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Publishing game updates using Yandex Cloud CDN

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Updated at May 7, 2025

Create and configure a Cloud CDN-enabled CDN resource to host content that is expected to handle a large number of requests over a short time period, such as game update files (patches, DLCs, and so on). To prevent CDN servers from increasing workload on content origins over this period, files will be preloaded to the server cache once.

Let's assume a patch is a single file named ycgame-update-v1.1.exe. It will be uploaded to a Yandex Object Storage bucket.

Note

We do not recommend preloading files smaller than 200 MB or larger than 5 GB.

To create a CDN infrastructure:

  1. Get ready.
  2. Add a certificate to Certificate Manager
  3. Create buckets in Object Storage.
  4. Enable logging for the bucket with files.
  5. Upload a file to the bucket.
  6. Create a CDN resource and enable caching.
  7. Set up DNS for your domain.
  8. Preload content to the cache of the CDN servers.
  9. Test the CDN.

If you no longer need the resources you created, delete them.

Getting started

Sign up in Yandex Cloud and create a billing account:

  1. Navigate to the management console and log in to Yandex Cloud or register a new account.
  2. On the Yandex Cloud Billing page, make sure you have a billing account linked and it has the ACTIVE or TRIAL_ACTIVE status. If you do not have a billing account, create one and link a cloud to it.

If you have an active billing account, you can navigate to the cloud page to create or select a folder for your infrastructure to operate in.

Learn more about clouds and folders.

Make sure you have a domain name and can access the DNS settings on the website of your DNS hosting provider. This is usually the company that registered your domain.

The cost of supporting the CDN infrastructure includes:

Add a certificate to Certificate Manager

Certificates from Yandex Certificate Manager are supported. You can issue a new Let's Encrypt® certificate or upload one of your own.

The certificate must be located in the same folder as your CDN resource.

For a Let's Encrypt® certificate, have your rights checked for the domain specified in the certificate.

Create buckets in Object Storage

Create two buckets: one will store files and the other, request logs for the first one.

  1. In the management console, select Object Storage.
  2. Create a bucket for files:
    1. Click Create bucket.
    2. Enter a ** Name** for the bucket.
    3. In the Object read access and Object listing access fields, select Public.
    4. Click Create bucket.
  3. Create a bucket for logs:
    1. Click Create bucket.
    2. Enter a ** Name** for the bucket.
    3. Click Create bucket.

  1. Create a bucket for files:

    aws --endpoint-url=https://storage.yandexcloud.net \
  s3api create-bucket \
  --bucket <name_of_bucket_with_files> \
  --acl public-read

    Result:

    {
  "Location": "/<name_of_bucket_with_files>"
}

  2. Create a bucket for logs:

    aws --endpoint-url=https://storage.yandexcloud.net \
  s3api create-bucket \
  --bucket <name_of_bucket_with_logs>

    Result:

    {
  "Location": "/<name_of_bucket_with_logs>"
}

If you do not have Terraform yet, install it and configure its Yandex Cloud provider.

Before you start, get static access keys, i.e., a secret key and key ID used for authentication in Object Storage.

  1. In the configuration file, describe the bucket settings:

    • access_key: Static access key ID.
    • secret_key: Secret access key value.
    • bucket: Name of the bucket you are creating.

    Here is an example of the configuration file structure:

    provider "yandex" {
  token     = "<OAuth_token>"
  cloud_id  = "<cloud_ID>"
  folder_id = "<folder_ID>"
  zone      = "ru-central1-a"
}

resource "yandex_storage_bucket" "storage" {
  access_key = "<static_key_ID>"
  secret_key = "<secret_key>"
  bucket     = "<name_of_bucket_with_files>"
  acl        = "public-read"
}

resource "yandex_storage_bucket" "logs" {
  access_key = "<static_key_ID>"
  secret_key = "<secret_key>"
  bucket     = "<name_of_bucket_with_logs>"
}

  2. Make sure the configuration files are correct:

    1. In the command line, navigate to the folder where you created the configuration file.

    2. Run a check using this command:

      terraform plan

    If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display the settings of the bucket being created. If the configuration contains any errors, Terraform will point them out.

  3. Deploy the bucket:

    1. If the configuration does not contain any errors, run this command:

      terraform apply

    2. Confirm creating the bucket.

Use the API create method.

Enable logging for the bucket with files

Make sure that when a user sends a request, files are downloaded from the CDN server cache rather than directly from the bucket. To do this, enable bucket logging.

  1. Create a file with logging settings in JSON format. Here is an example:

    {
  "LoggingEnabled": {
      "TargetBucket": "<name_of_bucket_with_logs>",
      "TargetPrefix": "<key_prefix>"
  }
}

    Where:

    • TargetBucket: Name of the target bucket for the logs.
    • TargetPrefix: Prefix of the key used for objects with logs, e.g., logs/.

  2. Enable logging in the bucket:

    aws s3api put-bucket-logging \
  --bucket <name_of_bucket_with_files> \
  --endpoint-url https://storage.yandexcloud.net \
  --bucket-logging-status file://<path_to_configuration_file>

    Where:

    • --bucket: Name of the source bucket to enable action logging for.
    • --bucket-logging-status: Path to the logging settings file.

Use the putBucketLogging API method for the bucket with files. HTTP request body:

<BucketLoggingStatus xmlns="http://doc.s3.amazonaws.com/2006-03-01">
  <LoggingEnabled>
    <TargetBucket>name of the bucket with logs</TargetBucket>
    <TargetPrefix>key prefix</TargetPrefix>
  </LoggingEnabled>
</BucketLoggingStatus>

Where:

  • TargetBucket: Name of the bucket for logs.
  • TargetPrefix: Prefix of the key used for objects with logs, e.g., logs/.

Upload a file to the bucket

  1. In the management console, select Object Storage.
  2. Select the bucket with files.
  3. Click Upload.
  4. In the window that opens, select the ycgame-update-v1.1.exe patch file and click Open.
  5. Click Upload.

Run this command:

aws --endpoint-url=https://storage.yandexcloud.net \
  s3 cp \
  <path_to_ycgame-update-v1.1.exe> \
  s3://<name_of_bucket_with_files>/ycgame-update-v1.1.exe

Result:

upload: <path_to_ycgame-update-v1.1.exe> to s3://<name_of_bucket_with_files>/ycgame-update-v1.1.exe

  1. Add the settings of the object you need to upload to the configuration file you created at the bucket creation step:

    • bucket: Name of the bucket for adding the object.
    • key: Name of the object in the bucket, ycgame-update-v1.1.exe. This is a required setting.
    • source: Relative or absolute path to the file you are uploading as an object.

    Here is an example of the configuration file structure:

    ...
resource "yandex_storage_object" "patch-v1-1" {
  access_key = "<static_key_ID>"
  secret_key = "<secret_key>"
  bucket     = "<name_of_bucket_with_files>"
  key        = "ycgame-update-v1.1.exe"
  source     = "<file_path>/ycgame-update-v1.1.exe"
}

  2. Make sure the configuration files are correct.

    1. In the command line, navigate to the directory with the configuration file.

    2. Run a check using this command:

      terraform plan

    If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources being created and their settings. If the configuration contains any errors, Terraform will point them out.

  3. Deploy the cloud resources.

    1. If the configuration does not contain any errors, run this command:

      terraform apply

    2. Confirm creating the object.

Use the API upload method.

Create a CDN resource and enable caching

  1. In the management console, select Cloud CDN.

  2. If the CDN provider is not activated yet, click Activate provider. A connection will be established automatically.

    If you do not see the Activate provider button and you can create resources and origin groups, it means that the provider is already activated. Proceed to the next step.

  3. Create a CDN resource:

    1. In the CDN resources tab, click Create resource.
    2. Configure the basic settings of the CDN resource as follows:

      • Content query: From one origin.

      • Origin type: Bucket.

      • Bucket: <name_of_bucket_with_files>.

      • Domain names for content distribution: Primary domain name you will use to publish patches, e.g., cdn.ycprojectblue.example.

        Alert

        You cannot change the primary domain name used for content distribution after creating a CDN resource.

      • Under Additional settings:

        • In the Origin request protocol field, select HTTPS.
        • In the Redirect clients field, select Don't use.
        • Select End-user access to content.
        • In the Certificate type field, specify Use from Certificate Manager and select a certificate for the cdn.ycprojectblue.example domain name.
        • In the Host header field, select Custom. In the Header value field, specify the origin domain name, <name_of_bucket_with_files>.storage.yandexcloud.net, for the source bucket to respond to CDN server requests correctly.
    3. Click Create.

  4. Enable a client redirect from HTTP to HTTPS:

    1. In the CDN resources tab, select the resource you created previously.
    2. Make sure the certificate status under Additional settings has changed to Issued.
    3. At the top right, click Edit.
    4. Under Additional settings, select HTTP to HTTPS in the Redirect clients field.
    5. Click Save.

  5. Enable caching on CDN servers for the resource:

    1. In the CDN resources tab, select the resource you created previously.
    2. Navigate to Caching.
    3. At the top right, click Edit.
    4. Enable CDN caching.
    5. Click Save.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud CLI yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified when creating the CLI profile is used by default. To change the default folder, use the yc config set folder-id <folder_ID> command. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

  1. If the CDN provider has not been activated yet, run this command:

    yc cdn provider activate --folder-id <folder_ID> --type gcore

  2. Create a CDN resource:

    yc cdn resource create \
  --cname cdn.ycprojectblue.example \
  --origin-bucket-source <name_of_bucket_with_files>.storage.yandexcloud.net \
  --origin-bucket-name <name_of_bucket_with_files> \
  --origin-protocol https \
  --cert-manager-ssl-cert-id <certificate_ID> \
  --host-header <name_of_bucket_with_files>.storage.yandexcloud.net

    Result:

    id: bc8e3l7s4dha********
folder_id: b1g86q4m5vej********
cname: cdn.ycprojectblue.example
...
active: true
...

    For more information about the yc cdn resource create command, see the CLI reference.

  3. Enable a client redirect for the resource:

    yc cdn resource update <resource_ID> --redirect-http-to-https

  1. Add the settings of the CDN resources to the configuration file:

    ...
resource "yandex_cdn_origin_group" "my_group" {
  name     = "updates-origin-group"
  use_next = true
  origin {
    source = "<name_of_bucket_with_files>.storage.yandexcloud.net"
  }
}

resource "yandex_cdn_resource" "my_resource" {
  cname               = "cdn.ycprojectblue.example"
  active              = true
  origin_protocol     = "https"
  origin_group_id     = yandex_cdn_origin_group.my_group.id
  options {
    custom_host_header     = "<name_of_bucket_with_files>.storage.yandexcloud.net"
  }
  ssl_certificate {
    type                   = "certificate_manager"
    certificate_manager_id = "<certificate_ID>"
  }
}

    For more information, see the description of yandex_cdn_origin_group and yandex_cdn_resource in the Terraform provider documentation.

  2. Make sure the configuration files are correct.

    1. In the command line, navigate to the folder where you created the configuration file.

    2. Run a check using this command:

      terraform plan

    If you described the configuration correctly, the terminal will display a list of the resources being created and their settings. This is a test step; no resources will be created. If the configuration contains any errors, Terraform will point them out.

  3. Apply the configuration changes:

    1. If the configuration does not contain any errors, run this command:

      terraform apply

    2. Confirm creating the resources by typing yes in the terminal and pressing Enter.

    This will create all resources you need in the specified folder. You can check the new resources and their settings using the management console.

  4. Enable a client redirect for the resource. In the CDN resource settings, add this field at the top of the options section:

    ...
options {
  redirect_https_to_http = true
...

  5. Run a check using this command:

    terraform plan

    If the configuration is described correctly, the terminal will display a list of updated resources and their settings. If the configuration contains any errors, Terraform will point them out.

  6. If there are no errors, run this command:

    terraform apply

  7. Confirm updating the resource by typing yes in the terminal and pressing Enter.

This enables a redirect for the resource.

Use the ResourceService/Create gRPC API call or the create REST API method. To enable caching on CDN servers, add the edge_cache_settings field to the request body.

Set up DNS for your domain

  1. Get an .edgecdn.ru domain name generated for the CDN resource you created:

    1. In the management console, select Cloud CDN.
    2. Select the created CDN resource (the list of resources will contain its primary domain name: cdn.ycprojectblue.example).
    3. In the Overview tab, under DNS settings, copy the generated .edgecdn.ru domain name to the clipboard.

  2. Navigate to your domain DNS settings on the website of your DNS hosting provider.

  3. Edit the CNAME record for cdn so that it points to the previously copied .edgecdn.ru URL, e.g.:

    cdn CNAME cl-********.edgecdn.ru.

    Note

    Do not use an ANAME resource record with domain names for content distribution; otherwise, the end user will get a response from a CDN server not linked to the user's geolocation. The response will always be the same for all users.

    If you use Cloud DNS, follow this tutorial to configure the record:

    Configuring DNS records for Cloud DNS
    1. In the management console, select Cloud DNS.
    2. If you do not have a public DNS zone, create one:
      1. Click Create zone.
      2. Specify the zone Name: cdn-dns-a.
      3. In the Zone field, specify your domain with a trailing dot: ycprojectblue.example..
      4. Select the zone Type: Public.
      5. Click Create.
    3. Create a record in the zone:
      1. In the list of zones, click cdn-dns-a.
      2. Click Create record.
      3. Under Name, specify cdn so that the record matches the cdn.ycprojectblue.example domain name.
      4. Select the record Type: CNAME.
      5. In the Data field, paste the .edgecdn.ru URL you copied with a trailing dot.
      6. Click Create.

    1. If you do not have a public DNS zone, create one:

      yc dns zone create --name cdn-dns-a --zone ycprojectblue.example. --public-visibility

      Where:

      • --name: Zone name.
      • --zone: Domain zone (your domain with a trailing dot).
      • --public-visibility: Zone public visibility option.

      Result:

      id: aetuvdw77q61********
folder_id: aoewzf73jwdl********
created_at: "2021-09-28T10:33:31.917Z"
name: cdn-zone-a
zone: ycprojectblue.example.
public_visibility: {}

    2. Create a record in the zone:

      yc dns zone add-records --name cdn-dns-a --record "cdn CNAME cl-********.edgecdn.ru."

      Where:

      • --name: Zone name.
      • --record: Resource record.

    3. Make sure the record has been created:

      yc dns zone list-records --name cdn-dns-a

      Result:

      +----------------------------+------+-------+------------------------------+
|            NAME            | TTL  | TYPE  |             DATA             |
+----------------------------+------+-------+------------------------------+
| ycprojectblue.example.     | 3600 | NS    | ns1.yandexcloud.net.         |
|                            |      |       | ns2.yandexcloud.net.         |
| ycprojectblue.example.     | 3600 | SOA   | ns1.yandexcloud.net.         |
|                            |      |       | mx.cloud.yandex.net. 1 10800 |
|                            |      |       | 900 604800 86400             |
| cdn.ycprojectblue.example. |  600 | CNAME | cl-********.edgecdn.ru.      |
+----------------------------+------+-------+------------------------------+

      The list should contain the cdn.ycprojectblue.example. record.

    1. If you do not have a public DNS zone, create one using the DnsZoneService/Create gRPC API call or the create REST API method. To make the zone public, add the public_visibility (gRPC) or publicVisibility (REST) field to the request body.
    2. Create the cdn CNAME cl-********.edgecdn.ru. record in the zone using the DnsZoneService/UpdateRecordSets gRPC API call or the updateRecordSets REST API method.

Preload content to the cache of the CDN servers

  1. In the management console, select Cloud CDN.

  2. Select the created CDN resource (the list of resources will contain its primary domain name: cdn.ycprojectblue.example).

  3. Navigate to the Content tab.

  4. Click → Preload content.

  5. In the File path field, specify the path to the file stored in the origin while omitting the domain name:

    /ycgame-update-v1.1.exe

  6. Click Preload content.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud CLI yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified when creating the CLI profile is used by default. To change the default folder, use the yc config set folder-id <folder_ID> command. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

Specify the path to the file to pre-fetch:

yc cdn cache prefetch --resource-id <resource_ID> \
  --path /ycgame-update-v1.1.exe

For more information about the yc cdn cache prefetch command, see the CLI reference.

Use the CacheService/Prefetch gRPC API call or the prefetch REST API method.

Test the CDN

  1. Wait until the DNS records are updated (this may take a few hours) and the file is prefetched to the CDN servers.

  2. Download the file at the new URL:

    https://cdn.ycprojectblue.example/ycgame-update-v1.1.exe

  3. Get the logs of requests to the bucket with files:

    1. In the management console, select Object Storage.
    2. Select the bucket with the logs.
    3. Click the name of the object matching the download time for ycgame-update-v1.1.exe.
    4. Click → Download.

    1. Get a list of objects with logs:

      aws --endpoint-url=https://storage.yandexcloud.net \
  s3 ls s3://<name_of_bucket_with_logs>

      Result:

      2021-10-01 08:37:53         10 2021-10-01-08-37-53-631E0FC3B732AEDD
2021-10-01 09:38:05         62 2021-10-01-09-38-05-436E6CDC832A20EF
2021-10-01 10:38:01         23 2021-10-01-10-38-01-7F65EF1A6366FB18
2021-10-01 11:37:57         41 2021-10-01-11-37-57-6F31613427A7DB9A
2021-10-01 12:38:02         58 2021-10-01-12-38-02-AB893E6148AFDC55
2021-10-01 13:38:02         73 2021-10-01-13-38-02-E69EAEC1C9083756

    2. In the list you got, find the object with the log saved after downloading ycgame-update-v1.1.exe and download it:

      aws --endpoint-url=https://storage.yandexcloud.net \
  s3 cp s3://<name_of_bucket_with_logs>/2021-10-01-13-38-02-E69EAEC1C9083756 \
  2021-10-01-13-38-02-E69EAEC1C9083756

      Result:

      download: s3://<name_of_bucket_with_logs>/2021-10-01-13-38-02-E69EAEC1C9083756 to 2021-10-01-13-38-02-E69EAEC1C9083756
    1. Get a list of objects in the bucket with logs using the listObjects API method.
    2. In the list you got, find the object whose log was saved after downloading ycgame-update-v1.1.exe and download it using the get API method.

  4. Check the logs of requests to the source bucket to make sure that the CDN servers did not download the file from the origin after your request. For more information about log contents, see Log object format of the Object Storage documentation.

How to delete the resources you created

To shut down your CDN resource and stop paying for the resources you created:

  1. Disable the resource you created.
  2. Delete the ycgame-update-v1.1.exe object from the bucket with files.
  3. Delete the bucket with files.
  4. Delete all objects from the bucket with logs.
  5. Delete the bucket with logs.
  6. Delete the DNS zone if you used it during DNS setup.
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