Azure Storage Explorer, add an account issue, lowei@microsoft.com Subscription could not be loaded. #4256 longwei77 opened this issue Mar 24, 2021 3 comments. Launch Azure Storage Explorer and click the plug-in icon on the left. Select Add an Azure Account, and then click Next. In the Azure Sign in dialog box, enter your Azure credentials. Select your subscription from the list and then click Apply.
Storage accounts provide a flexible solution that keeps data as files, tables, and messages. With Azure Storage Explorer, it's easy to read and manipulate this data.
You want to enable your engineers to manage the data stored in Azure Storage, so they can maintain the data that your CRM application uses. You want to assess whether they can use Storage Explorer for this purpose.
Here, you'll learn about Storage Explorer, and how you can use it to manage data from multiple storage accounts and subscriptions. You'll learn different ways of using Storage Explorer to connect to your data, Azure Stack, and data held in Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Data Lake.
What is Storage Explorer?
Storage Explorer is a GUI application developed by Microsoft to simplify access to, and the management of, data stored in Azure storage accounts. Storage Explorer is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Some of the benefits of using Storage Explorer are:
- It's easy to connect to and manage multiple storage accounts.
- The interface lets you connect to Azure Cosmos DB and Data Lake.
- You can also use the interface to update and view entities in your storage accounts.
- Storage Explorer is free to download and use.
Azure Storage Manager Explorer
With Storage Explorer, you can use a range of storage and data operation tasks on any of your Azure storage accounts. These tasks include edit, download, copy, and delete.
Azure Storage Explorer Login
Supported software versions
The Azure Storage Explorer application runs on the following versions of these platforms:
Azure Storage Explorer Cannot Login
| Operating system | Version |
|---|---|
| Windows | Windows 10 (Recommended), Windows 8, or Windows 7 |
| macOS | macOS 12.12 Sierra and later |
| Linux | Ubuntu 18.04 x64, Ubuntu16.04 x64, or Ubuntu 14.04 x64 |
Azure Storage types
Azure Storage Explorer can access many different data types from services like these:
- Azure Blob storage. Blob storage is used to store unstructured data as a binary large object (blob).
- Azure Table storage. Table storage is used to store NoSQL, semi-structured data.
- Azure Files. Azure File is a file-sharing service that enables access through the Server Message Block protocol, similar to traditional file servers.
- Azure Data Lake Storage. Azure Data Lake, based on Apache Hadoop, is designed for large data volumes and can store unstructured and structured data.
Manage multiple storage accounts in multiple subscriptions
If you have multiple storage accounts across multiple subscriptions in your Azure tenant, managing them through the Azure portal can be time-consuming. Storage Explorer gives you the ability to manage the data stored in multiple Azure storage accounts and across Azure subscriptions.
Use local emulators
During the development phase of your project, you might not want developers to incur additional costs by using Azure storage accounts. In those cases, you can use a locally based emulator. Storage Explorer supports two emulators: Azure Storage Emulator and Azurite.
- Azure Storage Emulator uses a local instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express LocalDB. It emulates the Azure Table, Queue, and Blob storage.
- Azurite, which is based on Node.js, is an open-source emulator that supports most Azure Storage commands through an API.
Storage Explorer requires the emulator to be running before you open it. Connecting to your emulator is no different from connecting to Azure storage accounts. However, you'll choose the Attach to a local emulator connection type.
All locally emulated storage connection types appear in Local & Attached > Storage accounts.
Connecting Storage Explorer to Azure
There are several ways to connect your Storage Explorer application to your Azure storage accounts.
You need two permissions to access your Azure storage account: management and data. However, you can use Storage Explorer with only there prompted, provide the type of resource that you're connecting to.
It's crucial to select the correct resource type because it changes the information that you need to enter.
Any connections that you create through this approach will appear in the resource tree, in this branch: Local & attached > Storage Accounts > Attached Containers > Blob.
Connect by using a shared access signature URI
A shared access signature (SAS) URI is an unambiguous identifier that's used to access your Azure Storage resources.
With this connection method, you'll use a SAS URI for the required storage account. You'll need a SAS URI whether you want to use a file share, table, queue, or blob container. You can get a SAS URI either from the Azure portal or from Storage Explorer.
To add a SAS connection:
- Open Storage Explorer.
- Connect to your Azure storage account.
- Select the connection type: shared access signature (SAS) URI.
- Provide a meaningful name for the connection.
- When you're prompted, provide the SAS URI.
- Review and verify the connection details, and then select Connect.
When you've added a connection, it appears in the resource tree as a new node. You'll find the connection node in this branch: Local & attached > Storage Accounts > Attached Container > Service.
Connect by using a storage account name and key
To connect to a storage account on Azure quickly, you use the account key that's associated with the storage. To find the storage access keys from the Azure portal, go to the correct storage account page and select access keys.
To add a connection:
- Open Storage Explorer.
- Connect to your Azure storage account.
- Select the connection type: storage account name and key.
- Provide a meaningful name for the connection.
- When you're prompted, provide the name of the storage account and either of the account keys needed to access it.
- From the provided list, select the storage domain that you want to use.
- Review and verify the connection details, and then select Connect.
When the connection is added, it appears in the resource tree as a connection node. The connection node is in this branch: Local & attached > Storage Accounts.
Manage Azure Cosmos DB and Data Lake
You can use Storage Explorer to access and manage data stored in Azure Cosmos DB and Data Lake.
To connect to an Azure Cosmos DB service, you'll need to use a connection string. You get a connection string by accessing the Azure Cosmos DB configuration through the Azure portal.
To connect to a Data Lake service, you'll need the URI associated with the data lake. Presently, Storage Explorer supports only Data Lake Storage Gen1. Data Lake Storage Gen2 is currently in preview, and support will be available through Storage Explorer. Using a URI allows you to access resources that aren't in your subscription. When you have the URI of the resource that you want to access, you connect to it by using the Data Lake Storage Gen1 option.