How to Download Files from Azure File Shares (not Blob Storage)

SSIS PowerPack
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This article explains how to download files from Azure File Shares (not Blob Storage) using the ZappySys REST API Task in SSIS. It also covers how to generate SAS tokens and construct the appropriate REST API URL for accessing the files.

What is Azure Files?

Azure Files offers fully managed file shares in the cloud that are accessible via the industry standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, Network File System (NFS) protocol, and Azure Files REST API. Azure file shares can be mounted concurrently by cloud or on-premises deployments. SMB Azure file shares are accessible from Windows, Linux, and macOS clients. NFS Azure file shares are accessible from Linux clients. Additionally, SMB Azure file shares can be cached on Windows servers with Azure File Sync for fast access near where the data is being used.

Prerequisites

  • SSIS installed
  • Download and install the ZappySys SSIS PowerPack.
  • Azure Storage account with a File Share created

Generate SAS Token for Azure File Share

To authenticate REST API requests, generate a Shared Access Signature (SAS) token with required permissions.

Steps:

  1. Go to Azure Portal > Storage Accounts > [Your Account] > File shares.
  2. Click Shared access signature in the left menu.
  3. Select:
    • Allowed services: File
    • Allowed resource types: Service, Container, Object
    • Allowed permissions: Read, Write, List, Create, Delete
  4. Set expiry time (UTC).
  5. Click Generate SAS and connection string.
  6. Copy the SAS Token (starting with ?sv=...).

Build Azure File Share REST API URL

To download a file, construct the REST API URL using the storage account name <storage-account-name>, file share <share-name>, file path <directory>, file name <file-name>, and SAS token <sas-token>. This URL is used in the ZappySys REST API Task to perform a GET request and retrieve the file from Azure File Share to your local system.

Format:

https://<storage-account-name>.file.core.windows.net/<share-name>/<directory>/<file-name>?<sas-token>

Download Example URL:

https://mystorageacct.file.core.windows.net/myshare/dir1/myfile.zip?<sas-token>

Download File from Azure File Share

Let’s walk through how to download a file from Azure File Share using the ZappySys REST API Task. With a simple GET request and the correct SAS URL, you can easily retrieve the file and save it locally—no coding required.

Let’s Create Required SSIS Variables

Before we download the file from Azure File Share, let’s define a few SSIS variables to store the storage account name, file path, file name, and SAS token. These variables will help us build the download URL dynamically and make the package more flexible and reusable. In your SSIS package, create the following variables:

Variable Name Type Example Value
AzureStorageAccount String mystorageacct
FileShareName String myshare
AzureFilePath String reports/sales-report.zip
SASToken String sv=2024-08-04&st=2025-05-05&se=xx&sr=s&sp=rl&...
DownloadPath String C:\SSIS\Downloads\sales-report.zip

SSIS Variables
SSIS Variables647×217 9.15 KB

Downloading Files using ZappySys REST API Task

Here’s how to configure the ZappySys REST API Task to download a file from Azure File Shares:

  1. Drag REST API Task from the SSIS Toolbox into the Control Flow.

    ZS Rest API Task
    ZS Rest API Task555×199 18.8 KB

  2. Rename it to: Download Azure File (optional)

  3. Double-click the task to open its editor.

  4. In the ZappySys REST API Task, set the following:

    • Access Mode: Direct URL
    • Web URL: Set to the variable-based dynamic URL
    https://{{User::AzureStorageAccount}}.file.core.windows.net/{{User::FileShareName}}/{{User::AzureFilePath}}?{{User::SASToken}}
    • HTTP Request Method: PUT

    Please refer to the steps shown in the image below for guidance.
    For guidance on creating a dynamic URL in your API calls, please refer to this article: How to make Path / URL dynamic in SSIS

    Rest API Task - Dynamic URL
    Rest API Task - Dynamic URL1067×733 75.4 KB

  5. Go to the HTTP Headers section, remove all default headers, and add the following header.
    For more details, you can refer to this help link: Get File

    • x-ms-version: 2025-05-05

    HTTP Headers
    HTTP Headers699×437 32.3 KB

  6. Configure the Response Settings tab as follows:

    • ✅Check Save Response Content
    • Set Save Mode to Save to File
    • ✅Check Treat Response as Binary
    • In the File Path field, specify where you want to save the downloaded file.
      In our case, we’ve configured the path using a variable, so set it to the {{User::DownloadPath}} variable.

    Response Settings
    Response Settings836×733 66.2 KB

  7. That’s it! Click OK to save the settings, then run the package to test it. This will make the API call and download the file to the specified local path.

    Downloaded file
    Downloaded file629×115 3.89 KB

References

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve walked through the steps to download files from Azure File Shares using the ZappySys REST API Task in SSIS. By leveraging SSIS variables for dynamic URL construction and configuring the REST API Task for GET requests, we can easily retrieve files from Azure File Shares and store them locally. This approach eliminates the need for complex coding and makes the process more efficient and manageable within SSIS. With the knowledge gained, you can now seamlessly integrate Azure File Share downloads into your SSIS workflows.