2.19.9. Deploy using GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions is a set of tools for automating workflows on GitHub. They can be used to trigger various actions when certain events occur. One example is automatically uploading project code from GitHub to hosting when changes are pushed to the repository.

Setting up automatic deployment using the Rsync Deployments Action as an example.

1. Configure SSH key-based authentication:
   1. Generate and add key to your account.
   2. Bind key to the hosting account where the deploy is to be performed.
2. Open your repository on GitHub.
3. Add the data required for the deployment to the secrets:

   How to add secrets:

   1. Switch to the "Settings" tab.
   2. Select "Secrets and variables → Actions" from the side menu.
   3. Click "New repository secret".
   4. Specify the name of the secret in the "Name" field and the value in the "Value" field.
   5. Click "Add secret".

   Each parameter is added as a separate secret.

   Name	Value
   REMOTE_HOST	SSH host
   REMOTE_USER	SSH login
   REMOTE_KEY	The private key data in PEM format (starts with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----). ⚠️ Key must be private, not public.
   REMOTE_KEY_PASS	Private key passphrase (if not used, can be not added or added with any value).
   REMOTE_PATH	Absolute path to the directory on the hosting, to which the upload should be performed.

4. Configure action:
   1. Switch to the "Actions" tab.
   2. Click "set up a workflow yourself" or first "New workflow" and then "set up a workflow yourself".
   3. Replace the code in the "Edit new file" field with this:

      name: SSH deploy on push
      on:
        push:
          branches:
          - main
      jobs:
        build:
          runs-on: ubuntu-latest
          steps:
            - uses: actions/checkout@v6
            - name: rsync deploy
              uses: burnett01/rsync-deployments@v8
              with:
                switches: -avzr --delete
                path: .
                remote_host: ${{ secrets.REMOTE_HOST }}
                remote_user: ${{ secrets.REMOTE_USER }}
                remote_key: ${{ secrets.REMOTE_KEY }}
                remote_key_pass: ${{ secrets.REMOTE_KEY_PASS }}
                remote_path: ${{ secrets.REMOTE_PATH }}

   4. Click "Start commit" and then "Commit new file".
5. Switch to the "Actions" tab and check the status of the deployment. Click on the workflow name in the "All workflows" list and then on "build" to view details — if successful, there should be a checkmark next to each operation.

Setting up automatic deployment using the FTP Deploy action as an example.

1. Create an FTP user on the hosting with access to the directory to which the upload should be performed.
2. Disable FTP access restrictions.
3. Open your repository on GitHub.
4. Add the data required for the deployment to the secrets:

   How to add secrets:

   1. Switch to the "Settings" tab.
   2. Select "Secrets and variables → Actions" from the side menu.
   3. Click "New repository secret".
   4. Specify the name of the secret in the "Name" field and the value in the "Value" field.
   5. Click "Add secret".

   Each parameter is added as a separate secret.

   Name	Value
   REMOTE_HOST	FTP host
   FTP_USER	FTP login
   FTP_PASSWORD	FTP password
   FTP_PATH	Relative path from FTP access directory to the directory on the hosting where the deploy should be performed. ⚠️ The path must end with the slash /. Also, if your project has lib or etc directories, the FTP user access directory should be such that they are not in the root.

5. Configure action:
   1. Switch to the "Actions" tab.
   2. Click "set up a workflow yourself" or first "New workflow" and then "set up a workflow yourself".
   3. Replace the code in the "Edit new file" field with this:

      name: FTP deploy on push
      on:
        push:
          branches:
          - main
      jobs:
        web-deploy:
          name: Deploy
          runs-on: ubuntu-latest
          steps:
          - name: Get latest code
            uses: actions/checkout@v4
          - name: Sync files
            uses: SamKirkland/FTP-Deploy-Action@v4.3.5
            with:
              server: ${{ secrets.REMOTE_HOST }}
              username: ${{ secrets.FTP_USER }}
              password: ${{ secrets.FTP_PASSWORD }}
              server-dir: ${{ secrets.FTP_PATH }}

   4. Click "Start commit" and then "Commit new file".
6. Switch to the "Actions" tab and check the status of the deployment. Click on the workflow name in the "All workflows" list and then on "build" to view details — if successful, there should be a checkmark next to each operation.