Azure Blob Container Management

A Python utility for managing Azure Blob Storage containers, providing functionality to create, list, and delete containers within an Azure Storage Account.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11.7
• Azure Storage Account
• Azure Storage Account Connection String
• Azure Storage Blob SDK

Installation

Install the required Azure libraries:

pip install azure-storage-blob
pip install azure-mgmt-storage

Required Libraries

import os
import uuid
from azure.storage.blob import BlobClient, BlobServiceClient
from azure.core.exceptions import ResourceExistsError
from azure.storage.blob.aio import BlobClient

Configuration

Initialize the blob service client:

connection_string = "your_connection_string"
blob_service_client = BlobServiceClient.from_connection_string(connection_string)
container_name = "your_container_name"

Features

1. Create Container

Creates a new container in your Azure Storage Account:

def create_blob_container(blob_service_client: BlobServiceClient, container_name):
    """
    Creates a new blob container.
    
    Args:
        blob_service_client: Azure blob service client
        container_name: Name for the new container
        
    Raises:
        ResourceExistsError: If container already exists
    """

Example usage:

create_blob_container(blob_service_client, "my-container")

2. List Containers

Lists all containers in the storage account with their metadata:

def list_containers(blob_service_client: BlobServiceClient):
    """
    Lists all containers and their metadata.
    
    Args:
        blob_service_client: Azure blob service client
        
    Returns:
        Prints container names and associated metadata
    """

Example usage:

list_containers(blob_service_client)

3. Delete Container

Deletes a specified container:

def delete_container(blob_service_client: BlobServiceClient, container_name):
    """
    Deletes a specified blob container.
    
    Args:
        blob_service_client: Azure blob service client
        container_name: Name of the container to delete
    """

Example usage:

delete_container(blob_service_client, "container-to-delete")

Error Handling

The implementation includes handling for:

• Container already exists (ResourceExistsError)
• Invalid container names
• Authorization errors
• Network connectivity issues

Complete Example

import os
from azure.storage.blob import BlobServiceClient
from azure.core.exceptions import ResourceExistsError

# Initialize client
connection_string = "your_connection_string"
blob_service_client = BlobServiceClient.from_connection_string(connection_string)
container_name = "my-container"

# Create container
create_blob_container(blob_service_client, container_name)

# List all containers
list_containers(blob_service_client)

# Delete container
delete_container(blob_service_client, container_name)

Best Practices

1. Security:

   • Secure storage of connection strings
   • Use appropriate access levels
   • Implement proper authentication

2. Naming Conventions:

   • Use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
   • Container names must be 3-63 characters
   • Start with a letter or number

3. Error Handling:

   • Check for existing containers
   • Handle authorization errors
   • Implement proper logging

Container Limitations

• Names must be 3-63 characters long
• Can only contain lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
• Must start with a letter or number
• Cannot contain consecutive hyphens

Future Enhancements

Consider adding:

• Container metadata management
• Access level configuration
• Batch operations
• Async operations support
• Retry policies