This project provides a set of Python packages that make it easy to access the Microsoft Azure storage and queue services. For documentation on how to host Python applications on Microsoft Azure, please see the Microsoft Azure Python Developer Center.

The SDK supports Python 2.7, 3.3, 3.4.

• Tables
  • create and delete tables
  • create, query, insert, update, merge, and delete entities
• Blobs
  • create, list, and delete containers, work with container metadata and permissions, list blobs in container
  • create block and page blobs (from a stream, a file, or a string), work with blob blocks and pages, delete blobs
  • work with blob properties, metadata, leases, snapshot a blob
• Storage Queues
  • create, list, and delete queues, and work with queue metadata
  • create, get, peek, update, delete messages
• Service Bus
  • Queues: create, list and delete queues; create, list, and delete subscriptions; send, receive, unlock and delete messages
  • Topics: create, list, and delete topics; create, list, and delete rules
• Service Management
  • storage accounts: create, update, delete, list, regenerate keys
  • affinity groups: create, update, delete, list, get properties
  • locations: list
  • hosted services: create, update, delete, list, get properties
  • deployment: create, get, delete, swap, change configuration, update status, upgrade, rollback
  • role instance: reboot, reimage
  • discover addresses and ports for the endpoints of other role instances in your service
  • get configuration settings and access local resources
  • get role instance information for current role and other role instances
  • query and set the status of the current role

To get the source code of the SDK via git just type:

git clone https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-python.git
cd ./azure-sdk-for-python

Alternatively, to get the source code via the Python Package Index (PyPI), type

%SystemDrive%\Python27\Scripts\pip.exe install azure

You can use these packages against the cloud Microsoft Azure Services, or against the local Storage Emulator (with the exception of Service Bus features).

1. To use the cloud services, you need to first create an account with Microsoft Azure. To use the storage services, you need to set the AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT and the AZURE_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY environment variables to the storage account name and primary access key you obtain from the Azure Portal. To use Service Bus, you need to set the AZURE_SERVICEBUS_NAMESPACE and the AZURE_SERVICEBUS_ACCESS_KEY environment variables to the service bus namespace and the default key you obtain from the Azure Portal.
2. To use the Storage Emulator, make sure the latest version of the Microsoft Azure SDK is installed on the machine, and set the EMULATED environment variable to any value ("true", "1", etc.)

To ensure a table exists, call create_table:

from azure.storage import TableService
ts = TableService(account_name, account_key)
ts.create_table('tasktable')

A new entity can be added by calling insert_entity:

from datetime import datetime
ts = TableService(account_name, account_key)
ts.create_table('tasktable')
ts.insert_entity(
     'tasktable',
     {
        'PartitionKey' : 'tasksSeattle',
        'RowKey': '1',
        'Description': 'Take out the trash',
        'DueDate': datetime(2011, 12, 14, 12) 
    }
)

The method get_entity can then be used to fetch the entity that was just inserted:

ts = TableService(account_name, account_key)
entity = ts.get_entity('tasktable', 'tasksSeattle', '1')

The create_container method can be used to create a container in which to store a blob:

from azure.storage import BlobService
blob_service = BlobService(account_name, account_key)
blob_service.create_container('images')

To upload a file 'uploads/image.png' from disk to a blob named 'image.png', the method put_block_blob_from_path can be used:

from azure.storage import BlobService
blob_service = BlobService(account_name, account_key)
blob_service.put_block_blob_from_path('images', 'image.png', 'uploads/image.png')

To upload an already opened file to a blob named 'image.png', the method put_block_blob_from_file can be used instead:

with open('uploads/image.png') as file:
  blob_service.put_block_blob_from_file('images', 'image.png', file)

To upload unicode text, use put_block_blob_from_text which will do the conversion to bytes using the specified encoding.

To upload bytes, use put_block_blob_from_bytes.

To download a blob named 'image.png' to a file on disk 'downloads/image.png', where the 'downloads' folder already exists, the get_blob_to_path method can be used:

from azure.storage import BlobService
blob_service = BlobService(account_name, account_key)
blob = blob_service.get_blob_to_path('images', 'image.png', 'downloads/image.png')

To download to an already opened file, use get_blob_to_file.

To download to an array of bytes, use get_blob_to_bytes.

To download to unicode text, use get_blob_to_text.

The create_queue method can be used to ensure a queue exists:

from azure.storage import QueueService
queue_service = QueueService(account_name, account_key)
queue_service.create_queue('taskqueue')

The put_message method can then be called to insert the message into the queue:

from azure.storage import QueueService
queue_service = QueueService(account_name, account_key)
queue_service.put_message('taskqueue', 'Hello world!')

It is then possible to call the get_messages method, process the message and then call delete_message with the message id and receipt. This two-step process ensures messages don't get lost when they are removed from the queue.

from azure.storage import QueueService
queue_service = QueueService(account_name, account_key)
messages = queue_service.get_messages('taskqueue')
queue_service.delete_message('taskqueue', messages[0].message_id, messages[0].pop_receipt)

ServiceBus Queues are an alternative to Storage Queues that might be useful in scenarios where more advanced messaging features are needed (larger message sizes, message ordering, single-operaiton destructive reads, scheduled delivery) using push-style delivery (using long polling).

The service can use Shared Access Signature authentication, or ACS authentication.

Service bus namespaces created using the Azure portal after August 2014 no longer support ACS authentication. You can create ACS compatible namespaces with the Azure SDK.

To use Shared Access Signature authentication, create the service bus service with:

from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusService

key_name = 'RootManageSharedAccessKey' # SharedAccessKeyName from Azure portal
key_value = '' # SharedAccessKey from Azure portal
sbs = ServiceBusService(service_namespace,
                        shared_access_key_name=key_name,
                        shared_access_key_value=key_value)

To use ACS authentication, create the service bus service with:

from azure.servicebus import ServiceBusService

account_key = '' # DEFAULT KEY from Azure portal
issuer = 'owner' # DEFAULT ISSUER from Azure portal
sbs = ServiceBusService(service_namespace,
                        account_key=account_key,
                        issuer=issuer)

The create_queue method can be used to ensure a queue exists:

sbs.create_queue('taskqueue')

The send_queue_message method can then be called to insert the message into the queue:

from azure.servicebus import Message

msg = Message('Hello World!')
sbs.send_queue_message('taskqueue', msg)

It is then possible to call the receive_queue_message method to dequeue the message.

msg = sbs.receive_queue_message('taskqueue')

ServiceBus topics are an abstraction on top of ServiceBus Queues that make pub/sub scenarios easy to implement.

The create_topic method can be used to create a server-side topic:

sbs.create_topic('taskdiscussion')

The send_topic_message method can be used to send a message to a topic:

from azure.servicebus import Message

msg = Message('Hello World!')
sbs.send_topic_message('taskdiscussion', msg)

A client can then create a subscription and start consuming messages by calling the create_subscription method followed by the receive_subscription_message method. Please note that any messages sent before the subscription is created will not be received.

from azure.servicebus import Message

sbs.create_subscription('taskdiscussion', 'client1')
msg = Message('Hello World!')
sbs.send_topic_message('taskdiscussion', msg)
msg = sbs.receive_subscription_message('taskdiscussion', 'client1')

You need to create two certificates, one for the server (a .cer file) and one for the client (a .pem file). To create the .pem file using OpenSSL, execute this:

openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout mycert.pem -out mycert.pem

To create the .cer certificate, execute this:

openssl x509 -inform pem -in mycert.pem -outform der -out mycert.cer

After you have created the certificate, you will need to upload the .cer file to Microsoft Azure via the "Upload" action of the "Settings" tab of the management portal.

To initialize the management service, pass in your subscription id and the path to the .pem file.

from azure.servicemanagement import ServiceManagementService
subscription_id = '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000'
cert_file = 'mycert.pem'
sms = ServiceManagementService(subscription_id, cert_file)

locations = sms.list_locations()
for location in locations:
    print(location.name)

To create a storage service, you need a name for the service (between 3 and 24 lowercase characters and unique within Microsoft Azure), a label (up to 100 characters, automatically encoded to base-64), and either a location or an affinity group.

name = "mystorageservice"
desc = name
label = name
location = 'West US'

result = sms.create_storage_account(name, desc, label, location=location)

A cloud service is also known as a hosted service (from earlier versions of Microsoft Azure). The create_hosted_service method allows you to create a new hosted service by providing a hosted service name (which must be unique in Microsoft Azure), a label (automatically encoded to base-64), and the location or the affinity group for your service.

name = "myhostedservice"
desc = name
label = name
location = 'West US'

result = sms.create_hosted_service(name, label, desc, location=location)

To make a new deployment to Azure you must store the package file in a Microsoft Azure Blob Storage account under the same subscription as the hosted service to which the package is being uploaded. You can create a deployment package with the Microsoft Azure PowerShell cmdlets, or with the cspack commandline tool.

service_name = "myhostedservice"
deployment_name = "v1"
slot = 'Production'
package_url = "URL_for_.cspkg_file"
configuration = base64.b64encode(open(file_path, 'rb').read('path_to_.cscfg_file'))
label = service_name

result = sms.create_deployment(service_name,
                     slot,
                     deployment_name,
                     package_url,
                     label,
                     configuration)

operation = sms.get_operation_status(result.request_id)
print('Operation status: ' + operation.status)

** For more examples please see the Microsoft Azure Python Developer Center **

Be sure to check out the Microsoft Azure Developer Forums on Stack Overflow if you have trouble with the provided code.

If you would like to become an active contributor to this project please follow the instructions provided in Microsoft Azure Projects Contribution Guidelines.

If you encounter any bugs with the library please file an issue in the Issues section of the project.

Microsoft Azure Python Developer Center