Chapter 7: Static Website Hosting (3 OSes × 2 Web Servers)

Interview Questions

By Ravindra Bagale Last updated: 15 October 2026

These questions on static hosting definitely come up in cloud interviews. When you reply, share your experience from the Amul-style dairy lab – interviewers like real hands-on experience.

Q1. What is a document root?: The directory from which the web server serves files; the URL path is appended to it to find the file.
Q2. How does one server host multiple websites on the same IP and port?: Name-based virtual hosting: the web server reads the HTTP Host header and chooses the matching server_name (Nginx) or ServerName (Apache) block.
Q3. A static site returns 403 Forbidden. How do you troubleshoot?: Check an index file exists, permissions along the whole path (namei -l), ownership, SELinux labels (ls -Z, restorecon), and the Require all granted / root directives; read the error log.
Q4. What is the difference between sites-available and sites-enabled on Ubuntu?: sites-available holds all site configs; only those symlinked into sites-enabled (via ln -s or a2ensite) are loaded.
Q5. How do you upload a local folder to an EC2 instance?: scp -i key.pem -r ./site user@IP:~/, rsync -avz, git clone on the server, or SFTP clients like WinSCP/MobaXterm.
Q6. How do you add HTTPS to a site on EC2?: Point a domain to the Elastic IP, open port 443, install certbot and run certbot --nginx -d domain (or --apache); it installs a Let's Encrypt certificate and auto-renewal.

Extended teaching notes

Why this lesson matters

Cloud security is mostly IAM, network exposure, logging and secure defaults. The shared responsibility model means the provider patches the metal; you patch what you configure.

No public databases or public admin panels.
Roles / OIDC instead of long-lived access keys.
CloudTrail / Activity Logs / Audit Logs on and retained.
S3/Blob/GCS: Block Public Access; encrypt; least privilege.

Mini case study

Suppose we are on a purple-team exercise for an Indian mid-size company (sample data). Red notes a technique from this lesson against a lab clone. Blue must show the control that stops it, the log that would have fired, and the ticket that hardens production. That is the standard this course trains you for.

Defender's worksheet (do this today)

Write the lesson title, date and the exact lab target you are allowed to use.
List three owned systems (VMs, apps, or cloud accounts) where this lesson applies.
Run one safe check from the lesson on a lab system only. Paste the command and output.
Write a two-sentence fix you would give a teammate.
Name one related public advisory (CERT-In, CISA, NVD, or a vendor bulletin) with its date.

Indian workplace (sample data)

Suppose we are a junior analyst at Infosys, TCS, Wipro or a fintech SOC in Bengaluru/Pune. Turn this lesson into one checklist item with an owner, a due date and a place to store evidence (ticket + screenshot).

Global practice

Compare your notes with OWASP, CIS Benchmarks, NIST CSF/IR guidance or a cloud Well-Architected security question. Write five lines on what overlaps.

Everyday analogy

Explain the risk and the fix to a family member without jargon. If they can repeat the warning, you understand it well enough to teach juniors.

Key terms

Control: a safeguard (patch, config, process, detection).
Finding: a weakness backed by evidence.
Remediation: the fix plus how you verified it.
Scope: systems you have written permission to touch.
Least privilege: only the access the task needs.
Defence in depth: several layers so one failure does not end the story.

Common mistakes

Skipping written permission "just for a quick scan".
Practising on hostel, office or public targets without authorisation.
Collecting tool output without writing the fix.
Copying attack steps onto production to "verify". Defenders verify with versions, configs and patches.
Publishing screenshots that contain secrets, cookies or internal hostnames.

Recap

Evidence, fix, owner, date.
Own lab only.
Fix > spectacle.