Git Integration with cPanel: A Developer's Guide for Version Control

Git Integration with cPanel: A Developer's Guide for Version Control

Server/Cloud
March 30, 2025

Version control is a crucial aspect of modern software development, ensuring that code changes are tracked, collaborated on, and deployed efficiently. Git, the most popular version control system, can be integrated with cPanel to streamline deployment and development processes.

What is Git and Version Control?

Git is a distributed version control system that allows multiple developers to work on a project simultaneously without conflicts. It tracks changes in the code, enabling collaboration, rollback capabilities, and efficient deployment.

Version control is a system that records changes to a file or set of files over time, allowing developers to revert to previous versions, compare changes, and work in parallel on different features. This is essential for maintaining code integrity and ensuring seamless teamwork.

Why Use Git with cPanel?

Integrating Git with cPanel allows developers to:

Maintain version control of web applications.
Automate deployments from Git repositories.
Collaborate efficiently with team members.
Rollback to previous versions if necessary.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

cPanel access to your hosting account.
SSH access enabled in cPanel.
A Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket).
Basic knowledge of Git commands.

Step-by-Step Guide to Integrate Git with cPanel

Step 1: Enable SSH Access

Log in to cPanel.
Navigate to SSH Access under the Security section.
Click Manage SSH Keys and generate a new SSH key (or import an existing one).
Copy the public key and add it to your Git hosting provider (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket) under SSH Keyssettings.

Step 2: Access the Server via SSH

Open a terminal on your local machine.

Connect to the server using:

ssh your-cpanel-username@your-domain.com

Enter the password when prompted or authenticate using your SSH key.

Step 3: Clone the Git Repository

Navigate to your website’s root directory:
```
cd public_html
```
Clone your repository:
```
git clone git@github.com:your-repo-name.git
```
This will create a new directory with your project files.

Step 4: Set Up Git Hooks for Auto Deployment

Move into the cloned repository:
```
cd your-repo-name
```
Create a post-receive hook:
```
nano .git/hooks/post-receive
```

Add the following deployment script:

#!/bin/bash
GIT_WORK_TREE=/home/your-cpanel-username/public_html git checkout -f

Save and exit (CTRL + X, then Y to confirm).
Make the script executable:
```
chmod +x .git/hooks/post-receive
```

Step 5: Set Up a Remote Repository

Add a remote repository to push changes from your local machine:

git remote add cpanel ssh://your-cpanel-username@your-domain.com/home/your-cpanel-username/public_html/your-repo-name

Push your code:
```
git push cpanel main
```

Step 6: Automate Deployment (Optional)

You can set up Git Webhooks on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket to trigger deployment automatically when new changes are pushed.

Go to your repository settings.
Find the Webhooks section.
Add a new webhook pointing to a deployment script on your server.

Best Practices for Git Deployment on cPanel

Keep your repository outside of public_html to prevent public access.
Use branch-based deployment (e.g., push to a production branch for live sites).
Regularly backup your website before making major changes.
Use Git tags for versioning your releases.

Conclusion

Integrating Git with cPanel simplifies development workflows, ensures version control, and provides a seamless deployment strategy. By following this guide, Xpecto developers can enhance productivity, maintain code integrity, and deploy applications efficiently.