How to start Azure Storage Emulator from within a program
For Windows Azure Storage Emulator v5.2, the following helper class can be used to start the emulator:
using System.Diagnostics;
public static class StorageEmulatorHelper {
/* Usage:
* ======
AzureStorageEmulator.exe init : Initialize the emulator database and configuration.
AzureStorageEmulator.exe start : Start the emulator.
AzureStorageEmulator.exe stop : Stop the emulator.
AzureStorageEmulator.exe status : Get current emulator status.
AzureStorageEmulator.exe clear : Delete all data in the emulator.
AzureStorageEmulator.exe help [command] : Show general or command-specific help.
*/
public enum StorageEmulatorCommand {
Init,
Start,
Stop,
Status,
Clear
}
public static int StartStorageEmulator() {
return ExecuteStorageEmulatorCommand(StorageEmulatorCommand.Start);
}
public static int StopStorageEmulator() {
return ExecuteStorageEmulatorCommand(StorageEmulatorCommand.Stop);
}
public static int ExecuteStorageEmulatorCommand(StorageEmulatorCommand command) {
var start = new ProcessStartInfo {
Arguments = command.ToString(),
FileName = @"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\Storage Emulator\AzureStorageEmulator.exe"
};
var exitCode = executeProcess(start);
return exitCode;
}
private static int executeProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) {
int exitCode = -1;
try {
using (var proc = new Process {StartInfo = startInfo}) {
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();
exitCode = proc.ExitCode;
}
}
catch {
//
}
return exitCode;
}
}
[Thanks to huha for the boilerplate code to execute a shell command.]
Updated 7/12/2022:
If you are running Visual Studio 2022, azurite.exe is the replacement for the now-deprecated AzureStorageEmulator.exe which can be found here:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Community\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\Azure Storage Emulator\azurite.exe
NB: if you are running Professional (or another) Edition, you'll need to replace Community with Professional (or the appropriate edition name) in the path.
Updated 1/19/2015:
After doing more testing (i.e., running several builds), I've discovered that WAStorageEmulator.exe's status API is actually broken in a couple of significant ways (which may or may not have impact on how you use it).
The status reports False even when an existing process is running if the user differs between the existing running process and the user used to launch the status process. This incorrect status report will lead to a failure to launch the process that looks like this:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\Storage Emulator>WAStorageEmulator.exe status
Windows Azure Storage Emulator 3.4.0.0 command line tool IsRunning: False BlobEndpoint: http://127.0.0.1:10000/ QueueEndpoint: http://127.0.0.1:10001/ TableEndpoint: http://127.0.0.1:10002/
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\Storage Emulator>WAStorageEmulator.exe start
Windows Azure Storage Emulator 3.4.0.0 command line tool Error: Port conflict with existing application.
Additionally, the status command appears only to report the endpoints specified in WAStorageEmulator.exe.config, not those of the existing running process. I.e., if you start the emulator, then make a change to the config file, and then call status, it will report the endpoints listed in the config.
Given all of these caveats, it may, in fact, simply be better to use the original implementation as it appears to be more reliable.
I will leave both so others can choose whichever solution works for them.
Updated 1/18/2015:
I have fully rewritten this code to properly leverage WAStorageEmulator.exe's status API per @RobertKoritnik's request.
public static class AzureStorageEmulatorManager
{
public static bool IsProcessRunning()
{
bool status;
using (Process process = Process.Start(StorageEmulatorProcessFactory.Create(ProcessCommand.Status)))
{
if (process == null)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("Unable to start process.");
}
status = GetStatus(process);
process.WaitForExit();
}
return status;
}
public static void StartStorageEmulator()
{
if (!IsProcessRunning())
{
ExecuteProcess(ProcessCommand.Start);
}
}
public static void StopStorageEmulator()
{
if (IsProcessRunning())
{
ExecuteProcess(ProcessCommand.Stop);
}
}
private static void ExecuteProcess(ProcessCommand command)
{
string error;
using (Process process = Process.Start(StorageEmulatorProcessFactory.Create(command)))
{
if (process == null)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("Unable to start process.");
}
error = GetError(process);
process.WaitForExit();
}
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(error))
{
throw new InvalidOperationException(error);
}
}
private static class StorageEmulatorProcessFactory
{
public static ProcessStartInfo Create(ProcessCommand command)
{
return new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = @"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\Storage Emulator\WAStorageEmulator.exe",
Arguments = command.ToString().ToLower(),
RedirectStandardOutput = true,
RedirectStandardError = true,
UseShellExecute = false,
CreateNoWindow = true
};
}
}
private enum ProcessCommand
{
Start,
Stop,
Status
}
private static bool GetStatus(Process process)
{
string output = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
string isRunningLine = output.Split(new[] { Environment.NewLine }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).SingleOrDefault(line => line.StartsWith("IsRunning"));
if (isRunningLine == null)
{
return false;
}
return Boolean.Parse(isRunningLine.Split(':').Select(part => part.Trim()).Last());
}
private static string GetError(Process process)
{
string output = process.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
return output.Split(':').Select(part => part.Trim()).Last();
}
}
And the corresponding tests:
[TestFixture]
public class When_starting_process
{
[Test]
public void Should_return_started_status()
{
if (AzureStorageEmulatorManager.IsProcessRunning())
{
AzureStorageEmulatorManager.StopStorageEmulator();
Assert.That(AzureStorageEmulatorManager.IsProcessRunning(), Is.False);
}
AzureStorageEmulatorManager.StartStorageEmulator();
Assert.That(AzureStorageEmulatorManager.IsProcessRunning(), Is.True);
}
}
[TestFixture]
public class When_stopping_process
{
[Test]
public void Should_return_stopped_status()
{
if (!AzureStorageEmulatorManager.IsProcessRunning())
{
AzureStorageEmulatorManager.StartStorageEmulator();
Assert.That(AzureStorageEmulatorManager.IsProcessRunning(), Is.True);
}
AzureStorageEmulatorManager.StopStorageEmulator();
Assert.That(AzureStorageEmulatorManager.IsProcessRunning(), Is.False);
}
}
Original post:
I took Doug Clutter's and Smarx's code one step further and created a utility class:
The code below has been updated to work on both Windows 7 and 8 and now points at the new storage emulator path as of SDK 2.4.**
public static class AzureStorageEmulatorManager
{
private const string _windowsAzureStorageEmulatorPath = @"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\Storage Emulator\WAStorageEmulator.exe";
private const string _win7ProcessName = "WAStorageEmulator";
private const string _win8ProcessName = "WASTOR~1";
private static readonly ProcessStartInfo startStorageEmulator = new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = _windowsAzureStorageEmulatorPath,
Arguments = "start",
};
private static readonly ProcessStartInfo stopStorageEmulator = new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = _windowsAzureStorageEmulatorPath,
Arguments = "stop",
};
private static Process GetProcess()
{
return Process.GetProcessesByName(_win7ProcessName).FirstOrDefault() ?? Process.GetProcessesByName(_win8ProcessName).FirstOrDefault();
}
public static bool IsProcessStarted()
{
return GetProcess() != null;
}
public static void StartStorageEmulator()
{
if (!IsProcessStarted())
{
using (Process process = Process.Start(startStorageEmulator))
{
process.WaitForExit();
}
}
}
public static void StopStorageEmulator()
{
using (Process process = Process.Start(stopStorageEmulator))
{
process.WaitForExit();
}
}
}
The file name in v4.6 is "AzureStorageEmulator.exe". The full path is: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\Storage Emulator\AzureStorageEmulator.exe"
This program worked fine for me. Give it a try, and if it works for you too, work backwards from there. (What about your app is different from this?)
using System.Diagnostics;
public class Program
{
public static void Main() {
Process.Start(@"c:\program files\windows azure sdk\v1.5\bin\csrun", "/devstore").WaitForExit();
}
}