Read blob file from Microsoft Azure Storage with .NET Core

UPDATE 2021-06-29: Microsoft have change the approach to storage accounts. Read the new way here: Read and Write blob file from Microsoft Azure Storage with .NET Core.

In order to read a blob file from a Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, you need to know the following:

• The storage account connection string. This is the long string that looks like this:
  DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;
  AccountName=someaccounfname;
  AccountKey=AVeryLongCrypticalStringThatContainsALotOfChars==
• The blob storage container name. This is the name in the list of “Blobs”.
• The blob file name. This is the name of the blob inside the container. A file name can be in form of a path, as blobs are structured as a file structure inside the container. For ecample: folder/folder/file.extension

You also need this NuGet package:

Windows.Azure.Storage

The code is pretty simple:

using Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage;
using Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.Blob;

public string GetBlob(string containerName, string fileName)
{
  string connectionString = $"yourconnectionstring";

  // Setup the connection to the storage account
  CloudStorageAccount storageAccount = CloudStorageAccount.Parse(connectionString);

  // Connect to the blob storage
  CloudBlobClient serviceClient = storageAccount.CreateCloudBlobClient();
  // Connect to the blob container
  CloudBlobContainer container = serviceClient.GetContainerReference($"{containerName}");
  // Connect to the blob file
  CloudBlockBlob blob = container.GetBlockBlobReference($"{fileName}");
  // Get the blob file as text
  string contents = blob.DownloadTextAsync().Result;

  return contents;
}
The usage is equally easy:
GetBlob("containername", "my/file.json");
MORE TO READ:

Microsoft Azure Blob Storage by Microsoft
Using Azure Blob Storage In .Net Core from .NET Core Tutorials