Files Storage: Issue mounting Azure file share — Mount failure in Azure Cloud Shell

David H. Campbell 20 Reputation points
2026-09-28T19:21:59.28+00:00

Problem description

I am experiencing an issue with Azure Cloud Shell where it fails to mount the Azure file share used for the cloud drive. The error message displayed is: "Warning: Failed to mount the Azure file share. Your cloud drive won’t be available." This problem started on September 25, 2026, around 10:30 PM Eastern Time, despite the cloud drive working for several days prior without any changes on my side.

Completed troubleshooting:Repeated Cloud Shell restarts and Reset User Settings followed by reattaching the existing share did not resolve the failure.Storage account provisioning succeeded, its primary service is available, and the share exists with a 6 GiB quota and approximately 5 GiB used.Shared Key access is explicitly enabled. The firewall defaults to Allow, with no IP/VNet restrictions or private endpoint connections reported. publicNetworkAccess returned null.A key-authenticated HTTPS directory listing succeeds and returns .cloudconsole/acc_david.img.TCP port 445 is reachable from the affected Cloud Shell session.We reviewed 70 Activity Log records for September 19–27 UTC: no failed management operations, key-regeneration events, or management-deletion events appeared.Please use these results to advance beyond the completed checks. They do not establish successful SMB authentication or home-image integrity. Preserve the existing home image; any proposed deletion or recreation must first include a verified, recoverable backup.

Azure Files
Azure Files

An Azure service that offers file shares in the cloud.

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Answer accepted by question author
Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco 12,691 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-09-29T02:23:17.1666667+00:00

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

@David H. Campbell I hope you are doing well today,

Given that the storage account and file share are reachable, port 445 is accessible, Shared Key access is enabled, and HTTPS access to the share succeeds, the remaining failure is most likely occurring during the SMB authentication/mount or Cloud Shell home-image attachment, rather than basic storage-account connectivity.

Since the existing .cloudconsole/acc_david.img is present, I would not delete or recreate the share or home image yet.

The next useful checks are:

  1. Test SMB authentication explicitly from the affected Cloud Shell session. HTTPS access with the storage account key does not prove that the SMB authentication/session setup is succeeding.
  2. Check the Cloud Shell mount output/logs for the underlying mount.cifs error. The specific SMB error code (for example, authentication, permission, or protocol negotiation failure) will distinguish the failure mode.
  3. Verify that the storage account's SMB security settings are compatible with the Cloud Shell mount, particularly SMB protocol version and authentication requirements.
  4. Because the failure began suddenly on September 25 without a corresponding storage-account configuration change, compare the behavior with a new Cloud Shell session and, if possible, another Cloud Shell environment/subscription. This can help distinguish a Cloud Shell service-side issue from a problem with the existing home image.
  5. Preserve the existing share and image until the contents of acc_david.img have been backed up and recovery has been verified.

The information provided so far does not establish that the home image is corrupt, nor does it establish that the storage account is rejecting SMB authentication. The underlying SMB mount error is therefore the most important missing diagnostic.

References:

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