Thinking of using Azure to host a simple static site? You’re in the right place.
In this short post, I’ll walk you through how I used Azure Blob Storage to host a static website in minutes — without overcomplicating it. No VMs, no servers, no chaos. Just clean cloud goodness.
☁️ First, Why Azure?
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud platform — same league as AWS and Google Cloud. What makes Azure nice?
- Integrated with everything Microsoft
- Great UI for beginners
- You get $200 free with a trial account (aka: zero dollars to deploy your site)
- And with Azure Blob Storage, you can turn a simple storage bucket into a static website with public access — perfect for portfolios, documentation, or proof-of-concept apps.
🛠️ Step-by-Step: Host a Static Website on Azure Blob Storage
Let’s get into it. No fluff — just what I did.
1. Create a Storage Account
- Head to Azure Portal at portal.azure.com and sign in or up.
- Create a new Storage Account.
- Choose a region, name it something unique like 'myawesomestorage123'.
2. Create a Blob Container
- Inside your new Storage Account, go to Containers.
- Create a new container, name it web or website or something simple.
- Set Public access level to Container (anonymous read access).
3. Upload Your Site
- Upload your index.html file to the container.
- If you’re fancy, add a error.html too.
4. Enable Static Website Hosting
- Still in your storage account, find Static website under settings.
- Turn it on, set index.html as the default.
- Azure will give you a public endpoint like: 'https://.z13.web.core.windows.net'
5. Test It
- Open that URL in incognito mode.
- Boom. Site live. Cloud flex unlocked. 💪
⚠️ Common Issues & Fixes
❌ Blob Container Access Level is Greyed Out
When you try to set your Blob container to Container (anonymous read access) and it’s greyed out, don’t panic.
✅ Fix It:
- Go to your Storage Account settings.
- Find Configuration.
- Flip the switch for Allow blob anonymous access to Enabled.
- Save it.
- Now go back and set the public access level — good to go.
❌ CDN Not Registered
I tried to add Azure Front Door to boost performance and HTTPS support. But if you’re on a Free Trial, you’ll probably hit this:
> Error: Microsoft.Cdn is not registered for the subscription
✅ How to Fix It (If You Have Access)
If you’re not on a Free Trial, here’s the fix using the Azure CLI:
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Cdn
Done! Now, you can use Azure Front Door or Azure CDN. But if you’re on a trial account, just know it won’t work until you upgrade. Not a dealbreaker for simple sites.
🧹 Clean-Up: Don’t Forget to Shut It Down
If you’re done with your project and want to avoid unexpected charges (or just like a clean dashboard), here’s how to clean up:
- Delete the Blob Container
- Delete the Storage Account
- Double-check Resource Group usage if you created one just for this
That’s it — you’re done.
🏁 Final Thoughts
Hosting a static site on Azure is easy, fast, and free (if you’re on a trial). You don’t need VMs or complicated infra to get a portfolio or simple app online.
And if you want more performance or HTTPS, Azure Front Door is there when you’re ready (and off the free trial 😅).
Judewakim (Judewakim) / Repositories · GitHub
Hi, I’m a DevOps Cloud Engineer. I use AWS ☁️, Python 🐍, Terraform🏗️, and Linux 🐧 to build things for fun. - Judewakim
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Catch you in the cloud. ☁️