Why use this method?

• Easy to update after each push
• Works with private GitHub repos
• More secure than manual uploads

Prerequisites

• A cPanel account with Terminal/SSH access
• A GitHub repository
• Domain already pointed to your hosting account

1. Generate an SSH key on your cPanel server

In cPanel Terminal:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "cpanel-deploy" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -N ""
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Copy the public key output.

2. Add the key to GitHub

In your GitHub repo:

• Go to Settings → Deploy keys
• Click Add deploy key
• Paste the public key
• Keep write access off unless you specifically need push from server

This allows your server to read your private repo securely.

3. Configure SSH on cPanel

Create/update ~/.ssh/config:

Host github.com
  HostName github.com
  User git
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
  IdentitiesOnly yes

Then run:

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config
ssh -T git@github.com

4. Clone the repository using SSH

Use SSH URL (not HTTPS):

cd ~
git clone git@github.com:YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO.git repositories/your-repo

5. Deploy files to your website folder

Copy repo files to your domain’s document root (example: public_html):

rsync -av --delete ~/repositories/your-repo/ ~/public_html/

Now your site files are live.

6. Updating after future GitHub pushes

When you push new changes:

cd ~/repositories/your-repo
git pull origin main
rsync -av --delete ./ ~/public_html/

Common errors and fixes

• could not read Username for ‘https://github.com’
  You used HTTPS. Switch remote to SSH.
• Permission denied (publickey)
  Wrong/missing deploy key, or SSH config not using correct key.
• Wrong branch (main vs master)
  Pull the branch that actually exists.

This setup gives you a secure and repeatable GitHub-to-cPanel deployment flow without making your repository public.