Automate deploying websites and more with this GitHub action. It's free!

Usage Example

Place the following in Your_Project/.github/workflows/main.yml

on: push
name: Publish Website
jobs:
  web-deploy:
    name: 🚀 Deploy Website Every Commit
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: 🚚 Get Latest Code
      uses: actions/checkout@v3
    
    - name: 📂 Sync Files
      uses: SamKirkland/web-deploy@v1
      with:
        target-server: example.com
        remote-user: username
        private-ssh-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_KEY }}
        destination-path: ~/destinationFolder/

Requirements

• You must have shell access to your server, please read you webite hosts documentation
• You CANNOT use a FTP account - they are not the same!
  • If you don't have SSH access but have ftp access use FTP-Deploy-Action instead
• You will need to create a SSH user to deploy. Normally this is your cpanel or hosting providers username and password
• Most web hosts change the default port (22), check with your host for your port number

Setup Steps

1. Select the repository you want to add the action to
2. Select the Actions tab
3. Select Blank workflow file or Set up a workflow yourself, if you don't see these options manually create a yaml file Your_Project/.github/workflows/main.yml
4. Paste the example above into your yaml file and save
5. Now you need to add a key to the secrets section in your project. To add a secret go to the Settings tab in your project then select Secrets. Add a new Secret for private-ssh-key
6. Update your yaml file settings

Settings

Keys can be added directly to your .yml config file or referenced from your project Secrets storage.

To add a secret go to the Settings tab in your project then select Secrets. I strongly recommend you store your private-ssh-key as a secret.

Advanced options using rsync-options

Custom arguments, this field is passed through directly into the rsync script. See rsync's manual for all options. You can use as many arguments as you want, seperate them with a space

Below is an incomplete list of commonly used args:

See rsync's manual for all options

Common Examples

Build and Publish React/Angular/Vue Website

Make sure you have an npm script named 'build'. This config should work for most node built websites.

on: push
name: Publish Website
jobs:
  web-deploy:
    name: 🚀 Deploy Website Every Commit
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: 🚚 Get Latest Code
      uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: 📦 Install Packages
    - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        node-version: 18
        cache: "npm"
    - run: npm ci
      
    - name: 🔨 Build
      run: npm run build
    
    - name: 📂 Sync Files
      uses: SamKirkland/web-deploy@v1
      with:
        target-server: example.com
        remote-user: username
        private-ssh-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_KEY }}
        destination-path: ~/destinationFolder/

Log only dry run: Use this mode for testing

Ouputs a list of files that will be created/modified to sync your source without making any actual changes

on: push
name: Publish Website Dry Run
jobs:
  web-deploy:
    name: 🚀 Deploy Website Every Commit
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: 🚚 Get Latest Code
      uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: 📂 Sync Files
      uses: SamKirkland/web-deploy@v1
      with:
        target-server: example.com
        remote-user: username
        private-ssh-key: ${{ secrets.SSH_KEY }}
        ssh-port: 22
        destination-path: ~/destinationFolder/
        rsync-options: --dry-run --archive --verbose --compress --delete-after --human-readable --exclude=.git* --exclude=.git/ --exclude=README.md --exclude=readme.md --exclude=.gitignore

Want another example? Let me know by creating a github issue

Badge

If you appreciate this github action give it a :star: or show off with one of the badges below. Feel free to edit the text or color.

[<img alt="Deployed with web deploy" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Deployed With-web deploy-%3CCOLOR%3E?style=for-the-badge&color=0077b6">](https://github.com/SamKirkland/web-deploy)

[<img alt="Deployed with web deploy" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Deployed With-web deploy-%3CCOLOR%3E?style=for-the-badge&color=2b9348">](https://github.com/SamKirkland/web-deploy)

[<img alt="Deployed with web deploy" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Deployed With-web deploy-%3CCOLOR%3E?style=for-the-badge&color=d00000">](https://github.com/SamKirkland/web-deploy)

[<img alt="Website Deployed for Free with web deploy" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Website deployed for free with-web deploy-%3CCOLOR%3E?style=for-the-badge&color=297FA9">](https://github.com/SamKirkland/web-deploy)

[<img alt="Website Deployed for Free with web deploy" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Website deployed for free with-web deploy-%3CCOLOR%3E?style=for-the-badge&color=2b9348">](https://github.com/SamKirkland/web-deploy)

[<img alt="Website Deployed for Free with web deploy" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Website deployed for free with-web deploy-%3CCOLOR%3E?style=for-the-badge&color=d00000">](https://github.com/SamKirkland/web-deploy)

FAQ

Common Errors

  runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, my-self-hosted-runner-label]
  steps:
    - name: Install rsync
      run: |
        sudo apt-get update
        sudo apt-get install rsync

  runs-on: macos-latest
  steps:
    - name: Install rsync
      run: |
        brew update
        brew install rsync