Quickstart: Deploy a static website on Azure Storage using Terraform

In this quickstart, you learn how to deploy an Azure Storage account with static website hosting enabled.

Terraform enables the definition, preview, and deployment of cloud infrastructure. Using Terraform, you create configuration files using HCL syntax. The HCL syntax allows you to specify the cloud provider - such as Azure - and the elements that make up your cloud infrastructure. After you create your configuration files, you create an execution plan that allows you to preview your infrastructure changes before they're deployed. Once you verify the changes, you apply the execution plan to deploy the infrastructure.

In this article, you learn how to:

• Create a random value (to be used in the resource group name) using random_pet
• Create an Azure resource group using azurerm_resource_group
• Create a random value (to be used in the storage acccount name) using random_string
• Create a storage account with a static website using azurerm_storage_account
• Create a storage account blob in the using azurerm_storage_blob

Prerequisites

• Install and configure Terraform

Implement the Terraform code

Note

The sample code for this article is located in the Azure Terraform GitHub repo. You can view the log file containing the test results from current and previous versions of Terraform.

See more articles and sample code showing how to use Terraform to manage Azure resources

1. Create a directory in which to test the sample Terraform code and make it the current directory.

2. Create a file named providers.tf and insert the following code:

   terraform {
     required_version = ">=1.0"
   
     required_providers {
       azurerm = {
         source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
         version = "~>3.0"
       }
   
       random = {
         source  = "hashicorp/random"
         version = "~>3.0"
       }
     }
   }
   
   provider "azurerm" {
     features {}
   }
   

3. Create a file named main.tf and insert the following code:

   data "azurerm_client_config" "current" {}
   
   # Generate random resource group name
   resource "random_pet" "rg_name" {
     prefix = var.resource_group_name_prefix
   }
   
   resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
     location = var.resource_group_location
     name     = random_pet.rg_name.id
   }
   
   # Generate random value for the storage account name
   resource "random_string" "storage_account_name" {
     length  = 8
     lower   = true
     numeric = false
     special = false
     upper   = false
   }
   
   resource "azurerm_storage_account" "storage_account" {
     resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
     location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
   
     name = random_string.storage_account_name.result
   
     account_tier             = "Standard"
     account_replication_type = "LRS"
     account_kind             = "StorageV2"
   
     static_website {
       index_document = "index.html"
     }
   }
   
   resource "azurerm_storage_blob" "example" {
     name                   = "index.html"
     storage_account_name   = azurerm_storage_account.storage_account.name
     storage_container_name = "$web"
     type                   = "Block"
     content_type           = "text/html"
     source                 = "index.html"
   }
   

4. Create a file named variables.tf and insert the following code:

   variable "resource_group_location" {
     type        = string
     description = "Location of the resource group."
     default     = "eastus"
   }
   
   variable "resource_group_name_prefix" {
     type        = string
     description = "Prefix of the resource group name that's combined with a random ID so name is unique in your Azure subscription."
     default     = "rg"
   }
   

5. Create a file named outputs.tf and insert the following code:

   output "resource_group_name" {
     value = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
   }
   
   output "storage_account_name" {
     value = azurerm_storage_account.storage_account.name
   }
   
   output "primary_web_host" {
     value = azurerm_storage_account.storage_account.primary_web_host
   }
   

6. Create a file named index.html and insert the following code:

   <h1> This is a static website example <h1>
   

Initialize Terraform

Run terraform init to initialize the Terraform deployment. This command downloads the Azure provider required to manage your Azure resources.

terraform init -upgrade

Key points:

• The -upgrade parameter upgrades the necessary provider plugins to the newest version that complies with the configuration's version constraints.

Create a Terraform execution plan

Run terraform plan to create an execution plan.

terraform plan -out main.tfplan

Key points:

• The terraform plan command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources.
• The optional -out parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the -out parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.

Apply a Terraform execution plan

Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan to your cloud infrastructure.

terraform apply main.tfplan

Key points:

• The example terraform apply command assumes you previously ran terraform plan -out main.tfplan.
• If you specified a different filename for the -out parameter, use that same filename in the call to terraform apply.
• If you didn't use the -out parameter, call terraform apply without any parameters.

Verify the results

Azure CLI

1. Get the URL to the static web site.

   primary_web_host=$(terraform output -raw primary_web_host)
   

2. Open a browser and enter the URL in your browser's address bar.

   

Azure PowerShell

1. Get the URL to the static web site.

   $primary_web_host=$(terraform output -raw primary_web_host)
   

2. Open a browser and enter the URL in your browser's address bar.

   

Clean up resources

When you no longer need the resources created via Terraform, do the following steps:

1. Run terraform plan and specify the destroy flag.

   terraform plan -destroy -out main.destroy.tfplan
   

   Key points:

   • The terraform plan command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources.
   • The optional -out parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the -out parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.

2. Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan.

   terraform apply main.destroy.tfplan
   

Troubleshoot Terraform on Azure

Troubleshoot common problems when using Terraform on Azure

Next steps

Introduction to Azure Blob Storage