azst

CLI tool for Azure Blob Storage with POSIX-like semantics. Uses AzCopy as backend for blazing-fast transfers while providing a clean, intuitive interface.

Features

• Complete Toolset - cat, cp, ls, du, mv, rm, and sync commands
• Clean URI Syntax - az://account/container/path instead of verbose HTTPS URLs
• High Performance - AzCopy backend with parallel transfers and server-side copies
• Pattern Matching - Glob patterns (*.txt, **/*.jpg) and wildcards for filtering
• Safe Operations - Dry-run mode, confirmation prompts, and detailed previews
• Better UX - Colored output, progress indicators, and clear error messages

Why azst?

AzCopy is fast and Azure CLI is comprehensive, but both are verbose in terms of options and have different semantics.

azst offers a simpler alternative:

• Familiar commands - cp, ls, rm, du work like their Unix counterparts
• Shorter URIs - az://account/container/path vs https://account.blob.core.windows.net/container/path
• Same speed - Uses AzCopy under the hood for parallel transfers
• No new auth - Works with your existing az login credentials

Prerequisites

For Local Development

• Azure CLI: Install from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli
• Authentication: Run az login to authenticate

For Production / Azure VMs

azst automatically detects:

• Managed Identity on Azure VMs, App Service, AKS, Container Instances
• Service Principal credentials via environment variables:
  • AZURE_TENANT_ID
  • AZURE_CLIENT_ID
  • AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET

Credential Chain

azst tries authentication methods in this order:

1. Environment Variables - Service Principal (AZURE_TENANT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET)
2. Managed Identity - Automatic on Azure VMs and services
3. Azure CLI - Uses az login credentials for local development

Note: AzCopy will be automatically downloaded and installed during first use.

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

macOS / Linux / WSL:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dymaxionlabs/azst/main/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dymaxionlabs/azst/main/install.ps1 | iex

This will download and install:

• The latest azst binary from the main branch for your system
• AzCopy version 10.30.1 (if not already present)

Installation locations:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.local/bin/azst
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\azst\azst.exe

Manual Installation

Download the latest build for your platform from the releases page.

macOS / Linux

# Download and extract
tar xzf azst-*.tar.gz

# Move to a directory in your PATH
sudo mv azst /usr/local/bin/

# Or install to user directory
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv azst ~/.local/bin/
export PATH="$PATH:~/.local/bin"  # Add to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc

Windows

Download the .zip file, extract it, and add the directory to your PATH.

Using PowerShell:

# Extract to a directory
Expand-Archive -Path azst-windows-x86_64.exe.zip -DestinationPath $env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\azst

# Add to PATH (run as administrator or add to User PATH)
$Path = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$Path;$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\azst", "User")

Or using File Explorer:

1. Extract the .zip file to a folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\azst)
2. Add that folder to your system PATH:
   • Search for "Environment Variables" in Windows
   • Edit the "Path" variable
   • Add the folder path

Note: AzCopy will be automatically downloaded and installed during the installation process for all platforms.

Build from Source

Requires Rust to be installed.

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dymaxionlabs/azst
cd azst

# Build and install
cargo install --path .

The binary will be installed to ~/.cargo/bin/azst (make sure this directory is in your PATH).

Usage

Run azst --help to see all available commands and options.

For detailed help on any command, use:

azst <command> --help

Quick Examples

# List storage accounts
azst ls

# List containers in an account
azst ls az://myaccount/

# Copy to Azure
azst cp -r /local/dir/ az://myaccount/mycontainer/

# Download from Azure
azst cp -r az://myaccount/mycontainer/data/ /local/backup/

# Remove files
azst rm -r az://myaccount/mycontainer/old-files/

URI Format

Azure URIs follow the format: az://<storage-account>/<container>/path/to/object

Examples:

• az://myaccount/ - List all containers in storage account
• az://myaccount/mycontainer/ - List all objects in container
• az://myaccount/mycontainer/prefix/ - List objects with prefix
• az://myaccount/mycontainer/file.txt - Specific object

Note: The az:// URI scheme is specific to azst and is not used by official Microsoft Azure tools.

Configuration

The tool uses the Azure CLI configuration and authentication:

1. Login: az login
2. Set default subscription: az account set --subscription <subscription-id>

Performance

• Uses AzCopy backend for blazing-fast transfers
• Parallel uploads/downloads (configurable)
• Efficient streaming for large files
• Azure-to-Azure copies are server-side (no local transfer)

Comparison with gsutil

gsutil	azst	Description
gs://	az://	URI scheme
gsutil cp	azst cp	Copy files
gsutil ls	azst ls	List objects
gsutil rm	azst rm	Remove objects
gsutil du	azst du	Disk usage stats
gsutil rsync	azst sync	Sync directories

The tool aims to provide familiar gsutil-like semantics for Azure Blob Storage operations. All copy and sync operations use AzCopy for parallel transfers by default.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.