Calculate the size of a Blob storage container

This script calculates the size of a container in Azure Blob storage by totaling the size of the blobs in the container.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.

Important

This CLI script provides an estimated size for the container and should not be used for billing calculations.

The maximum number of blobs returned with a single listing call is 5000. If you need to return more than 5000 blobs, use a continuation token to request additional sets of results.

Prerequisites

• Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.

  

• If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

  • If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.

  • When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.

  • Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Sample script

Launch Azure Cloud Shell

The Azure Cloud Shell is a free interactive shell that you can use to run the steps in this article. It has common Azure tools preinstalled and configured to use with your account.

To open the Cloud Shell, just select Try it from the upper right corner of a code block. You can also launch Cloud Shell in a separate browser tab by going to https://shell.azure.com.

When Cloud Shell opens, verify that Bash is selected for your environment. Subsequent sessions will use Azure CLI in a Bash environment, Select Copy to copy the blocks of code, paste it into the Cloud Shell, and press Enter to run it.

Sign in to Azure

Cloud Shell is automatically authenticated under the initial account signed-in with. Use the following script to sign in using a different subscription, replacing subscriptionId with your Azure subscription ID.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.

subscription="subscriptionId" # Set Azure subscription ID here

az account set -s $subscription # ...or use 'az login'

For more information, see set active subscription or log in interactively.

Run the script

# Calculate container size

# Variables for storage
let "randomIdentifier=$RANDOM*$RANDOM"
location="East US"
resourceGroup="msdocs-azuresql-rg-$randomIdentifier"
tag="calculate-container-size"
storage="msdocsstorage$randomIdentifier"
container="msdocs-storage-container-$randomIdentifier"

# Create a resource group
echo "Creating $resourceGroup in $location..."
az group create --name $resourceGroup --location "$location" --tags $tag

# Create storage account
echo "Creating $storage..."
az storage account create --name $storage --resource-group $resourceGroup --location "$location" --sku Standard_LRS

# Create a container
echo "Creating $container on $storage..."
key=$(az storage account keys list --account-name $storage --resource-group $resourceGroup -o json --query [0].value | tr -d '"')

az storage container create --name $container --account-key $key --account-name $storage #--public-access container

# Create sample files to upload as blobs
for i in `seq 1 3`; do
    echo $randomIdentifier > container_size_sample_file_$i.txt
done

# Upload sample files to container
az storage blob upload-batch \
    --pattern "container_size_sample_file_*.txt" \
    --source . \
    --destination $container \
    --account-key $key \
    --account-name $storage

# Calculate total size of container. Use the --query parameter to display only
# blob contentLength and output it in TSV format so only the values are
# returned. Then pipe the results to the paste and bc utilities to total the
# size of the blobs in the container. The bc utility is not supported in Cloud Shell.
bytes=`az storage blob list \
    --container-name $container \
    --account-key $key \
    --account-name $storage \
    --query "[*].[properties.contentLength]" \
    --output tsv | paste -s -d+ | bc`

# Display total bytes
echo "Total bytes in container: $bytes"

# Delete the sample files created by this script
rm container_size_sample_file_*.txt

Clean up resources

Use the following command to remove the resource group and all resources associated with it using the az group delete command - unless you have an ongoing need for these resources. Some of these resources may take a while to create, as well as to delete.

az group delete --name $resourceGroup

Sample reference

This script uses the following commands to calculate the size of the Blob storage container. Each item in the table links to command-specific documentation.

Command	Notes
az group create	Creates a resource group in which all resources are stored.
az storage blob upload	Uploads local files to an Azure Blob storage container.
az storage blob list	Lists the blobs in an Azure Blob storage container.

Next steps

For more information on the Azure CLI, see Azure CLI documentation.

Additional storage CLI script samples can be found in the Azure CLI samples for Azure Blob storage.