClient.uploadFile()
- ShareFileClient.uploadStream()
- ShareFileClient.downloadToBuffer()
- ShareFileClient.downloadToFile()

Following features, interfaces, classes or functions are only available in browsers

N/A

JavaScript Bundle

To use this client library in the browser, first you need to use a bundler. For details on how to do this, please refer to our bundling documentation.

CORS

You need to set up Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) rules for your storage account if you need to develop for browsers. Go to Azure portal and Azure Storage Explorer, find your storage account, create new CORS rules for blob/queue/file/table service(s).

For example, you can create following CORS settings for debugging. But please customize the settings carefully according to your requirements in production environment.

Allowed origins: *
Allowed verbs: DELETE,GET,HEAD,MERGE,POST,OPTIONS,PUT
Allowed headers: *
Exposed headers: *
Maximum age (seconds): 86400

Key concepts

The following components and their corresponding client libraries make up the Azure Storage File Share service:

The storage account itself, represented by a ShareServiceClient
A file share within the storage account, represented by a ShareClient
An optional hierarchy of directories within the file share, represented by ShareDirectoryClient instances
A file within the file share, which may be up to 1 TiB in size, represented by a ShareFileClient

Examples

Import the package
Create the share service client
List shares in the account
Create a new share and a directory
Create an azure file then upload to it
List files and directories under a directory
Download a file and convert it to a string (Node.js)
Download a file and convert it to a string (Browsers)

Import the package

To use the clients, import the package into your file:

const AzureStorageFileShare = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

Alternative, selectively import only the types you need:

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

The ShareServiceClient requires an URL to the file share service and an access credential. It also optionally accepts some settings in the options parameter.

using connection string

Alternatively, you can instantiate a ShareServiceClient using the fromConnectionString() static method with the full connection string as the argument. (The connection string can be obtained from the azure portal.)

const { ShareServiceClient } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const connStr = "<connection string>";

const shareServiceClient = ShareServiceClient.fromConnectionString(connStr);

with `StorageSharedKeyCredential`

Pass in a StorageSharedKeyCredential with your account name and account key. (The account-name and account-key can be obtained from the azure portal.)

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

// Enter your storage account name and shared key
const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

// Use StorageSharedKeyCredential with storage account and account key
// StorageSharedKeyCredential is only available in Node.js runtime, not in browsers
const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  // When using AnonymousCredential, following url should include a valid SAS
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

with SAS Token

Also, You can instantiate a ShareServiceClient with a shared access signatures (SAS). You can get the SAS token from the Azure Portal or generate one using generateAccountSASQueryParameters().

const { ShareServiceClient } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account name>";
const sas = "<service Shared Access Signature Token>";

const serviceClientWithSAS = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net${sas}`
);

List shares in the account

Use ShareServiceClient.listShares() to iterator shares in this account, with the new for-await-of syntax:

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

async function main() {
  const shareIter = serviceClient.listShares();
  let i = 1;
  for await (const share of shareIter) {
    console.log(`Share${i}: ${share.name}`);
    i++;
  }
}

main();

Alternatively without for-await-of:

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

async function main() {
  const shareIter = serviceClient.listShares();
  let i = 1;
  let shareItem = await shareIter.next();
  while (!shareItem.done) {
    console.log(`Share ${i++}: ${shareItem.value.name}`);
    shareItem = await shareIter.next();
  }
}

main();

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

async function main() {
  const shareName = `newshare${new Date().getTime()}`;
  const shareClient = serviceClient.getShareClient(shareName);
  await shareClient.create();
  console.log(`Create share ${shareName} successfully`);

  const directoryName = `newdirectory${new Date().getTime()}`;
  const directoryClient = shareClient.getDirectoryClient(directoryName);
  await directoryClient.create();
  console.log(`Create directory ${directoryName} successfully`);
}

main();

Create an azure file then upload to it

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

const shareName = "<share name>";
const directoryName = "<directory name>";

async function main() {
  const directoryClient = serviceClient.getShareClient(shareName).getDirectoryClient(directoryName);

  const content = "Hello World!";
  const fileName = "newfile" + new Date().getTime();
  const fileClient = directoryClient.getFileClient(fileName);
  await fileClient.create(content.length);
  console.log(`Create file ${fileName} successfully`);

  // Upload file range
  await fileClient.uploadRange(content, 0, content.length);
  console.log(`Upload file range "${content}" to ${fileName} successfully`);
}

main();

List files and directories under a directory

Use DirectoryClient.listFilesAndDirectories() to iterator over files and directories, with the new for-await-of syntax. The kind property can be used to identify whether a iterm is a directory or a file.

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

const shareName = "<share name>";
const directoryName = "<directory name>";

async function main() {
  const directoryClient = serviceClient.getShareClient(shareName).getDirectoryClient(directoryName);

  const dirIter = directoryClient.listFilesAndDirectories();
  let i = 1;
  for await (const item of dirIter) {
    if (item.kind === "directory") {
      console.log(`${i} - directory\t: ${item.name}`);
    } else {
      console.log(`${i} - file\t: ${item.name}`);
    }
    i++;
  }
}

main();

Alternatively without using for-await-of:

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

const shareName = "<share name>";
const directoryName = "<directory name>";

async function main() {
  const directoryClient = serviceClient.getShareClient(shareName).getDirectoryClient(directoryName);

  const dirIter = directoryClient.listFilesAndDirectories();
  let i = 1;
  let item = await dirIter.next();
  while (!item.done) {
    if (item.value.kind === "directory") {
      console.log(`${i} - directory\t: ${item.value.name}`);
    } else {
      console.log(`${i} - file\t: ${item.value.name}`);
    }
    i++;
    item = await dirIter.next();
  }
}

main();

For a complete sample on iterating please see samples/v12/typescript/src/listFilesAndDirectories.ts.

Download a file and convert it to a string (Node.js)

const { ShareServiceClient, StorageSharedKeyCredential } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account>";
const accountKey = "<accountkey>";

const credential = new StorageSharedKeyCredential(account, accountKey);
const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(
  `https://${account}.file.core.windows.net`,
  credential
);

const shareName = "<share name>";
const fileName = "<file name>";

// [Node.js only] A helper method used to read a Node.js readable stream into a Buffer
async function streamToBuffer(readableStream) {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    const chunks = [];
    readableStream.on("data", (data) => {
      chunks.push(data instanceof Buffer ? data : Buffer.from(data));
    });
    readableStream.on("end", () => {
      resolve(Buffer.concat(chunks));
    });
    readableStream.on("error", reject);
  });
}

async function main() {
  const fileClient = serviceClient
    .getShareClient(shareName)
    .rootDirectoryClient.getFileClient(fileName);

  // Get file content from position 0 to the end
  // In Node.js, get downloaded data by accessing downloadFileResponse.readableStreamBody
  const downloadFileResponse = await fileClient.download();
  console.log(
    `Downloaded file content: ${(
      await streamToBuffer(downloadFileResponse.readableStreamBody)
    ).toString()}`
  );
}

main();

Download a file and convert it to a string (Browsers)

Please refer to the JavaScript Bundle section for more information on using this library in the browser.

const { ShareServiceClient } = require("@azure/storage-file-share");

const account = "<account name>";
const sas = "<service Shared Access Signature Token>";
const shareName = "<share name>";
const fileName = "<file name>";

const serviceClient = new ShareServiceClient(`https://${account}.file.core.windows.net${sas}`);

async function main() {
  const fileClient = serviceClient
    .getShareClient(shareName)
    .rootDirectoryClient.getFileClient(fileName);

  // Get file content from position 0 to the end
  // In browsers, get downloaded data by accessing downloadFileResponse.blobBody
  const downloadFileResponse = await fileClient.download(0);
  console.log(
    `Downloaded file content: ${await blobToString(await downloadFileResponse.blobBody)}`
  );
}

// [Browser only] A helper method used to convert a browser Blob into string.
async function blobToString(blob) {
  const fileReader = new FileReader();
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    fileReader.onloadend = (ev) => {
      resolve(ev.target.result);
    };
    fileReader.onerror = reject;
    fileReader.readAsText(blob);
  });
}

main();

A complete example of simple ShareServiceClient scenarios is at samples/v12/typescript/src/shareSerivceClient.ts.

Troubleshooting

Enabling logging may help uncover useful information about failures. In order to see a log of HTTP requests and responses, set the AZURE_LOG_LEVEL environment variable to info. Alternatively, logging can be enabled at runtime by calling setLogLevel in the @azure/logger:

const { setLogLevel } = require("@azure/logger");

setLogLevel("info");

Next steps

More code samples

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to this library, please read the contributing guide to learn more about how to build and test the code.

Also refer to Storage specific guide for additional information on setting up the test environment for storage libraries.

Share via

Getting started

Currently supported environments

Prerequisites

Install the package

Authenticate the client

Compatibility

Web Workers

Differences between Node.js and browsers

Following features, interfaces, classes or functions are only available in Node.js

Following features, interfaces, classes or functions are only available in browsers

JavaScript Bundle

CORS

Key concepts

Examples

Import the package

using connection string

with `StorageSharedKeyCredential`

with SAS Token

List shares in the account

Create an azure file then upload to it

List files and directories under a directory

Download a file and convert it to a string (Node.js)

Download a file and convert it to a string (Browsers)

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Contributing

Additional resources

Share via

Azure Storage File Share client library for JavaScript - version 12.25.0

Getting started

Currently supported environments

Prerequisites

Install the package

Authenticate the client

Compatibility

Web Workers

Differences between Node.js and browsers

Following features, interfaces, classes or functions are only available in Node.js

Following features, interfaces, classes or functions are only available in browsers

JavaScript Bundle

CORS

Key concepts

Examples

Import the package

Create the share service client

using connection string

with StorageSharedKeyCredential

with SAS Token

List shares in the account

Create a new share and a directory

Create an azure file then upload to it

List files and directories under a directory

Download a file and convert it to a string (Node.js)

Download a file and convert it to a string (Browsers)

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Contributing

Additional resources

with `StorageSharedKeyCredential`