AWS S3 Static Website Hosting

Learn how to host static websites on S3 with CloudFront and Route 53.

website-config.json
{
"S3WebsiteHosting": {
"IndexDocument": "index.html",
"PublicAccess": "Required"
}
}
website-config.json
1 / 9
🌐

Tutor:Amazon S3 can host static websites, which are websites that contain only HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other static assets. S3 static website hosting is cost-effective, scalable, and requires no server management.


Hosting Mastery

Unlock nodes by learning hosting concepts.

Concept 1: Static Website Hosting

S3 can host static websites containing HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other static assets. To enable hosting, you need to configure the bucket for website hosting, specify an index document, and configure public read access.

System Check

What is required for S3 static website hosting?

Community Holo-Net

Share Your Website

Hosted a static website on S3? Share your hosting configurations.

Support Us

Static Website Hosting on S3

Author

Pascual Vila

Cloud Instructor.

Amazon S3 can host static websites, which are websites that contain only HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other static assets. S3 static website hosting is cost-effective, scalable, and requires no server management.

Enabling Website Hosting

To enable static website hosting on S3, you need to configure the bucket for website hosting. You must specify an index document (like index.html) and optionally an error document (like error.html). The bucket must have public read access through bucket policies.

Website Endpoint

The website endpoint URL follows the pattern: http://bucket-name.s3-website-region.amazonaws.com. This is different from the standard S3 object URL. Note that S3 website endpoints use HTTP, not HTTPS by default.

Production Setup

For production websites, you typically use Route 53 and CloudFront with a custom domain. CloudFront provides HTTPS, CDN capabilities, and better performance. Route 53 provides DNS management and custom domain support.

S3 Static Website Hosting Glossary

Static Website
A website that contains only HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other static assets. No server-side processing is required, making it ideal for S3 hosting.
Index Document
The default file served when someone accesses the root URL of your website. Typically named index.html, this is required for S3 website hosting.
Error Document
An optional file served when an error occurs (like 404). Typically named error.html. Helps provide a better user experience when pages are not found.
Website Endpoint
The URL for accessing your S3-hosted website. Format is http://bucket-name.s3-website-region.amazonaws.com. Different from the standard S3 object URL.
CloudFront Distribution
A CDN service that can be used with S3 websites to provide HTTPS, better performance, and global content delivery. Often used for production static websites.