Configure blob lifecycle management

Configure Azure Files and Azure Blob Storage

📘Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)

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1. What is Blob Lifecycle Management?

• It is a policy-based system in Azure Blob Storage.
• You define rules that automatically move blobs to different access tiers or delete them based on certain conditions.
• Helps reduce storage costs and maintain compliance by cleaning up unused data automatically.

Key points for exam:

• Works only for block blobs (page blobs are not supported for lifecycle management).
• Can manage blobs in hot, cool, and archive tiers.
• Uses filters and conditions such as blob type, last modified date, or blob index tags.

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2. Storage Tiers and Lifecycle Actions

Azure Blob Storage has three main access tiers:

1. Hot – For data accessed frequently. Fastest access, highest cost.
2. Cool – For data accessed less often. Lower storage cost, slightly higher access cost.
3. Archive – For rarely accessed data. Lowest storage cost, high retrieval cost.

Lifecycle management actions:

• Move to Cool tier – Automatically move older data that is not accessed frequently.
• Move to Archive tier – Move long-term or rarely accessed data.
• Delete – Permanently delete data after a certain period.

Example in IT context:

• Logs from servers: move them to Cool after 30 days, then to Archive after 90 days, delete after 1 year.

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3. How Lifecycle Management Works

1. Create a Policy
   • Policies are JSON-based, meaning you define them in JSON format or through Azure Portal.
2. Define Rules
   • Each rule can target specific blob containers or blob types.
   • You can filter by prefix (like folder path) or blob index tags.
3. Set Conditions and Actions
   • Conditions: Age of blob, last modified date, or blob tags.
   • Actions: Move to Cool, move to Archive, or delete.

Exam Tip:

• You must know that lifecycle management is rule-based and JSON is often used, but you can also configure via Azure Portal or CLI.

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4. Conditions You Can Use

• Blob Age – Number of days since the blob was last modified.
• Blob Type – Block blobs only.
• Blob Index Tags – Key-value metadata tags to filter blobs.

Example JSON condition for exam:

{
  "if": {
    "daysAfterModificationGreaterThan": 90,
    "blobTypes": ["blockBlob"]
  },
  "then": {
    "tierToCool": {}
  }
}

• This rule moves block blobs older than 90 days to the Cool tier.

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5. Benefits of Blob Lifecycle Management

1. Cost Optimization – Automatically moves data to lower-cost tiers.
2. Automation – Reduces manual management of storage.
3. Compliance – Can automatically delete data to meet regulatory requirements.
4. Scalability – Works on thousands or millions of blobs efficiently.

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6. How to Configure in Azure

Option 1: Azure Portal

1. Go to Storage Account → Data management → Lifecycle management.
2. Click + Add rule.
3. Choose Scope – all blobs or specific containers.
4. Set Filter – prefix or blob index tags.
5. Set Actions – move to Cool, Archive, or Delete.
6. Save the policy.

Option 2: Azure CLI

• Example: Move blobs older than 30 days to Archive

az storage account management-policy create \
    --account-name <storage-account> \
    --policy '{
        "rules": [
            {
                "name": "moveToArchive",
                "enabled": true,
                "type": "Lifecycle",
                "definition": {
                    "actions": {
                        "baseBlob": {
                            "tierToArchive": {"daysAfterModificationGreaterThan": 30}
                        }
                    },
                    "filters": {
                        "blobTypes": ["blockBlob"]
                    }
                }
            }
        ]
    }'

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7. Key Points for the Exam

• Lifecycle management only applies to block blobs.
• You can move data between Hot → Cool → Archive.
• You can delete old blobs automatically.
• You can filter by prefix, blob type, and tags.
• Policies can be managed via Azure Portal, CLI, or PowerShell.
• Important for cost optimization and compliance.

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✅ Exam Example Question

Q: You want to automatically move blobs older than 60 days to the Archive tier and delete blobs after 365 days. What Azure feature should you use?
A: Azure Blob Lifecycle Management.