SFTP is a “Secure File Transfer Protocol” used for transferring files securely over a secure shell. Generally, SFTP is used by web hosting customers to transfer files over the network. Microsoft Azure does not have a fully managed SFTP service yet. If you want to deploy an SFTP on Azure, you may need to deploy a secure FTP on Files.com then integrate it with Microsoft Azure blob storage. Microsoft Azure allows you to mount your container or sync your files to and from Azure blob storage.
Files.com is a cloud-based file sharing solution that allows you to mount and sync your files from several cloud providers including, Microsoft Azure, Google, Dropbox, Rackspace, Amazon S3, and more. It is best for secure storage and transfer of your files, huge ones. Files.com has inbounded files inboxes, as well as file requests – this allows you to organize and sort data systematically. Furthermore, rather than sending the data through suspicious pathways, Files.com enables the recipient to access a secure link with the needed information and retrieve the files. This tool proves to be highly beneficial for companies in electronic data transfer.
In this post, you will learn the following:
- Create a storage account on Microsoft Azure.
- Create a container on the Microsoft Azure portal.
- Set up remote server sync with Azure on Files.com
- Set up a remote server mount with Azure on Files.com
Create a Storage Account on Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure storage account provides a unique namespace for your Azure Storage data accessible from anywhere in the world over HTTP or HTTPS.
First, sign in to the Microsoft Azure portal at https://portal.azure.com/. You should see the following screen:
In the left pane, click on Storage account. You should see the following screen:
Click on the Create button. You should see the following screen:
Now, provide your resource group name, storage account name then click on the Review + create button. You should see the following screen:
Next, review your account information and click on the Create button. You should see the following screen:
At this point, your Azure storage account is ready to use. You can now proceed to the next step.
Create a Container on Microsoft Azure Portal
Next, you will need to create a container on the Azure portal.
To create a container on the Azure portal, follow the below steps:
1. Log in to the Azure portal and navigate to your new storage account. You should see the following screen:
2. In the left pane, click on Data storage => Containers and click on the +Container button. You should see the following screen:
3. Provide your container name, define your access level and click on Create button. Once the container has been created, you should see the following screen:
Next, you will need to upload some files to your new container in the Azure portal.
4. Click on the container you created in the previous section. You should see the following screen:
5. Click on the Upload button on the top bar. You should see the following screen:
6. Select all files you want to upload from your local system and click on the Upload button. Once all files are uploaded, you should see the following screen:
At this point, we have an Azure blob storage account with the container. You can now proceed to the next step.
Set Up a Remote Server mount with Azure on Files.com
In this section, we will mount all files from the Azure blob storage to Files.com. You can sign up for a 7-day free trial to get you started.
Follow the below steps to set up a remote server mount with Azure on Files.com:
1. First, log in to Files.com. You should see the following screen:
2. Click on the Integration in the left pane. You should see a list of all services that are currently supported for mounting.
3. Click on Microsoft Azure. You should see the following screen:
4. Click on the Add Microsoft Azure as a remote server. You should see the following screen:
5. Provide any name for the connection, your Azure storage account name, Azure container name, Azure access key, and click on the Save button. Once you are connected to Microsoft Azure you should see the following screen:
Next, you will need to create a folder on Files.com and mount Azure blob storage on that folder.
6. Click on the Files on the Files.com dashboard. You should see the following screen:
7. Click on New Folder. You should see the following screen:
8. Provide your folder name (one for mount and one for sync) and click on the Create button. You should see the following screen:
9. Navigate the azure mount folder and click on the Folder settings. You should see the following screen:
10. Click on Remote server mount. You should see the following screen:
11. Click on Add new remote server mount. You should see the following screen:
12. Select your Azure blob storage account and provide your root directory path (/) then click on the Save button. You should see that all files from the Azure blob storage are now mounted on Files.com.
Set up a Remote Server Sync with Azure on Files.com
Remote server sync allows you to sync files in three different modes.
- Push: Move all files from Files.com to the Azure blob storage.
- Pull: Move all files from the Azure blob storage to Files.com.
- Two-way Sync: Synchronized all files on both ends.
Keep in mind that the remote server sync option is not real-time. Instead, the remote sync happens at polling intervals based on your plan.
In this section, we will show you how to set up remote server sync with Azure.
Follow the below steps to set up remote server sync with Azure.
1. Click on the Files in the File.com dashboard. You should see the following screen:
2. Navigate the azure sync folder and click on the Folder settings. You should see the following screen:
3. Click on Sync to and from a remote server. You should see the following screen:
4. Click on Add new remote server sync. You should see the following screen:
5. Select your Azure blob storage, define sync direction “Push items to a remote server”, define “Delete source files from this site”, Provide remote root directory path then click on the Save button.
6. Now, upload some files on the Files.com inside the azure sync folder as shown below:
7. Wait for some time then go to the Azure blob storage account. You should see that all files from Files.com are synchronized to the Azure blob storage account.
You should also notice that all files are deleted from Files.com because we set up sync in one direction. So all files have been moving to the Azure blob storage.
Conclusion
In the above guide, we explained how to set up an SFTP server on the Microsoft Azure portal and integrate it with Files.com. I would recommend creating an SFTP service on Files.com and sync your data to Microsoft Azure blob storage.
