Setting up FileCloud Managed Azure Blob Storage

As an administrator, you can integrate FileCloud Server to store user data on an Azure Blob storage server.

Azure Blob storage (Blob Storage) is a massively scalable object storage service for unstructured data
You can use Blob Storage to store and retrieve any amount of data at any time, from anywhere on the web
You can accomplish these tasks using the Azure Console

Getting Started with Azure Blob Storage

WARNINGS:

Only change the FileCloud storage type to Blob for new installations.
Do not change the FileCloud storage type to Blob if FileCloud has been in use and data is already stored.
Be very careful when changing the storage path. If done improperly, it could lead to data loss.
When changing the storage type from local to Azure Blob, the files and folders that have already been saved to local storage will not be moved automatically to Blob storage.
- For existing files and folders, the administrator must manually export them from local storage before changing the storage type.
- After changing the storage type to Blob, the administrator must manually import pre-existing files and folders.
The Azure Storage Container should NEVER be modified outside of the FileCloud subsystem.
Do not add/edit/modify files directly using Azure Storage tools. Doing so will destabilize your FileCloud installation.

Integrate Azure Blob Storage

1. Change the Storage Type to Azure Blob Storage

NOTE:

For this step you will need to access WWWROOT. It is typically located at:

Windows	Linux
c:\xampp\htdocs	/var/www/html

To enable Azure Blob storage as the backend:

To make sure that your server does not have any time variations, set up the time on your server to be synchronized.
1. Configure an authoritative time server in Windows Server
2. Synchronize Time with NTP in Linux
Open the following file for editing:

WWWROOT/config/cloudconfig.php
Find the following line:

define("TONIDOCLOUD_STORAGE_IMPLEMENTATION", "local");
Change it to:

define("TONIDOCLOUD_STORAGE_IMPLEMENTATION", "azureblob");
Save and close the file.
Find the following file:

WWWROOT/config/azureblobstorageconfig-sample.php
Rename it to:

WWWROOT/config/azureblobstorageconfig.php

Nothing needs to be added or edited in azureblobstorageconfig.php

2. Configure Credentials

After you have set up the storage implementation key in step 1, you can configure the credentials:

To configure Azure Blob storage Credentials:

In the FileCloud admin portal's left navigation bar, scroll down and click Settings. Then, on the Settings navigation page, click Storage .
The Managed Storage settings page opens by default.
Type in or select the Azure Blob settings for your environment (the settings that appear above the Save Settings button).
Definitions of the settings appear in the table below.
Click Save Settings.
Enter values for the settings below it or leave the default settings.
Definitions of the settings appear in the table on the page Setting up FileCloud Managed S3 Storage.
Click Save.

Field	Description
Account Name	This is your Azure storage account name. For an RBAC user, it requires at least the following permissions.
Account Key	This is your Azure storage account key (To get your account key, visit Amazon security portal). For an RBAC user, it requires at least the following permissions.
Container Name	Provide a storage container name. The container should be new (in some circumstances, containers previously used in FileCloud could be used). It is very important that the Azure storage container is never modified outside of the FileCloud subsystem. Container name rules The name of the container has to be unique and follow the naming rules. If container name is not provided, FileCloud will auto-generate it when setting up the storage. Container name cannot be changed once storage is set up.
Endpoint Suffix	Optional: This is the Azure Blob storage endpoint. Use this to specify your own Azure storage endpoint (typically Azure-compatible storage) Use this if it is an unpublished region. To use an Azure endpoint, it must be one of the values published here. Note: For govcloud installs, you must use the following endpoint suffix: blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net
Blob Storage Folder	Optional: All files will be stored inside this root storage folder. This folder will be created automatically.
Number of old versions to keep for each file	If a file with the same path and name is uploaded, FileCloud versions the file. This setting determines number of recent versions that FileCloud should retain. To disable versioning completely, set the number of versions to 0. NOTE: Versioned files count towards the user's storage quota.

3. Data Encryption

Encryption at rest

Azure Storage automatically encrypts your data when persisting it to the cloud. Encryption protects your data and helps you meet your organizational security and compliance commitments. Data in Azure Storage is encrypted and decrypted transparently using 256-bit AES encryption, one of the strongest block ciphers available, and is FIPS 140-2 compliant. Azure Storage encryption is similar to BitLocker encryption on Windows.

Azure Storage encryption is enabled for all new and existing storage accounts and cannot be disabled. Because your data is secured by default, you don't need to modify your code or applications to take advantage of Azure Storage encryption.

Storage accounts are encrypted regardless of their performance tier (standard or premium) or deployment model (Azure Resource Manager or classic). All Azure Storage redundancy options support encryption, and all copies of a storage account are encrypted. All Azure Storage resources are encrypted, including blobs, disks, files, queues, and tables. All object metadata is also encrypted.

Encryption does not affect Azure Storage performance. There is no additional cost for Azure Storage encryption.

This means that all configuration can be done in Azure Portal and no additional steps are required in FileCloud

Troubleshooting

Using Override Configuration Keys

The following keys are not typically used. However, they may be needed in specific circumstances.

KEY	VALUE	Description
TONIDOCLOUD_NODE_COMMON_TEMP_FOLDER	"/somepath/location"	In HA installs, temp folder must be a commonly accessible location. This key must be set in each of the HA nodes
TONIDOCLOUD_AZURE_BLOB_DOWNLOAD_SIZE_LIMIT	10485760	Specifies the file size limit for which file will be downloaded
TONIDOCLOUD_DISABLE_AZURE_BLOB_REDIRECT	"1"	(NOT RECOMMENDED) This will force FileCloud server to download the file from Azure Blob storage to the filecloud server system and then send it to client on file downloads (Can be slow)

How to Correct Issues with Image Previews

If you are having problems previewing images, add the following domain to the .htaccess file.

To add the domain to the .htaccess file:

Open the following file:
Windows: C:\xampp\htdocs\.htaccess
Linux: /var/www/html/.htaccess
Locate the following line and add the domain *.core.windows.net to the locations shown in the example below. The first instance may already be included.