Set and retrieve properties and metadata for blob resources by using REST

  • 3 minutes

Containers and blobs support custom metadata, represented as HTTP headers. Metadata headers can be set on a request that creates a new container or blob resource, or on a request that explicitly creates a property on an existing resource.

Metadata header format

Metadata headers are name/value pairs. The format for the header is:

x-ms-meta-name:string-value

Beginning with version 2009-09-19, metadata names must adhere to the naming rules for C# identifiers.

Names are case-insensitive. Note that metadata names preserve the case with which they were created, but are case-insensitive when set or read. If two or more metadata headers with the same name are submitted for a resource, the Blob service returns status code 400 (Bad Request).

The metadata consists of name/value pairs. The total size of all metadata pairs can be up to 8KB in size.

Metadata name/value pairs are valid HTTP headers, and so they adhere to all restrictions governing HTTP headers.

Operations on metadata

Metadata on a blob or container resource can be retrieved or set directly, without returning or altering the content of the resource.

Note that metadata values can only be read or written in full; partial updates are not supported. Setting metadata on a resource overwrites any existing metadata values for that resource.

Retrieving properties and metadata

The GET and HEAD operations both retrieve metadata headers for the specified container or blob. These operations return headers only; they do not return a response body. The URI syntax for retrieving metadata headers on a container is as follows:

GET/HEAD https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer?restype=container

The URI syntax for retrieving metadata headers on a blob is as follows:

GET/HEAD https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer/myblob?comp=metadata

Setting Metadata Headers

The PUT operation sets metadata headers on the specified container or blob, overwriting any existing metadata on the resource. Calling PUT without any headers on the request clears all existing metadata on the resource.

The URI syntax for setting metadata headers on a container is as follows:

PUT https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer?comp=metadata&restype=container

The URI syntax for setting metadata headers on a blob is as follows:

PUT https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/mycontainer/myblob?comp=metadata

Standard HTTP properties for containers and blobs

Containers and blobs also support certain standard HTTP properties. Properties and metadata are both represented as standard HTTP headers; the difference between them is in the naming of the headers. Metadata headers are named with the header prefix x-ms-meta- and a custom name. Property headers use standard HTTP header names, as specified in the Header Field Definitions section 14 of the HTTP/1.1 protocol specification.

The standard HTTP headers supported on containers include:

  • ETag
  • Last-Modified

The standard HTTP headers supported on blobs include:

  • ETag
  • Last-Modified
  • Content-Length
  • Content-Type
  • Content-MD5
  • Content-Encoding
  • Content-Language
  • Cache-Control
  • Origin
  • Range