What Is Azure Blob?

Azure Blob Storage is a scalable and cost-effective cloud storage solution provided by Microsoft Azure. It allows users to store and manage large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data, which can be accessed globally over HTTP/HTTPS. Blob Storage is optimized for storing massive amounts of data, making it ideal for serving images or documents directly to a browser, storing data for backup and restore, disaster recovery, and archiving. It supports three types of blobs: block blobs for efficient uploading of large files, append blobs for log files, and page blobs for random access and frequent read/write operations.

Product Type: Storage
Integration Type: Starter Kit
Event Source Type: Web, Mobile Browser, and Mobile App
Event Scope: Full-Funnel Events

Capabilities

Stores raw customer data events in an unstructured environment for flexibility.
Keeps data in a private stream that is never co-mingled with other customers' data.
Lets you control how data is processed before it reaches Azure Blob through playbooks.
Provides addressable third-party IDs within your data lake when paired with the Sync Injector.

Considerations

An Azure Storage Account and a Blob Container must exist as the destination for events before setup. Create them in the Azure portal if they do not already exist.
MetaRouter supports three mutually exclusive authentication methods. If multiple are filled, the integration uses the highest-priority method: Account Key (highest), then SAS Token, then Managed Identity (lowest).
- Account Key provides wide-ranging permissions for the Storage Account.
- SAS Token provides limited permissions based on its creation parameters.
- Managed Identity uses Azure Managed Identity to give the cluster direct access to Azure Blob, and requires MetaRouter cluster configuration via an SRE ticket.
Managed Identity is mutually exclusive with SAS_TOKEN and ACCOUNT_KEY; when used, the other options must be left blank.
An optional directory prefix can be used to organize events inside the container.

Starter Kit Setup Guide

1. Gather Credentials

Before you start, you must have access to the target Azure directory and the appropriate permissions from an account manager to access the relevant Subscription.
Create an Azure Storage Account if none exists:
- Search for or use the sidebar to navigate to the Storage Accounts page.
- Click 'Create' to create a new Storage Account.
Create an Azure Blob Storage Container in the target Storage Account:
- Navigate to 'Containers'.
- Create a new Container.
- Enter the name of the container and press 'Create'.
Obtain the credentials for your chosen authentication method:
- Account Key: In the Azure portal, navigate to your Storage Account, then under 'Settings' click 'Access keys'. Use either key1 or key2.
- Account Name: Displayed at the top of the Storage Account's overview page.
- Bucket (Container): Under the 'Blob service' section, click 'Containers', then create or select a container.
- SAS Token: Under 'Settings' click 'Shared access signature', configure the required permissions, services, and expiry date, then click 'Generate SAS and connection string'.
- Managed Identity: Navigate to 'Managed Identities', assign the 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role to the Managed Identity for your Storage Account, then contact your MetaRouter representative to create an SRE ticket and enable this option for your cluster.

2. Add an Azure Blob Integration

From the integration library, add an Azure Blob integration. Then, fill out the Connection Parameters:

Connection Parameter	Description
`ACCOUNT_KEY`	The secret key used to access the Storage Account API.
`ACCOUNT_NAME`	The Azure Storage Account name.
`BUCKET`	The Azure Blob Storage Container name.
`COMPRESSION`	The compression setting applied to data sent to Azure Blob Storage. Accepted options are `gzip`, `snappy`, `uncompressed`, or `NONE_UNSPECIFIED`.
`PREFIX`	An optional directory prefix to organize events into inside the container.
`SAS_TOKEN`	Grants limited access to storage resources without sharing account keys, specifying permissions and expiry time for secure access.
`USE_MANAGED_IDENTITY`	A boolean (true/false) that enables Azure Managed Identity credential injection to the cluster. Mutually exclusive with `SAS_TOKEN` and `ACCOUNT_KEY`. Requires a MetaRouter SRE ticket.

3. Configure Event Mapping

MetaRouter provides all of the event mappings that Azure Blob integrations typically require. You may add custom events, parameters, or mappings in accordance with Azure Blob's API documentation.

4. Deploy to Pipeline

In the Pipelines tab, add your Azure Blob integration.
Select the correct integration revision.
Click Add Integration to finalize deployment.

Event Mappings

Global

Global mappings will be applied to all events. If your parameter names do not match the Expected Inputs provided, you will need to overwrite the Inputs provided with your own.

Output Key	Description	Expected Input
Full Payload	Object: The complete event payload is stored as-is in Azure Blob.	Expression – returns the full input event

Integration Validation

In the Azure portal, navigate to your Storage Account and open the target Blob Container to confirm that event files are being written. If a prefix is configured, check inside that directory.
Confirm the arrival of new event files after sending test traffic through the pipeline, and open a file to verify the event payload is stored as expected.
If no files appear, verify your authentication method and connection parameters, and contact your MetaRouter or Azure Blob representative if the issue persists.

Additional Azure Blob Documentation