Set up Microsoft Azure Cloud Storage

Create an Azure Cloud Storage Account

Before you can create any storage containers, you must first create a storage account. All blob containers belong to a storage account. You can create multiple storage accounts within the same Microsoft Azure cloud account.

1. Log into the Microsoft Azure Cloud Console. (https://manage.windowsazure.com)
2. Click on the Storage option in the left-hand navigation pane.
3. Click the + New button to create a new Storage Account (not a Blob container).

4. Click Quick Create and specify the required information. The selections will be applied to all blob containers created in the created storage account. To learn more about the technical details of each field, see How to create a storage account.
   • URL - Enter a name for the Azure Cloud Storage Account. You can only use lowercase letters and numbers. The name must be between 3-24 characters in length. You must use a name that is globally unique across all Azure storage accounts because a uniqe DNS name will be generated for the account. (e.g. http://rightscale.blob.core.windows.net/)
   • Location/Affinity Group - Select either an affinity group or a geographic location. (e.g. East US) 
   • Subscription - Select the Pay-As-You-Go pricing option (default).
   • Enable Geo-Replication - Specify whether or not you want geo-replication to be enabled for the storage account.
5. Click Create Storage Account. It will take a few minutes to create a new storage account.

Create Cloud Credentials

Cloud credentials are required to upload objects to a blob storage container or retrieve "private" objects from a container. If you are using ServerTemplates published by RightScale, many of them contain scripts for interacting with various remote object storage services. Before you start setting up deployments you should create user-defined credentials to securely pass the required cloud credentials for Microsoft Azure Storage.

1. Log into the RightScale Dashboard and go to Design > Credentials.
2. Create the following credentials for each storage account you plan to use. If you are using more than one storage account, you may want to add a suffix at the end of the credential name to differentiate the credentials of multiple storage accounts. (e.g. AZURE_ACCOUNT_NAME_ProjectX).
   • AZURE_ACCOUNT_NAME - The Storage Account Name that you created in the earlier step. (Storage > Account Name) (e.g. rightscale)

• AZURE_PRIMARY_ACCESS_KEY - The Primary Access Key of the specified Storage Account.  Each Storage Account will have a unique set of primary and secondary access keys.
  Note: You only need to create a credential for the Primary Access Key.
  • Where is the Primary Access Key?
    1. Log into the Azure Cloud Console and click Storage.
    2. Select the Storage Account Name. (e.g. rightscale)
    3. Click Managed Access Keys at the bottom of the screen.
       
        

3. Copy the "Primary Access Key" value and create a credential.