---
title: Running Kentico on Microsoft Azure
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

[Microsoft Azure](http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/) is a cloud platform for hosting and managing applications and services. 

When you want to host your project on Microsoft Azure, you first need to decide which hosting option is the most suitable for you. To decide if you will host your project in Azure Web Apps, Azure Cloud Services or Azure Virtual Machines, see:

- [Microsoft Azure web hosting options](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/microsoft-azure-web-hosting-options.md)
- or view the Microsoft Azure documentation: [Compute Hosting Options Provided by Azure](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/#pivot=services)

Depending on the chosen option, continue to the specific section of the documentation:

- [Running Kentico in Azure Web Apps](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/running-kentico-in-azure-web-apps.md)
- [Running Kentico in Azure Cloud Services](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/running-kentico-in-azure-cloud-services.md)
- We do not provide documentation for Azure Virtual Machines as the procedure is similar to running Kentico on a normal server.

Note that there are crucial differences between the **project types** that you are required to install for each particular hosting option:

- **Azure Web Apps** – requires deployment of web application or web site projects.
- **Azure Cloud services** – require deployment of Azure projects.

**Azure Blob Storage**

If you are looking for information on how to connect your Kentico project to Azure Blob Storage without running the Kentico application on Azure, see [Configuring Azure storage](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/custom-development/working-with-physical-files-using-the-api/configuring-file-system-providers/configuring-azure-storage.md).

Running Kentico on Microsoft Azure

- [Microsoft Azure web hosting options](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/microsoft-azure-web-hosting-options.md)
- [Running Kentico in Azure Web Apps](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/running-kentico-in-azure-web-apps.md)
- [Running Kentico in Azure Cloud Services](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/running-kentico-in-azure-cloud-services.md)
- [Developing for Microsoft Azure - best practices](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/developing-for-microsoft-azure-best-practices.md)
- [Configuring Azure CDN](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/configuring-azure-cdn.md)
- [Mapping the Web analytics storage folder to the server file system](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/mapping-the-web-analytics-storage-folder-to-the-server-file-system.md)
- [Preventing Azure cache folders from bloating](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/preventing-azure-cache-folders-from-bloating.md)
- [Recommendations on using Azure SQL Database tiers](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/recommendations-on-using-azure-sql-database-tiers.md)
- [Storing cache and session state data in Azure environment](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/storing-cache-and-session-state-data-in-azure-environment.md)
- [Troubleshooting Smart search on Azure](https://docs.kentico.com/k9/running-kentico-on-microsoft-azure/troubleshooting-smart-search-on-azure.md)

Related blogs

- [Running Smart search on Azure](https://devnet.kentico.com/articles/running-smart-search-on-azure)
- [Deploying Kentico to Microsoft Azure – Know your web hosting options](https://devnet.kentico.com/articles/deploying-kentico-to-microsoft-azure-know-your-web-hosting-options)
- [Deploying Kentico to Microsoft Azure – Know your database options](https://devnet.kentico.com/articles/deploying-kentico-to-microsoft-azure-know-your-database-options)
- [Integrating Azure Search with Kentico](https://devnet.kentico.com/articles/integrating-azure-search-with-kentico)

Please note: Articles linked here may not reflect the latest version of Kentico. Please report any issues with these links using the feedback form at the bottom of this page.