persisting-shell-storage.md

title	description	services	documentationcenter	author	manager	tags	ms.assetid	ms.service	ms.workload	ms.tgt_pltfrm	ms.devlang	ms.topic	ms.date	ms.author
Persist files for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell | Microsoft Docs	Walkthrough of how Bash in Azure Cloud Shell persists files.	azure		jluk	timlt	azure-resource-manager		azure	infrastructure-services	vm-linux	na	article	09/04/2018	juluk

[!INCLUDE PersistingStorage-introblock]

How Cloud Shell storage works

Cloud Shell persists files through both of the following methods:

• Creating a disk image of your $Home directory to persist all contents within the directory. The disk image is saved in your specified file share as acc_<User>.img at fileshare.storage.windows.net/fileshare/.cloudconsole/acc_<User>.img, and it automatically syncs changes.
• Mounting your specified file share as clouddrive in your $Home directory for direct file-share interaction. /Home/<User>/clouddrive is mapped to fileshare.storage.windows.net/fileshare.

Note

All files in your $Home directory, such as SSH keys, are persisted in your user disk image, which is stored in your mounted file share. Apply best practices when you persist information in your $Home directory and mounted file share.

Bash-specific commands

Use the clouddrive command

With Bash in Cloud Shell, you can run a command called clouddrive, which enables you to manually update the file share that is mounted to Cloud Shell.

Mount a new clouddrive

Prerequisites for manual mounting

You can update the file share that's associated with Cloud Shell by using the clouddrive mount command.

If you mount an existing file share, the storage accounts must be located in your select Cloud Shell region. Retrieve the location by running env from Bash and checking the ACC_LOCATION.

The clouddrive mount command

Note

If you're mounting a new file share, a new user image is created for your $Home directory. Your previous $Home image is kept in your previous file share.

Run the clouddrive mount command with the following parameters:

clouddrive mount -s mySubscription -g myRG -n storageAccountName -f fileShareName

To view more details, run clouddrive mount -h, as shown here:

Unmount clouddrive

You can unmount a file share that's mounted to Cloud Shell at any time. Since Cloud Shell requires a mounted file share to be used, you will be prompted to create and mount another file share on the next session.

1. Run clouddrive unmount.
2. Acknowledge and confirm prompts.

Your file share will continue to exist unless you delete it manually. Cloud Shell will no longer search for this file share on subsequent sessions. To view more details, run clouddrive unmount -h, as shown here:

Warning

Although running this command will not delete any resources, manually deleting a resource group, storage account, or file share that's mapped to Cloud Shell erases your $Home directory disk image and any files in your file share. This action cannot be undone.

List clouddrive

To discover which file share is mounted as clouddrive, run the df command.

The file path to clouddrive shows your storage account name and file share in the URL. For example, //storageaccountname.file.core.windows.net/filesharename

justin@Azure:~$ df
Filesystem                                          1K-blocks   Used  Available Use% Mounted on
overlay                                             29711408 5577940   24117084  19% /
tmpfs                                                 986716       0     986716   0% /dev
tmpfs                                                 986716       0     986716   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda1                                           29711408 5577940   24117084  19% /etc/hosts
shm                                                    65536       0      65536   0% /dev/shm
//mystoragename.file.core.windows.net/fileshareName 5368709120    64 5368709056   1% /home/justin/clouddrive
justin@Azure:~$

PowerShell-specific commands

List clouddrive Azure file shares

The Get-CloudDrive cmdlet retrieves the Azure file share information currently mounted by the clouddrive in the Cloud Shell.

Unmount clouddrive

You can unmount an Azure file share that's mounted to Cloud Shell at any time. If the Azure file share has been removed, you will be prompted to create and mount a new Azure file share at the next session.

The Dismount-CloudDrive cmdlet unmounts an Azure file share from the current storage account. Dismounting the clouddrive terminates the current session. The user will be prompted to create and mount a new Azure file share during the next session.

[!INCLUDE PersistingStorage-endblock]

Next steps

Bash in Cloud Shell Quickstart
PowerShell in Cloud Shell Quickstart
Learn about Microsoft Azure Files storage
Learn about storage tags