---
layout: default
navsection: installguide
title: Configure Azure Blob storage
...

As an alternative to local and network-attached POSIX filesystems, Keepstore can store data in an Azure Storage container.

h2. Create a container

Normally, all keepstore services are configured to share a single Azure Storage container.

Using the Azure web portal or command line tool, create or choose a storage account with a suitable redundancy profile and availability region. Use the storage account keys to create a new container.

<notextile>
<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">azure config mode arm</span>
~$ <span class="userinput">azure login</span>
~$ <span class="userinput">azure group create exampleGroupName eastus</span>
~$ <span class="userinput">azure storage account create --type LRS --location eastus --resource-group exampleGroupName exampleStorageAccountName</span>
~$ <span class="userinput">azure storage account keys list --resource-group exampleGroupName exampleStorageAccountName</span>
info:    Executing command storage account keys list
+ Getting storage account keys
data:    Primary: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz==
data:    Secondary: yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy==
info:    storage account keys list command OK
~$ <span class="userinput">AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT="exampleStorageAccountName" \
AZURE_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY="zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz==" \
azure storage container create exampleContainerName</span>
</code></pre>
</notextile>

h2. Configure keepstore

Copy the primary storage account key to a file where it will be accessible to keepstore at startup time.

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<pre><code>~$ <span class="userinput">sudo sh -c 'cat &gt;/etc/sv/keepstore/exampleStorageAccountName.key &lt;&lt;EOF'
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz==
EOF</span>
~$ <span class="userinput">sudo chmod 0400 /etc/sv/keepstore/exampleStorageAccountName.key</span>
</code></pre>
</notextile>

In your keepstore startup script, instead of specifying a local storage using @-volume /path@ or discovering mount points automatically, use @-azure-*@ arguments to specify the storage container:

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<pre><code>#!/bin/sh

exec 2&gt;&amp;1
exec keepstore \
 -azure-storage-account-key-file <span class="userinput">/etc/sv/keepstore/exampleStorageAccountName.key</span> \
 -azure-storage-account-name <span class="userinput">exampleStorageAccountName</span> \
 -azure-storage-container-volume <span class="userinput">exampleContainerName</span>
</code></pre>
</notextile>

Start (or restart) keepstore, and check its log file to confirm it is using the new configuration.

<notextile>
<pre><code>2015/10/26 21:06:24 Using volume azure-storage-container:"exampleContainerName" (writable=true)
</code></pre>
</notextile>