/eleventy-github-deployment

Example GitHub Actions for deploying Eleventy sites to various targets.

Deploy Eleventy from GitHub

deployment-logo

Automated deployment workflows for Eleventy static sites using GitHub Actions. Deploy to GitHub Pages, FTP servers, or SSH servers with integrated release management and deployment tracking.

Note: For Netlify or Cloudflare Pages, you don't need this repository! Both platforms integrate directly with GitHub and can automatically build and deploy your Eleventy site. See their documentation:

🚀 Deployment Options

  • GitHub Pages - Free hosting with automatic SSL
  • SSH Server - Deploy to your own server via SSH
  • FTP Server - Deploy to traditional web hosting
  • Manual Releases - Create tagged GitHub releases for version tracking

📁 Project Structure

.github/
├── actions/                   # Reusable GitHub Actions
│   ├── build/                 # Build Eleventy site
│   ├── deploy-github-pages/   # Deploy to GitHub Pages
│   ├── deploy-ftp/           # Deploy via FTP
│   ├── deploy-ssh/           # Deploy via SSH
│   └── new-release/          # Create releases
└── workflows/
    ├── create-release.yml     # Manual release creation
    ├── test.yml              # Test builds on pull requests
    └── examples/              # Example deployment workflows
        ├── deploy-github-pages.yml
        ├── deploy-ftp.yml
        └── deploy-ssh.yml

⚡ Quick Start

  1. Use this template or fork this repository

  2. Add your Eleventy project files to the repository root

  3. Choose a deployment method and copy the appropriate workflow file from .github/workflows/examples/ to .github/workflows/:

    • deploy-github-pages.yml for GitHub Pages
    • deploy-ssh.yml for SSH deployment
    • deploy-ftp.yml for FTP deployment

  4. Configure secrets and variables (see Configuration below)

  5. Push to main branch to trigger deployment

⚙️ Configuration

GitHub Pages

Setup:

  • Enable GitHub Pages in Settings → Pages
  • Set source to "GitHub Actions"

Optional Variables:

  • BUILD_COMMAND - Build command (default: npm run build)
  • PUBLISH_DIR - Build output directory (default: _site)

SSH Deployment

Required Secrets:

  • SSH_SERVER - Server hostname (e.g., example.com)
  • SSH_USERNAME - SSH username
  • SSH_PRIVATE_KEY - SSH private key content

Required Variables:

  • SITE_URL - Your website URL (e.g., https://example.com)
  • SSH_SERVER_DIR - Deploy directory (e.g., /var/www/html)

Optional Variables:

  • BUILD_COMMAND - Build command (default: npm run build)
  • PUBLISH_DIR - Build output directory (default: _site)
  • SSH_PORT - SSH port (default: 22)
  • SSH_EXCLUDE - Files to exclude (comma separated)

FTP Deployment

Required Secrets:

  • FTP_SERVER - FTP server hostname
  • FTP_USERNAME - FTP username
  • FTP_PASSWORD - FTP password

Required Variables:

  • SITE_URL - Your website URL

Optional Variables:

  • BUILD_COMMAND - Build command (default: npm run build)
  • PUBLISH_DIR - Build output directory (default: _site)
  • FTP_SERVER_DIR - Upload directory (default: /)

Manual Releases

Setup:

  • No additional setup required
  • Manually trigger via Actions → Create Release

Required Permissions:

  • Actions → General → Workflow permissions set to "Read and write permissions"

Optional Variables:

  • BUILD_COMMAND - Build command (default: npm run build)
  • PUBLISH_DIR - Build output directory (default: _site)

🔧 Features

  • Automated deployment on push to main branch
  • Manual deployment via GitHub Actions tab
  • Deployment tracking with status updates
  • Environment management for production deployments
  • Automatic releases with version tagging
  • Build testing on pull requests

📝 SSH Key Setup

  1. Generate SSH key pair:

    ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "github-actions"

  2. Add public key to server's ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

  3. Add private key content to SSH_PRIVATE_KEY secret

🎯 Workflow Triggers

  • Push to main - Automatic deployment
  • Pull requests - Build testing only
  • Manual dispatch - Run workflows manually

All secrets and variables are configured in Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions.

This repository demonstrates modern DevOps practices for static site deployment with GitHub Actions.