Forum Discussion
Azure File copy task v4 and later causes 403 error
I've configured a release pipeline in ADO which copies some files to a Storage Account. Using Azure File copy task version 6 consistently fails with a 403 error.
RESPONSE Status: 403 This request is not authorized to perform this operation using this permission.
After much wasted time checking IP restrictions, checking access and recreating service connections I tried using an earlier version of the task that some other pipelines which do the same thing were using. I found that using version 4 or later of the file copy task causes the issue. Setting the task version to 3 works.
Are there any known issues around this?
1 Reply
The 403 behavior in Azure File Copy starting from version 4 is usually related to the switch from the older AzureRM libraries to the newer Az libraries. These later versions enforce RBAC and storage permissions differently.
Version 3 still uses the legacy paths, which is why it works.
Common causes include:
- The service connection not having “Storage Blob Data Contributor” on the target account.
- Azure File Copy v4+ requiring both control-plane and data-plane permissions.
- Storage firewall or private endpoint resolving differently when the Az libraries are used.
If assigning “Storage Blob Data Contributor” to the service connection or pipeline identity fixes the issue, then it is the expected behavior. Otherwise, using v3 is the valid workaround until the pipeline task is updated.
