Deploy Your Site to InfinityFree or Any cPanel Hosting Using GitHub Actions and FTP

This guide will walk you through the steps to automate your deployment process from GitHub to a cPanel-based hosting environment, such as InfinityFree, using GitHub Actions and FTP.

Prerequisites

• A GitHub repository containing your website or blog's source code.

• A cPanel-based hosting account (like InfinityFree) with FTP access.

• FTP credentials (server, username, password).

• Access to GitHub Actions (built into all GitHub repos).

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Step 1: Create an FTP User in cPanel

If you're using a hosting provider with cPanel:

1. Log into your cPanel

• Visit https://yourdomain.com:2083 (replace with your domain or hosting provider’s cPanel login page).

2. Add an FTP Account

• Under Files, click FTP Accounts.

• Fill out the form under Add FTP Account:

  • Login: e.g., deployuser

  • Password: Strong password (you'll need this later)

  • Directory: e.g., public_html/ or a subfolder

  • Quota: Set to "Unlimited" or specify a limit

• Click Create FTP Account.

3. Save the Credentials

• Note down your FTP Username and Password.

• You may also see the FTP Server (often something like ftp.yourdomain.com).

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Step 2: Get FTP Credentials from InfinityFree

If you're using InfinityFree:

1. Log into InfinityFree

• Go to the Client Area and log in.

2. Get FTP Details

• Under My Accounts, select your domain and click Manage.

• Scroll down to FTP Details and copy:

  • FTP Server (e.g., ftpupload.net)

  • FTP Username

  • FTP Password

These details will be used in the GitHub Action later.

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Step 3: Create a GitHub Action Workflow

Inside your repository:

1. Create the Workflow File

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml and paste the following:

name: 🚀 Deploy to your_domain

on:
  workflow_dispatch: # Uncomment below to deploy on push instead
  # push:
  #   branches:
  #     - main

jobs:
  deploy:
    name: 🎉 Deploy to your_domain
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: 🚚 Get latest code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: 📂 Sync files via FTP
        uses: SamKirkland/FTP-Deploy-Action@v4.3.5
        with:
          server: ftpupload.net # Change if using another host
          username: your_ftp_username
          password: ${{ secrets.FTP_PASSWORD }}
          server-dir: your_domain/htdocs/ # Replace with your correct path
          retries: 3
          retryDelay: 10

Deploy on Push (Optional)

To deploy automatically whenever you push to the main branch:

• Uncomment the push block and remove or keep workflow_dispatch.

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Step 4: Add FTP Password as a GitHub Secret

1. Go to your repo > Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions.

2. Click New repository secret.

3. Name it FTP_PASSWORD, and paste your FTP password as the value.

This keeps your credentials safe and out of your code.

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Step 5: Deploy Your Site

To Deploy Manually:

1. Go to Actions in your repo.

2. Select the "Deploy to your_domain" workflow.

3. Click Run workflow.

To Deploy on Push (if enabled):

• Just push to the main branch and it will deploy automatically!

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Step 6: Confirm It Works

• Open your hosting file manager or FTP client.

• Check that files are appearing in htdocs (InfinityFree) or public_html (cPanel).

• Visit your domain to see your updated site.

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Additional Tips

• Change server-dir if you're not using htdocs (InfinityFree default) or public_html (cPanel).

• Use branch filtering or add additional jobs if you want to deploy different branches to staging or production.

• If deploying a static site like HTML/CSS/JS, you’re good to go. If using frameworks like Laravel, consider build steps and .htaccess.

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Troubleshooting

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Final Notes

• Replace all instances of your_domain with your actual domain name (e.g., myblog.infinityfreeapp.com).

• Avoid committing sensitive information like passwords — use GitHub Secrets instead.

• Automating deployments saves time and reduces errors — enjoy the DevOps power!

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