Azure Storage File Share SDK for Python

Manage SMB file shares for cloud-native and lift-and-shift scenarios.

Installation

pip install azure-storage-file-share

Environment Variables

AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_URL=https://<account>.file.core.windows.net  # Required for Entra ID auth
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in production

Authentication & Lifecycle

🔑 Two rules apply to every code sample below:

1. Prefer DefaultAzureCredential. It works locally (Azure CLI / VS Code / Developer CLI) and in Azure (managed identity, workload identity) with no code change. Avoid connection strings, account/API keys — they bypass Entra audit and rotation.
   • Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential works as-is.
   • Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod (or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>) to constrain the credential chain to production-safe credentials.
2. Wrap every client in a context manager so HTTP transports, sockets, and token caches are released deterministically:
   • Sync: with <Client>(...) as client:
   • Async: async with <Client>(...) as client: and async with DefaultAzureCredential() as credential: (from azure.identity.aio)

Snippets may abbreviate this setup, but production code should always follow both rules.

from azure.storage.fileshare import ShareServiceClient
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential, ManagedIdentityCredential

# Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(require_envvar=True)
# Or use a specific credential directly in production:
# See https://learn.microsoft.com/python/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-python#credential-classes
# credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()

with ShareServiceClient(
    account_url=os.environ["AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_URL"],
    credential=credential
) as service:
    # Use service here (see following sections for operations)
    ...

Share Operations

Create Share

share = service.create_share("my-share")

List Shares

for share in service.list_shares():
    print(f"{share.name}: {share.quota} GB")

Get Share Client

share_client = service.get_share_client("my-share")

Delete Share

service.delete_share("my-share")

Directory Operations

Create Directory

share_client = service.get_share_client("my-share")
share_client.create_directory("my-directory")

# Nested directory
share_client.create_directory("my-directory/sub-directory")

List Directories and Files

directory_client = share_client.get_directory_client("my-directory")

for item in directory_client.list_directories_and_files():
    if item["is_directory"]:
        print(f"[DIR] {item['name']}")
    else:
        print(f"[FILE] {item['name']} ({item['size']} bytes)")

Delete Directory

share_client.delete_directory("my-directory")

File Operations

Upload File

file_client = share_client.get_file_client("my-directory/file.txt")

# From string
file_client.upload_file("Hello, World!")

# From file
with open("local-file.txt", "rb") as f:
    file_client.upload_file(f)

# From bytes
file_client.upload_file(b"Binary content")

Download File

file_client = share_client.get_file_client("my-directory/file.txt")

# To bytes
data = file_client.download_file().readall()

# To file
with open("downloaded.txt", "wb") as f:
    data = file_client.download_file()
    data.readinto(f)

# Stream chunks
download = file_client.download_file()
for chunk in download.chunks():
    process(chunk)

Get File Properties

properties = file_client.get_file_properties()
print(f"Size: {properties.size}")
print(f"Content type: {properties.content_settings.content_type}")
print(f"Last modified: {properties.last_modified}")

Delete File

file_client.delete_file()

Copy File

source_url = "https://account.file.core.windows.net/share/source.txt"
dest_client = share_client.get_file_client("destination.txt")
dest_client.start_copy_from_url(source_url)

Range Operations

Upload Range

# Upload to specific range
file_client.upload_range(data=b"content", offset=0, length=7)

Download Range

# Download specific range
download = file_client.download_file(offset=0, length=100)
data = download.readall()

Snapshot Operations

Create Snapshot

snapshot = share_client.create_snapshot()
print(f"Snapshot: {snapshot['snapshot']}")

Access Snapshot

snapshot_client = service.get_share_client(
    "my-share",
    snapshot=snapshot["snapshot"]
)

Async Client

from azure.storage.fileshare.aio import ShareServiceClient
from azure.identity.aio import DefaultAzureCredential

async def upload_file():
    async with DefaultAzureCredential() as credential:
        async with ShareServiceClient(account_url, credential=credential) as service:
            share = service.get_share_client("my-share")
            file_client = share.get_file_client("test.txt")
            
            await file_client.upload_file("Hello!")

Client Types

Client	Purpose
ShareServiceClient	Account-level operations
ShareClient	Share operations
ShareDirectoryClient	Directory operations
ShareFileClient	File operations

Best Practices

1. Pick sync OR async and stay consistent. Do not mix azure.storage.fileshare sync clients with azure.storage.fileshare.aio async clients in the same call path. Choose one mode per module.
2. Always use context managers for clients and async credentials. Wrap every client in with ShareServiceClient(...) as client: (sync) or async with ShareServiceClient(...) as client: (async). For async DefaultAzureCredential from azure.identity.aio, also use async with credential: so tokens and transports are cleaned up.
3. Use DefaultAzureCredential for portable auth across local dev and Azure (avoid connection strings / API keys when possible).
4. Use Microsoft Entra ID for production with RBAC
5. Stream large files using chunks() to avoid memory issues
6. Create snapshots before major changes
7. Set quotas to prevent unexpected storage costs
8. Use ranges for partial file updates

Reference Files

File	Contents
references/capabilities.md	Additional non-hero capabilities, operation-group coverage, and production checklists.
references/non-hero-scenarios.md	Dedicated non-hero examples for secondary/advanced scenarios.