Share via

Azure Import/Export service metadata and properties file format

  • Article

You can specify metadata and properties for one or more blobs as part of an import job or an export job. To set metadata or properties for blobs being created as part of an import job, you provide a metadata or properties file on the hard drive containing the data to be imported. For an export job, metadata and properties are written to a metadata or properties file that is included on the hard drive returned to you.

Metadata file format

The format of a metadata file is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  
<Metadata>  
[<metadata-name-1>metadata-value-1</metadata-name-1>]  
[<metadata-name-2>metadata-value-2</metadata-name-2>]  
. . .  
</Metadata>
XML Element Type Description
Metadata Root element The root element of the metadata file.
metadata-name String Optional. The XML element specifies the name of the metadata for the blob, and its value specifies the value of the metadata setting.

Properties file format

The format of a properties file is as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  
<Properties>  
[<Last-Modified>date-time-value</Last-Modified>]  
[<Etag>etag</Etag>]  
[<Content-Length>size-in-bytes<Content-Length>]  
[<Content-Type>content-type</Content-Type>]  
[<Content-MD5>content-md5</Content-MD5>]  
[<Content-Encoding>content-encoding</Content-Encoding>]  
[<Content-Language>content-language</Content-Language>]  
[<Cache-Control>cache-control</Cache-Control>]  
</Properties>
XML Element Type Description
Properties Root element The root element of the properties file.
Last-Modified String Optional. The last-modified time for the blob. For export jobs only.
Etag String Optional. The blob's ETag value. For export jobs only.
Content-Length String Optional. The size of the blob in bytes. For export jobs only.
Content-Type String Optional. The content type of the blob.
Content-MD5 String Optional. The blob's MD5 hash.
Content-Encoding String Optional. The blob's content encoding.
Content-Language String Optional. The blob's content language.
Cache-Control String Optional. The cache control string for the blob.

Next steps

See Set blob properties, Set Blob Metadata, and Setting and retrieving properties and metadata for blob resources for detailed rules about setting blob metadata and properties.