Hosting a static website using HTTP (original) (raw)

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Hosting a static website using HTTP

This tutorial describes how to configure a Cloud Storage bucket to host a static website for a domain you own. Static web pages can contain client-side technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They cannot contain dynamic content such as server-side scripts like PHP.

This tutorial shows you how to serve content over HTTP. For a tutorial that uses HTTPS, see Hosting a static website.

For examples and tips on static web pages, including how to host static assets for a dynamic website, see the Static Website page.

Objectives

In this tutorial you will:

• Point your domain to Cloud Storage by using a CNAME record.
• Create a bucket that is linked to your domain.
• Upload and share your site's files.
• Test the website.

Costs

This tutorial uses the following billable component of Google Cloud:

• Cloud Storage

See the Monitoring your storage charges tip for details on what charges may be incurred when hosting a static website, and see the Pricing page for details on Cloud Storage costs.

Before you begin

1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

2. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.
   Roles required to select or create a project

   • Select a project: Selecting a project doesn't require a specific IAM role—you can select any project that you've been granted a role on.
   • Create a project: To create a project, you need the Project Creator role (roles/resourcemanager.projectCreator), which contains theresourcemanager.projects.create permission. Learn how to grant roles.
     Go to project selector

3. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

4. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.
   Roles required to select or create a project

   • Select a project: Selecting a project doesn't require a specific IAM role—you can select any project that you've been granted a role on.
   • Create a project: To create a project, you need the Project Creator role (roles/resourcemanager.projectCreator), which contains theresourcemanager.projects.create permission. Learn how to grant roles.
     Go to project selector

5. Verify that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

6. Have a domain that you own or manage. If you don't have an existing domain, there are many services through which you can register a new domain, such asCloud Domains.
   This tutorial uses the domain example.com.

7. Verify that you own or manage the domain that you will be using. Make sure you are verifying the top-level domain, such as example.com, and not a subdomain, such as www.example.com.
   Note: If you own the domain you are associating to a bucket, you might have already performed this step in the past. If you purchased your domain through Cloud Domains, verification is automatic.

Connecting your domain to Cloud Storage

To connect your domain to Cloud Storage, create a CNAME record through your domain registration service. A CNAME record is a type of DNS record. It directs traffic that requests a URL from your domain to the resources you want to serve, in this case objects in your Cloud Storage buckets. For www.example.com, the CNAME record might contain the following information:

NAME TYPE DATA www CNAME c.storage.googleapis.com.

For more information about CNAME redirects, see URI for CNAME aliasing.

To connect your domain to Cloud Storage:

1. Create a CNAME record that points to c.storage.googleapis.com..
   Your domain registration service should have a way for you to administer your domain, including adding a CNAME record. For example, if you use Cloud DNS, instructions for adding resource records can be found on the Add, modify, and delete records page.

Creating a bucket

Create a bucket whose name matches the CNAME you created for your domain.

For example, if you added a CNAME record pointing from the www subdomain ofexample.com to c.storage.googleapis.com., then the Google Cloud CLI command to create a bucket with the name www.example.com would look similar to the following:

gcloud storage buckets create gs://www.example.com --location=US

For complete instructions to creating buckets with different tools, seeCreate buckets.

Uploading your site's files

To add to your bucket the files you want your website to serve:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud Storage Buckets page.
   Go to Buckets
2. In the list of buckets, click the name of the bucket that you created.
3. Click the Upload files button in the Objects tab.
4. In the file dialog, browse to the desired file and select it.

After the upload completes, you should see the file name along with file information displayed in the bucket.

Command line

Use the gcloud storage cp command to copy files to your bucket. For example, to copy the file index.html from its current locationDesktop:

gcloud storage cp Desktop/index.html gs://www.example.com

If successful, the response looks like the following example:

Completed files 1/1 | 164.3kiB/164.3kiB

Client libraries

C++

For more information, see theCloud Storage C++ API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

C#

For more information, see theCloud Storage C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Go

For more information, see theCloud Storage Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Java

For more information, see theCloud Storage Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

The following sample uploads an individual object:

The following sample uploads multiple objects concurrently:

The following sample uploads all objects with a common prefix concurrently:

Node.js

For more information, see theCloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

The following sample uploads an individual object:

The following sample uploads multiple objects concurrently:

The following sample uploads all objects with a common prefix concurrently:

PHP

For more information, see theCloud Storage PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Python

For more information, see theCloud Storage Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

The following sample uploads an individual object:

The following sample uploads multiple objects concurrently:

The following sample uploads all objects with a common prefix concurrently:

Ruby

For more information, see theCloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

REST APIs

JSON API

1. Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized, which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
2. Use cURL to call the JSON API with aPOST Object request. For the index page of www.example.com:
   curl -X POST --data-binary @index.html \
   -H "Content-Type: text/html" \
   -H "Authorization: $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
   "https://storage.googleapis.com/upload/storage/v1/b/www.example.com/o?uploadType=media&name=index.html"

XML API

1. Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized, which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
2. Use cURL to call the XML API with aPUT Object request. For the index page of www.example.com:
   curl -X PUT --data-binary @index.html \
   -H "Authorization: $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
   -H "Content-Type: text/html" \
   "https://storage.googleapis.com/www.example.com/index.html"

Sharing your files

To make all objects in a bucket readable to everyone on the public internet:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud Storage Buckets page.
   Go to Buckets
2. In the list of buckets, click the name of the bucket that you want to make public.
3. Select the Permissions tab near the top of the page.
4. If the Public access pane reads Not public, click the button labeled Remove public access prevention, and click Confirm in the dialog that appears.
5. Click the Grant access button.
   The Add principals dialog box appears.
6. In the New principals field, enter allUsers.
7. In the Select a role drop down, select the Cloud Storagesub-menu, and click the Storage Object Viewer option.
8. Click Save.
9. Click Allow public access.

Once shared publicly, a link icon appears for each object in the public access column. You can click this icon to get the URL for the object.

Command line

Use the buckets add-iam-policy-binding command:

gcloud storage buckets add-iam-policy-binding gs://www.example.com --member=allUsers --role=roles/storage.objectViewer

Client libraries

C++

For more information, see theCloud Storage C++ API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

C#

For more information, see theCloud Storage C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Go

For more information, see theCloud Storage Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Java

For more information, see theCloud Storage Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Node.js

For more information, see theCloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

PHP

For more information, see theCloud Storage PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Python

For more information, see theCloud Storage Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Ruby

For more information, see theCloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

REST APIs

JSON API

1. Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized, which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
2. Create a JSON file that contains the following information:
   {
   "bindings":[
   {
   "role": "roles/storage.objectViewer",
   "members":["allUsers"]
   }
   ]
   }
3. Use cURL to call the JSON API with a PUT Bucketrequest:
   curl -X PUT --data-binary @JSON_FILE_NAME \
   -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/BUCKET_NAME/iam"
   Where:
   • JSON_FILE_NAME is the path for the JSON file that you created in Step 2.
   • BUCKET_NAME is the name of the bucket whose objects you want to make public. For example, my-bucket.

XML API

Making all objects in a bucket publicly readable is not supported by the XML API. Use the Google Cloud console or gcloud storage instead.

If wanted, you can alternativelymake portions of your bucket publicly accessible.

Visitors receive a http 403 response code when requesting the URL for a non-public or non-existent file. See the next section for information on how to add an error page that uses a http 404 response code.

Recommended: Assigning specialty pages

You can assign an index page suffix, which is controlled by the MainPageSuffixproperty and a custom error page, which is controlled by the NotFoundPageproperty. Assigning either is optional, but without an index page, nothing is served when users access your top-level site, for example,http://www.example.com. For more information, see Website configuration examples.

In the following sample, the MainPageSuffix is set to index.html andNotFoundPage is set to 404.html:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud Storage Buckets page.
   Go to Buckets
2. In the list of buckets, find the bucket you created.
3. Click the Bucket overflow menu () associated with the bucket and select Edit website configuration.
4. In the website configuration dialog, specify the main page and error page.
5. Click Save.

Command line

Use the buckets update command with the --web-main-page-suffixand --web-error-page flags:

gcloud storage buckets update gs://www.example.com --web-main-page-suffix=index.html --web-error-page=404.html

If successful, the command returns:

Updating gs://www.example.com/... Completed 1

Client libraries

C++

For more information, see theCloud Storage C++ API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

C#

For more information, see theCloud Storage C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Go

For more information, see theCloud Storage Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Java

For more information, see theCloud Storage Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Node.js

For more information, see theCloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

PHP

For more information, see theCloud Storage PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Python

For more information, see theCloud Storage Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

Ruby

For more information, see theCloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, seeSet up authentication for client libraries.

REST APIs

JSON API

1. Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized, which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
2. Create a JSON file that sets the mainPageSuffix andnotFoundPage properties in a website object to the desired pages:
   {
   "website":{
   "mainPageSuffix": "index.html",
   "notFoundPage": "404.html"
   }
   }
3. Use cURL to call the JSON API with aPATCH Bucket request. For www.example.com:
   curl -X PATCH --data-binary @web-config.json \
   -H "Authorization: $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/www.example.com"

XML API

1. Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized, which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
2. Create an XML file that sets the MainPageSuffix and NotFoundPageelements in a WebsiteConfiguration element to the desired pages: index.html 404.html
3. Use cURL to call the XML API with aPUT Bucket request and websiteConfig query string parameter. For www.example.com:
   curl -X PUT --data-binary @web-config.xml \
   -H "Authorization: $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
   https://storage.googleapis.com/www.example.com?websiteConfig

Testing the website

Verify that content is served from the bucket by requesting the domain name in a browser. You can do this with a path to an object or with just the domain name, if you set the MainPageSuffix property.

For example, if you have an object named test.html stored in a bucket namedwww.example.com, check that it's accessible by going towww.example.com/test.html in your browser.

Clean up

After you finish the tutorial, you can clean up the resources that you created so that they stop using quota and incurring charges. The following sections describe how to delete or turn off these resources.

Deleting the project

The easiest way to eliminate billing is to delete the project that you created for the tutorial.

To delete the project:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Manage resources page.
   Go to Manage resources
2. In the project list, select the project that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3. In the dialog, type the project ID, and then clickShut down to delete the project.

What's next

• See examples and tips for using buckets to host a static website.
• Visit the troubleshooting section for hosting a static website.
• Learn about hosting static assets for a dynamic website.
• Learn about all web serving options.
• Try Google Cloud jump start solutions that use Cloud Storage.

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-12-09 UTC.