Adding images to Azure QnAMaker KB

Question

Reading several posts on adding images to QnAMaker KBs, these URLs all have to be externally accessible, like on Google images. How can I add an image available on my company intranet?

Answer 1

I know this isn't a direct answer to your question, but the easiest way to do this may be to copy and host the images on an Azure App Service. It creates more overhead, especially if these images get updated with any frequency.

I'm assuming you already have an App Service Plan running your QnA Maker Bot. You can create a new App Service on the same plan so that you don't incur any incremental cost. Just upload the images onto the app service and you'll be able to access them from QnA Maker or any other application. There are a lot of ways to get the images there. Personally I use Azure DevOps Repos to manage the code/images, but any source control app could work; I'd recommend using something Azure Deployment Center can integrate with directly. You can use the Kudu build service to deploy the web app, no Azure Release Pipeline or other deployment methods necessary.

I'm wondering though, if your users are internal to the company, couldn't you link to the images on your intranet anyway? If they are behind your firewall the images should still load even if Azure itself doesn't have access to it (because all you're providing in QnA Maker is the URL). I'm assuming you're asking because the bot is for users external to your company, but I figured I'd throw that out there.