diff --git a/.github/actions-scripts/content-changes-table-comment.js b/.github/actions-scripts/content-changes-table-comment.js
index 91a62cb95f..bb7258b957 100755
--- a/.github/actions-scripts/content-changes-table-comment.js
+++ b/.github/actions-scripts/content-changes-table-comment.js
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ for (const file of articleFiles) {
   const sourceUrl = file.blob_url
   const fileName = file.filename.slice(pathPrefix.length)
   const fileUrl = fileName.slice(0, fileName.lastIndexOf('.'))
-  const previewLink = `https://${APP_URL}/${fileUrl}`
+  const previewLink = `${APP_URL}/${fileUrl}`
   const productionLink = `https://docs.github.com/${fileUrl}`
   let markdownLine = ''
 
diff --git a/.github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh b/.github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh
index 4f2b6c8541..f48c25ff10 100755
--- a/.github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh
+++ b/.github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 [[ -z $GITHUB_ENV ]] && { echo "Missing GITHUB_ENV. Exiting."; exit 1; }
 [[ -z $APP_NAME_SEED ]] && { echo "Missing APP_NAME_SEED. Exiting."; exit 1; }
 
-RESOURCE_GROUP="docs-nonprod"
-echo "RESOURCE_GROUP=${RESOURCE_GROUP}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+PREVIEW_ENV_LOCATION="eastus"
+echo "PREVIEW_ENV_LOCATION=${PREVIEW_ENV_LOCATION}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
 REPO_NAME="${GITHUB_REPOSITORY#*\/}"
 echo "REPO_NAME=${REPO_NAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ APP_SHA=$(echo -n "${APP_NAME_SEED}-${APP_NAME_BASE}" | sha1sum | cut -c1-6)
 APP_NAME="${APP_NAME_BASE}-${APP_SHA}"
 echo "APP_NAME=${APP_NAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-APP_URL="https://${APP_NAME}.eastus.azurecontainer.io"
+APP_URL="https://${APP_NAME}.${PREVIEW_ENV_LOCATION}.azurecontainer.io"
 echo "APP_URL=${APP_URL}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
 IMAGE_REPO="${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/pr-${PR_NUMBER}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-deploy.yml
index b6f9704361..a102730e06 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-deploy.yml
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ jobs:
       url: ${{ env.APP_URL }}
     env:
       PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.number || github.event.inputs.PR_NUMBER }}
-      NONPROD_REGISTRY_USERNAME: ghdocs
-      APP_LOCATION: eastus
       ENABLE_EARLY_ACCESS: ${{ github.repository == 'github/docs-internal' }}
 
     steps:
@@ -61,7 +59,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: azure/docker-login@81744f9799e7eaa418697cb168452a2882ae844a
         with:
           login-server: ${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_SERVER }}
-          username: ${{ env.NONPROD_REGISTRY_USERNAME }}
+          username: ${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_USERNAME }}
           password: ${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}
 
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
@@ -80,7 +78,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get preview app info
         env:
-          APP_NAME_SEED: ${{ secrets.APP_NAME_SEED }}
+          APP_NAME_SEED: ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_NAME_SEED }}
         run: .github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh
 
       - name: 'Set env vars'
@@ -150,7 +148,7 @@ jobs:
       # Succeed despite any non-zero exit code (e.g. if there is no deployment to cancel)
       - name: 'Cancel any existing deployments for this PR'
         run: |
-          az deployment group cancel --name ${{ env.DEPLOYMENT_NAME }} -g ${{ env.RESOURCE_GROUP }} || true
+          az deployment group cancel --name ${{ env.DEPLOYMENT_NAME }} -g ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_RESOURCE_GROUP }} || true
 
       # Deploy ARM template is idempotent
       # Note: once the resources exist the image tag must change for a new deployment to occur (the image tag includes workflow run number, run attempt, as well as sha)
@@ -158,14 +156,16 @@ jobs:
         id: deploy
         uses: azure/arm-deploy@841b12551939c88af8f6df767c24c38a5620fd0d
         with:
-          resourceGroupName: ${{ env.RESOURCE_GROUP }}
+          resourceGroupName: ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_RESOURCE_GROUP }}
           subscriptionId: ${{ secrets.NONPROD_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}
           template: ./azure-preview-env-template.json
           deploymentName: ${{ env.DEPLOYMENT_NAME }}
           parameters: appName="${{ env.APP_NAME }}"
-            location="${{ env.APP_LOCATION }}"
+            location="${{ env.PREVIEW_ENV_LOCATION }}"
             containerImage="${{ env.DOCKER_IMAGE }}"
             dockerRegistryUrl="${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_SERVER }}"
-            dockerRegistryUsername="${{ env.NONPROD_REGISTRY_USERNAME }}"
+            dockerRegistryUsername="${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_USERNAME }}"
             dockerRegistryPassword="${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}"
+          # this shows warnings in the github actions console, because the flag is passed through a validation run,
+          # but it *is* functional during the actual execution
           additionalArguments: --no-wait
diff --git a/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-destroy.yml b/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-destroy.yml
index a43f3078d9..f26a4be14d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-destroy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/azure-preview-env-destroy.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ jobs:
     timeout-minutes: 5
     env:
       PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.number || github.event.inputs.PR_NUMBER }}
-      NONPROD_REGISTRY_NAME: ghdocs
 
     steps:
       - name: 'Az CLI login'
@@ -37,25 +36,25 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get preview app info
         env:
-          APP_NAME_SEED: ${{ secrets.APP_NAME_SEED }}
+          APP_NAME_SEED: ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_NAME_SEED }}
         run: .github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh
 
       # Succeed despite any non-zero exit code (e.g. if there is no deployment to cancel)
       - name: 'Cancel any in progress deployments'
         run: |
-          az deployment group cancel --name ${{ env.DEPLOYMENT_NAME }} -g ${{ env.RESOURCE_GROUP }} || true
+          az deployment group cancel --name ${{ env.DEPLOYMENT_NAME }} -g ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_RESOURCE_GROUP }} || true
 
       # Delete web app (which will also delete the App Service plan)
       # This will succeed even if the app doesn't exist / has already been deleted
       - name: 'Delete App Service App (which will also delete the App Service plan)'
         run: |
-          az container delete -n ${{ env.APP_NAME }} -g ${{ env.RESOURCE_GROUP }} -y
+          az container delete -n ${{ env.APP_NAME }} -g ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_RESOURCE_GROUP }} -y
 
       # Untag all images under this PR's container registry repo - the container registry will automatically remove untagged images.
       # This will fail if the IMAGE_REPO doesn't exist, but we don't care
       - name: 'Untag all docker images for this PR'
         run: |
-          az acr repository delete -n ${{ env.NONPROD_REGISTRY_NAME }} --repository ${{ env.IMAGE_REPO }} -y || true
+          az acr repository delete -n ${{ secrets.NONPROD_REGISTRY_NAME }} --repository ${{ env.IMAGE_REPO }} -y || true
 
       # Remove all GitHub deployments from this environment and remove the environment
       - uses: strumwolf/delete-deployment-environment@45c821e46baa405e25410700fe2e9643929706a0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/content-changes-table-comment.yml b/.github/workflows/content-changes-table-comment.yml
index 4c4a200548..798fe8a0da 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/content-changes-table-comment.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/content-changes-table-comment.yml
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get preview app info
         env:
-          APP_NAME_SEED: ${{ secrets.APP_NAME_SEED }}
+          APP_NAME_SEED: ${{ secrets.PREVIEW_ENV_NAME_SEED }}
         run: .github/actions-scripts/get-preview-app-info.sh
 
       - name: Setup Node