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How to Send and Receive Messages from Azure Queue Storage using .NET Client Library?

In this article, let’s create Azure Queue Storage resources using Azure CLI. Assign “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role to Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) user name allows user account permission to create queues, send and receive messages using Azure RBAC. Build a .NET console application using Azure.Storage.Queues SDK to create and and delete queue as well as to send and receive messages. Sign in to Azure and run the application to verify the result. After this exercise, you will be able to send and receive messages from Azure Queue Storage using .NET Client Library.

Following tasks are performed in this article:

  • Create Azure Queue Storage resources.

  • Assign role to Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) username.

  • Send and receive messages using .NET Client Library.

  • Sign in to Azure and run application.

  • Clean up resources.

Create Azure Queue Storage Resources

First basic task is to create and make ready Azure Queue Storage resources to Azure using Azure CLI. Azure CLI (Azure Cloud Shell) is used to create the required resources. Azure CLI is the free Bash shell which can be run directly within the Azure portal. That is preinstalled and configured within the account. Perform the below steps one by one to achieve this.

Use Azure CLI (Azure Cloud Shell)

It is a free Bash shell which can be run directly within the Azure portal. It is preinstalled and configured within an account.

  • Click Cloud Shell button on the menu bar at the top right side of the Azure portal.

  • It will launch an interactive shell which can be used to run the steps outlined in this article. Select a Bash environment. To use code editor in cloud shell toolbar go to Settings menu and then select Go to Classic version.

  • Create resource group - Resource group is a logical container used to hold related resources. In it include the resources which you want to manage as a group. App configuration resource belongs to this resource group. Create it using az group create command.

az group create \ 
     --name myResourceGroup1 \ 
     --location eastus2

  • eastus2 is location code instead of it one can use their nearest region location.

  • Create variables - Here, several commands require unique names/values with same parameters. Hence, for easy to manage let's create some variables, assign values and reuse them in the command parameters. let command is used as below to create required variables.

let resourceGroup=myResourceGroup1 \
     location=eastus2 \
     storageAccountName=myStorageAccountName$RANDOM

  • Create storage account - Storage account contains all azure storage data objects, such as blobs, files, queues, and tables. It is an Azure Resource Manager resource. It provides unique namespace for Azure Storage data. Create it using az storage account create command. Using this storage account all the activities will be performed in below console application section. It will take few minutes to complete the operation process.

az storage account create \
     --resource-group $resourceGroup \
     --name $storageAccountName 
     --location $location 
     --sku Standard_LRS

Assign role to Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) user

Let’s assign Microsoft Entra user to “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role which gives user account permission to create queues, send and receive messages using Azure RBAC. It is important to assign roles to Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) user name. Roles will define what access and permissions a user has within an organization’s Microsoft cloud environment. Roles determine what resources and actions a user can perform. “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role is to be assigned to Microsoft Entra user which allows application to send and receive messages. One by one perform below steps in Azure CLI.

Retrieve userPrincipalName

First, retrieve userPrincipalName from account as mentioned in following command. It retrieves the information about currently authenticated user including their UPN and represents that who the role will be assigned to.

userPrincipal=$(az rest 
     --method GET 
     --url https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me \
     --headers 'Content-Type=application/json' \
     --query userPrincipalName 
     --output tsv)

Retrieve resource ID

Second, get the resource ID of storage account using below command. This will be used in next step to set scope for role assignment. Resource ID sets scope for role assignment to specific namespace.

resourceID=$(az storage account show \
     --resource-group $resourceGroup \
     --name $storageAccountName\ 
     --query id \
     --output tsv)

Create and assign “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role

Finally, create and assign “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role using az role assignment create command. Command execution will create and assign “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role which gives permission to create queues, send and receive messages using Azure RBAC. This will give permissions to manage next routines. userPrincipal and resourceID variables are created in first and second steps which are used in this command to receive actual value at command execution time.

az role assignment create \
     --assignee $userPrincipal\
     --role "Storage Queue Data Contributor" \
     --scope $resourceID

Now, required basic resources are deployed and ready to use in console application.

Send and Receive Messages using .NET Client Library

Let’s set-up the .NET console application to send and receive the messages using .NET Client Library. Perform the following steps one by one in to Cloud Shell to achieve this.

.NET Project Setup

Set up one console application to send and receive message using .NET Client Library.

  • Create project directory and change to that directory. First create a directory for the project using below command and move to that directory.

mkdir queuestorage1
cd queuestorage1

  • Create .NET console application to add and fetch secrets through it. dotnet new console command is used to create a .NET console app.

dotnet new console

  • Install Packages - run dotnet add package command to add Azure.Identity and Azure.Storage.Queues packages in project to use the SDK.

dotnet add package Azure.Identity
dotnet add package Azure.Storage.Queues

Starter Code

Add the below starter code into the project and replace template code in Program.cs file by using editor in Cloud Shell.

  • Application editing - open Program.cs file to edit it in the Azure CLI using code command.

code Program.cs

  • Code replacing - replace existing code of Program.cs with the below code. This is the initial starter code and will replace last four commented lines with actual code in next “Complete code” section. Replace MY_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME with actual storage account name.

using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Azure;
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Storage.Queues;
using Azure.Storage.Queues.Models;

//Replace MY_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME with actual storage account name
string storageAccountName = "<MY_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME>";

// Create unique queue name
string queueName = "myQueue-" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString();

// CREATE QUEUE CLIENT & QUEUE

// SEND & LIST MESSAGES

// UPDATE MESSAGE & LIST MESSAGES

// DELETE MESSAGES & DELETE QUEUE

  • Save & Close - Press ctrl + s to save your changes and continue.

Complete Code

Add following code one by one at mentioned commented section to complete the application. Let’s update the code for commented lines for specific operations one by one as described to create and delete queue, send and receive messages, update and delete messages, etc.

  • Create Queue Client and Create Queue - In this section, let’s create DefaultAzureCredentialOptions object to configure DefaultAzureCredential credentials and then create a queue client. Locate // CREATE QUEUE CLIENT & QUEUE comment, then add following code directly beneath comment.

// CREATE QUEUE CLIENT & QUEUE

// Create DefaultAzureCredentialOptions object to configure DefaultAzureCredential credentials
DefaultAzureCredentialOptions objDefaultAzureCredentialOptions = new()
{
     ExcludeEnvironmentCredential = true,
     ExcludeManagedIdentityCredential = true
};

// Create queue client 
QueueClient objQueueClient = new QueueClient(
     new Uri($"https://{storageAccountName}.queue.core.windows.net/{queueName}"),
     new DefaultAzureCredential(objDefaultAzureCredentialOptions));

// Create queue
await objQueueClient.CreateAsync();

Console.WriteLine($"Queue with name {queueName} has been created successfully!");
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to add messages in queue!");
Console.ReadKey();

  • Send Messages and List Messages - First, send messages to queue and save receipt to us further. Second, peek messages from queue and display them on console. Locate // SEND & LIST MESSAGES comment, then add following code directly beneath comment.

// SEND & LIST MESSAGES

// Send messages to queue
await objQueueClient.SendMessageAsync("Message - 1");
await objQueueClient.SendMessageAsync("Message - 2");
await objQueueClient.SendMessageAsync("Message - 3");
await objQueueClient.SendMessageAsync("Message - 4");

// Send message & save receipt to us further
SendReceipt objSendReceipt = await objQueueClient.SendMessageAsync("Message - 5");

Console.WriteLine("Messages have been added in queue successfully!");
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to peek messages from queue!");
Console.ReadKey();

// Peek & view messages from queue
foreach (var message in (await objQueueClient.PeekMessagesAsync(maxMessages: 10)).Value)
{
     Console.WriteLine($"Peeking message: {message.MessageText}");
}

Console.WriteLine("Press any key to update message in queue!");
Console.ReadKey();

  • Update Message and List Messages - First, update fifth message with saved receipt and send it. Second, peek messages from queue for updated message and display them on console. Locate // UPDATE MESSAGE & LIST MESSAGES comment, then add following code directly beneath comment.

// UPDATE MESSAGE & LIST MESSAGES

// Update fifth message with saved receipt
await objQueueClient.UpdateMessageAsync(objSendReceipt.MessageId, objSendReceipt.PopReceipt, "Message - 5 updated");

Console.WriteLine("Message fifth has been updated successfully!");
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to peek messages from queue for updated message!");
Console.ReadKey();

// Peek & view messages from queue for updated message
foreach (var message in (await objQueueClient.PeekMessagesAsync(maxMessages: 10)).Value)
{
     Console.WriteLine($"Peeking message: {message.MessageText}");
}

Console.WriteLine("Press any key to delete messages from queue!");
Console.ReadKey();

  • Delete Messages and Delete Queue - Locate // DELETE MESSAGES & DELETE QUEUE comment, then add following code directly beneath comment. Delete all the messages from the queue and then delete that queue.

// DELETE MESSAGES & DELETE QUEUE

// Delete messages from queue
foreach (var message in (await objQueueClient.ReceiveMessagesAsync(maxMessages: 10)).Value)
{
     Console.WriteLine($"Deleting message: {message.MessageText}");
     await objQueueClient.DeleteMessageAsync(message.MessageId, message.PopReceipt);
}

Console.WriteLine("Messages have been deleted from queue successfully!");
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to delete queue!");
Console.ReadKey();

// Delete queue
await objQueueClient.DeleteAsync();

Console.WriteLine("Queue has been deleted successfully!");
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to Exit!");
Console.ReadKey();

  • Save & Close - Now it’s time to save and close the file by pressing Ctrl + s to save file and then Ctrl + q to exit the editor. Here, by with this article a complete code is attached in Program.cs file.

Sign in to Azure and run application

Now application is ready to run. One by one execute the following commands in Azure CLI to run an application and perform the mentioned steps to verify the result outcomes.

  • Sign in - az login command used for sign in. Sign in to Azure is mandatory even though Cloud Shell session already may authenticated.

az login

  • Run Application - dotnet run command used to start console application. Application will display appropriate messages as mentioned in output section.

dotnet run

  • Output - Application will display print messages on console as below. Here, application will send five messages to queue and display it on console as set in the code.

Queue with name myQueue-0c7dbd4c-d8bc-548f-a165-82765926851e has been created successfully!
Press any key to add messages in queue!
Messages have been added in queue successfully!
Press any key to peek messages from queue!
Peeking message: Message - 1
Peeking message: Message - 2
Peeking message: Message - 3
Peeking message: Message - 4
Peeking message: Message - 5
Press any key to update message in queue!
Message fifth has been updated successfully!
Press any key to peek messages from queue for updated message!
Peeking message: Message - 1
Peeking message: Message - 2
Peeking message: Message - 3
Peeking message: Message - 4
Peeking message: Message - 5 updated
Press any key to delete messages from queue!
Deleting message: Message - 1
Deleting message: Message - 2
Deleting message: Message - 3
Deleting message: Message - 4
Deleting message: Message - 5
Messages have been deleted from queue successfully!
Press any key to delete queue!
Queue has been deleted successfully!
Press any key to Exit!

Clean up resources

Once finished the exercise it's recommended to delete cloud resources are being created to avoid the unnecessary resource usage and any future costs. Deleting a resource group will delete all resources contained within it. Perform following steps one by one into Azure Portal to achieve this:

  • Navigate to resource group which is being created here and view its contents.

  • Delete resource group selection from the toolbar.

  • Choose resource group name and then follow next directions to delete resource group and all the resources it contains.

One can also clean up resources using Azure CLI as following:

Delete role assignment - az role assignment delete command is used to remove role assignments.

az role assignment delete\
     --role "Storage Queue Data Contributor" \
     --scope $resourceID

Delete storage account - az storage account delete command is used to delete an existing storage. It removes all the associated resources under it.

az storage account delete \
     --name $storageAccountName \
     --resource-group $resourceGroup

Delete resource group - az group delete command is used to remove resource group.

az group delete \
     --name myResourceGroup1

Summary

Here, a complete process flow is described to send and receive messages from Azure Queue Storage using .NET Client Library. Azure Queue Storage resource is created using Azure CLI and assigned “Storage Queue Data Contributor” role to Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) user name. A .NET console application is developed using Azure.Storage.Queues SDK to send and receive messages through Queue Storage. Finally, resources are cleaned up. A complete code of Program.cs file is attached with this article.

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