S3 static website basics

Your goal

Store a homepage in a bucket and see the page you saved.

Why this matters

A simple website starts with files. You will make a small HTML page, upload it, and tell S3 which file is the homepage. This shows the difference between storing a file and choosing how a website opens it.

Words you will use

HTML describes a web page. A bucket holds files in S3. The index document is the file used as the homepage. A preview lets you inspect the page here; it does not publish a public website.

How to proceed

Open the lab, read the goal, then follow the numbered steps. Each step names the controls and explains the result to look for.

1. Deploy your bucket

Click Start building or Deploy stack. This creates the S3 bucket in your private emulator. Wait until its block says available. Your bucket is the place where the homepage file will live.

2. Design and upload your homepage

Select the bucket to open its controls. Choose Moonbase or Cloud garden, enter a page title, and click Upload your page. The app saves your design as index.html. Wait for the upload result; choosing a design alone does not save a file.

3. Choose the homepage file

With the bucket selected, click Configure website index. This tells S3 to use index.html as the homepage. The setting points to a file; it does not create one. That is why you uploaded your page in the previous step.

4. Open and check your page

Click Open website preview in the bucket controls. Check that your title and design appear. The preview reads the actual file from your emulator. Close it, then finish the mission. You made a local preview, not a publicly hosted site.

Practice, then check your understanding

Repeat the lab with different input. Explain the result before claiming completion. Your live resources expire after inactivity, while your canvas stays in this browser. Guest XP stays here too; signed-in achievements sync to your account.

Read the official AWS documentation for service behavior and production details.