Static website hosting on S3 in AWS - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Static website hosting on S3

📖 Scenario: You want to host a simple static website using Amazon S3. This website will have a homepage and an error page. You will create the S3 bucket, configure it for static website hosting, and set the homepage and error page files.

🎯 Goal: Build an S3 bucket configured for static website hosting with a homepage and an error page set.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an S3 bucket named exactly my-static-website-bucket

Enable static website hosting on the bucket

Set the index document to index.html

Set the error document to error.html

Upload index.html and error.html to the bucket my-static-website-bucket

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Static websites like portfolios, blogs, or documentation sites can be hosted cheaply and reliably on S3 without servers.

💼 Career

Knowing how to configure S3 for static hosting is a common cloud skill useful for developers, DevOps, and cloud engineers.

1

Create the S3 bucket

Create an S3 bucket named my-static-website-bucket using the AWS CLI command aws s3api create-bucket with the bucket name parameter.

AWS

# Use AWS CLI to create the bucket named my-static-website-bucket
# Your code here

Hint

Use the AWS CLI command aws s3api create-bucket --bucket my-static-website-bucket --region us-east-1 to create the bucket.

2

Enable static website hosting configuration

Create a JSON file named website-config.json with the following content: {"IndexDocument": {"Suffix": "index.html"}, "ErrorDocument": {"Key": "error.html"}} to configure the index and error documents for static website hosting.

AWS

aws s3api create-bucket --bucket my-static-website-bucket --region us-east-1
# Create website-config.json with index and error document settings
# Your code here

Hint

Create a JSON file with keys IndexDocument and ErrorDocument specifying the correct filenames. Use echo 'json content' > website-config.json.

3

Apply the website configuration to the bucket

Use the AWS CLI command aws s3api put-bucket-website with the bucket name my-static-website-bucket and the website configuration file website-config.json to enable static website hosting.

AWS

aws s3api create-bucket --bucket my-static-website-bucket --region us-east-1
echo '{"IndexDocument": {"Suffix": "index.html"}, "ErrorDocument": {"Key": "error.html"}}' > website-config.json
# Apply the website configuration to the bucket
# Your code here

Hint

Use aws s3api put-bucket-website --bucket my-static-website-bucket --website-configuration file://website-config.json to apply the config.

4

Upload the index and error HTML files

Upload the files index.html and error.html to the bucket my-static-website-bucket using the AWS CLI command aws s3 cp for each file.

AWS

aws s3api create-bucket --bucket my-static-website-bucket --region us-east-1
echo '{"IndexDocument": {"Suffix": "index.html"}, "ErrorDocument": {"Key": "error.html"}}' > website-config.json
aws s3api put-bucket-website --bucket my-static-website-bucket --website-configuration file://website-config.json
# Upload index.html and error.html to the bucket
# Your code here

Hint

Use aws s3 cp index.html s3://my-static-website-bucket/index.html and similarly for error.html.

Practice

1. What is the first step to host a static website on AWS S3?

easy

A. Set up a database

B. Upload files to EC2

C. Configure a Lambda function

D. Create an S3 bucket

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the hosting process

   Hosting a static website on S3 starts by creating a storage space called a bucket.

2. Step 2: Identify the correct initial action

   Before uploading files or configuring anything else, you must create the bucket to hold your website files.

3. Final Answer:

   Create an S3 bucket -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   First step = Create bucket [OK]

Hint: Start by making a bucket to hold your website files [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to upload files before creating a bucket
• Confusing S3 with EC2 for hosting
• Setting up Lambda or database unnecessarily

2. Which of the following is the correct way to enable static website hosting on an S3 bucket?

easy

A. Enable 'Static website hosting' in bucket properties and specify index document

B. Set bucket policy to private and upload files

C. Create an IAM user with full access to the bucket

D. Attach an EC2 instance to the bucket

Solution

1. Step 1: Locate the static website hosting setting

   In the S3 bucket properties, there is an option to enable static website hosting where you specify the index document.

2. Step 2: Understand the correct configuration

   Enabling static website hosting and setting the index document allows the bucket to serve web pages correctly.

3. Final Answer:

   Enable 'Static website hosting' in bucket properties and specify index document -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Enable hosting + index document = correct setup [OK]

Hint: Enable hosting in properties and set index file name [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Leaving bucket policy private without public read
• Confusing IAM user creation with hosting setup
• Trying to attach EC2 to S3 bucket

3. Given this bucket policy snippet for an S3 static website:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [{
    "Effect": "Allow",
    "Principal": "*",
    "Action": "s3:GetObject",
    "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*"
  }]
}

What is the effect of this policy?

medium

A. Allows only authenticated users to write to the bucket

B. Blocks all access to the bucket

C. Allows anyone to read objects in the bucket

D. Allows anyone to delete objects in the bucket

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the policy statements

   The policy allows "Effect": "Allow" for "Principal": "*" which means everyone, on the action "s3:GetObject" for all objects in the bucket.

2. Step 2: Understand the permission granted

   This means anyone can read (get) objects from the bucket, which is needed for public website hosting.

3. Final Answer:

   Allows anyone to read objects in the bucket -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Principal * + GetObject = public read [OK]

Hint: Principal * with GetObject means public read access [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking it blocks access instead of allowing
• Confusing GetObject with write or delete permissions
• Assuming only authenticated users have access

4. You enabled static website hosting on your S3 bucket but get a 403 Forbidden error when accessing the site. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. Index document is missing from the bucket

B. Bucket policy does not allow public read access

C. Bucket name contains uppercase letters

D. You did not upload any files

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand 403 Forbidden error context

   A 403 error usually means permission denied, so the website cannot read files from the bucket.

2. Step 2: Check bucket policy and permissions

   If the bucket policy does not allow public read access, the website cannot serve files, causing 403 errors.

3. Final Answer:

   Bucket policy does not allow public read access -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   403 error = permission denied = fix bucket policy [OK]

Hint: 403 means permission denied; check bucket policy [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming missing index document causes 403 (usually 404)
• Thinking bucket name case causes errors
• Ignoring permissions and blaming missing files

5. You want to host a static website on S3 with a custom domain and HTTPS. Which combination of AWS services should you use?

hard

A. S3 static website hosting + Route 53 for domain + CloudFront with SSL certificate

B. S3 static website hosting + EC2 instance + Elastic Load Balancer

C. S3 static website hosting + Lambda functions + API Gateway

D. S3 static website hosting + DynamoDB + IAM roles

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify services for custom domain and HTTPS

   Route 53 manages domain names, CloudFront provides HTTPS with SSL certificates, and S3 hosts the static files.

2. Step 2: Understand the integration

   Use Route 53 to point your domain to CloudFront distribution, which serves content securely from S3 with HTTPS.

3. Final Answer:

   S3 static website hosting + Route 53 for domain + CloudFront with SSL certificate -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Custom domain + HTTPS = Route 53 + CloudFront + S3 [OK]

Hint: Use CloudFront for HTTPS and Route 53 for domain [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using EC2 or Lambda unnecessarily for static hosting
• Ignoring CloudFront for HTTPS support
• Confusing database or IAM roles with hosting setup