Setting up Azure Blob Storage

  • 05/05/2021
  • 4 minutes to read

Continia Expense Management provides strong document file archiving capabilities with easy integration with Azure Blob Storage. To begin using Azure Blob Storage for Expense Management, follow these two simple processes in the given order:

  1. In the Microsoft Azure portal, set up a storage account and container for Expense Management.
  2. In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, set up Expense Management for Azure Blob Storage.

Both of these processes are described below.

To set up a storage account and container

To set up an Azure Blob Storage account and container for Expense Management:

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. In the Search box, enter Storage accounts (classic), and then select the related link.
  3. On the action bar, select Add to open the Create storage account page.
  4. On the Basics tab, fill in the required information, including a name for your storage account. You'll need this name in the Expense Management setup later.
  5. On the Networking, Data protection, and Advanced tabs, choose values that meet your company's policies and security needs.
  6. On the Review + create tab, select Create to create the new storage account.
  7. When the storage account has been created, navigate to it. On the Overview page, select Containers.
  8. On the action bar, select + Container. Enter a name for your container, select an access level, and then select Create to create a new container. You'll need the name of the new container later in order to set up Expense Management.
  9. Back on your storage account, under Settings, select Access keys. You'll need either of the two keys that are displayed under key1 and key2 (storage account keys) when you set up Expense Management.

To set up Expense Management

To set up Expense Management for Azure Blob Storage:

  1. Select the Search icon, enter Expense Management Setup, and then select the related link.
  2. On the General FastTab, under Document Storage Type, select Azure Blob Storage to open the Azure Blob Storage settings group.
  3. In the fields Storage Account Name, Storage Account Key, and Blob Container Name, enter the corresponding values that you obtained when setting up the storage account and container.

Note

Expense Management only supports Azure Blob Storage for newer versions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV/Business Central (NAV 2013 or later).

In order for Azure Blob Storage to work, the Dynamics NAV/Business Central service tier must be configured to use the TLS 1.2 security protocol.

See also

Microsoft's article on Azure Blob Storage
The Microsoft Azure portal
Archive file server requirements