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We have some HTML-based documentation generated by Sphinx. Currently it's hosted from an on-prem webserver box. We'd like to move it to the cloud and eliminate the requirement for VPN, but maintain that access be restricted to corporate staff.

I know an option is to host it on a public webserver and wrap the content with a webapp that handles authentication, but I want to avoid web development if possible.

We are an Office365 house currently looking at adopting SharePoint Online. I tried to host the documentation on a sharepoint site and it kind of worked but seemed ill-suited (ugly long URL with no custom domain options, various bits of JS broke, etc)

I understand one can host static HTML from Azure, and security can be set to use Azure AD. It's not clear however that this would automatically cover providing authentication UI as SharePoint does. I'm guessing this would still demand developing a custom webapp.

What's the easiest and cheapest route to this hosting use-case?

Giacomo1968
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davegravy
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  • Do you need specific levels of authentication to access the documentation? Or can you just wall it all off and provide one password for access? Because if you are looking for the cheapest option, any web hosting provider can allow you to host HTML files and bit basic password protection on the whole site without having to do any development. – Giacomo1968 Oct 15 '20 at 21:58
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    Do not need specific levels of authentication. Preference though would be reusing AD credentials and office 365 sign on state. I'm guessing you're suggesting basic auth? – davegravy Oct 16 '20 at 11:54
  • “I'm guessing you're suggesting basic auth?” Yup. I know it’s not as easy to manage as an AD-based solution, but it exists and works. – Giacomo1968 Oct 16 '20 at 15:01

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Checkout Azure Static Web Apps: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/app-service/static/ . This system ties in with various static content generators, including documentation generation systems (such as Sphinx and MKDocs). You can then setup granular access controls using the static-web-app's routing and authentication system. And even better, Azure Active Directory authentication is included out-of-the-box. A proof of concept (not created by me) that shows how this is done is available here: https://github.com/equinor/az-static-web-app-docs-template

Jason S
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  • Thanks, I looked at this when it was in preview, - it had some significant limitations with number of users but otherwise looked promising. I'll give it another look! – davegravy May 14 '22 at 19:34