Provide storage for the public website

Step guide on how to setup storage for public website

Step 1: Create a storage account with high availability.

1. Create a storage account to support the public website.

   • In the portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

     

   • Select + Create.

     

   • For resource group select new. Give your resource group a name and select OK.

   • Set the Storage account name to publicwebsite. Make sure the storage account name is unique by adding an identifier.

   • Take the defaults for other settings.

   • Select Review and then Create.

     

   • Wait for the storage account to deploy, and then select Go to resource.

     

2. This storage requires high availability if there’s a regional outage. Additionally, enable read access to the secondary region, L

   • In the storage account, in the Data management section, select the Redundancy blade.

   • Ensure Read-access Geo-redundant storage is selected.

     

   • Review the primary and secondary location information.

3. Information on the public website should be accessible without requiring customers to login.

   • In the storage account, in the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.

   • Ensure the Allow blob anonymous access setting is Enabled.

   • 

   • Be sure to Save your changes.

Step 2: Create a blob storage container with anonymous read access

1. The public website has various images and documents. Create a blob storage container for the content.

   • In your storage account, in the Data storage section, select the Containers blade.

   • Select + Container.

   • Ensure the Name of the container is public.

     

   • Select Create.

2. Customers should be able to view the images without being authenticated. Configure anonymous read access for the public container blobs.

   • Select your public container.

   • On the Overview blade, select Change access level.

   • Ensure the Public access level is Blob (anonymous read access for blobs only).

     

   • Select OK.

Step 3: Practice uploading files and testing access.

1. For testing, upload a file to the public container. The type of file doesn’t matter. A small image or text file is a good choice.

   • Ensure you are viewing your container.

   • Select Upload.

   • Browse to files and select a file. Browse to a file of your choice.

   • Select Upload.

     

   • Close the upload window, Refresh the page and ensure your file was uploaded.

2. Determine the URL for your uploaded file. Open a browser and test the URL.

   • Select your uploaded file.

   • On the Overview tab, copy the URL.

   • Paste the URL into a new browser tab.

     

   • If you have uploaded an image file it will display in the browser. Other file types should be downloaded.

     

Step 4: Configure soft delete

1. It’s important that the website documents can be restored if they’re deleted. Configure blob soft delete for 21 days. L

   • Go to the Overview blade of the storage account.

   • On the Properties page, locate the Blob service section.

     

   • Select the Blob soft delete setting.

   • Ensure the Enable soft delete for blobs is checked.

   • Change the Keep deleted blobs for (in days setting is 21.

   • Notice you can also Enable soft delete for containers.

     

   • Don’t forget to Save your changes.

2. If something gets deleted, you need to practice using soft delete to restore the files.

   • Navigate to your container where you uploaded a file.

   • Select the file you uploaded and then select Delete.

   • Select OK to confirm deleting the file.

     

   • On the container Overview page, toggle the slider Show deleted blobs. This toggle is to the right of the search box.

     

   • Select your deleted file, and use the ellipses on the far right, to Undelete the file.

   • Refresh the container and confirm the file has been restored.

Step 5: Configure blob versioning

1. It’s important to keep track of the different website product document versions.

   • Go to the Overview blade of the storage account.

   • In the Properties section, locate the Blob service section.

   • Select the Versioning setting.

     

   • Ensure the Enable versioning for blobs checkbox is checked.

   • Notice your options to keep all versions or delete versions after.

     

   • Don’t forget to Save your changes.

2. As you have time experiment with restoring previous blob versions.

   • Upload another version of your container file. This overwrites your existing file.

     

   • Your previous file version is listed on Show deleted blobs page.