Deploying Your Website with Git

Git lets you ship a website change with one command instead of dragging files over FTP, and every version stays in history so you can roll back. How you use Git with Domain India depends on the product you have: shared hosting, the App Platform or a VPS. This guide shows each route, what it needs, and which one to choose.

1. Choose your route

Windows (Plesk) hosting has no SSH, so the Git-over-SSH method in section 3 does not apply to it.

2. What shared hosting gives you for Git

Jailed SSH access is available on every shared hosting plan (cPanel, DirectAdmin, Webuzo). It is off by default; ask support to enable it for your account through live chat or a ticket. A jailed shell is a restricted shell: you work inside your own account, with no root access.

What we measured on our servers on 23 September 2026:

• cPanel: Git is present inside the jailed environment, and the Git Version Control tool is enabled on the standard hosting plans.
• DirectAdmin: DirectAdmin has its own Git feature, but it is switched off for most accounts. Ask support if you want it.
• Webuzo: not measured. Ask support what is available.
• Sign-in method: on the cPanel and DirectAdmin servers, SSH password login is turned off. You sign in with an SSH key, on port 22.

Tools available inside the jailed shell vary by server, so ask support before you plan a workflow around a specific tool. For how to get SSH switched on and connect with a key, see Enabling and accessing jailed SSH.

3. Method 1: push to a bare repository over jailed SSH

Use this method once support has enabled SSH on your account and confirmed that Git works in your jail. Your SSH username and server address are in the client area, on your hosting service's Manage › Access tab.

On the server:

mkdir -p ~/repos/mysite.git
cd ~/repos/mysite.git
git init --bare

The hook, saved as ~/repos/mysite.git/hooks/post-receive:

#!/bin/bash
GIT_WORK_TREE="$HOME/public_html" git checkout -f main

Then make it executable with chmod +x ~/repos/mysite.git/hooks/post-receive. Replace public_html with the document root of your site if it is an addon domain, and main with your branch name.

On your computer:

git remote add production ssh://USERNAME@SERVER/home/USERNAME/repos/mysite.git
git push production main

Keep the repository outside public_html, as shown, so that nobody can download your .git history from the web.

4. Method 2: cPanel Git Version Control

cPanel's Git Version Control tool (in the Files section) clones a repository into your account and deploys it, without needing SSH for a public repository.

A minimal .cpanel.yml:

---
deployment:
  tasks:
    - export DEPLOYPATH=/home/USERNAME/public_html/
    - /bin/cp -R public/* $DEPLOYPATH

cPanel deploys only when the repository has a .cpanel.yml file and no uncommitted changes. A private repository needs an SSH key that your Git host trusts; ask support to help set that up on your account.

5. Method 3: build locally and upload

If SSH is not enabled, or your project needs a build step, keep Git on your own computer and upload the output:

1. Run your build locally, for example composer install --no-dev and npm run build.
2. Upload the finished files with FTP, or zip them and extract the archive in File Manager.
3. Keep secrets such as .env out of the repository, and upload them once by hand.

The settings you need are in What settings do I need to upload my website, and the zip-and-extract steps are in How do I use the File Manager.

6. A note on webhook scripts

Older guides suggest a deploy.php script that GitHub calls on every push and that runs git pull with shell_exec. On our cPanel servers shell_exec is disabled, so that script cannot run. For deploy-on-push, use the App Platform with a deploy token in your CI, or a VPS.

7. The App Platform: Git deployment without managing a server

The App Platform runs your own application code in a container. It is the product built for Git-based deployment:

• Connect a GitHub repository, pick a branch and click Deploy Now.
• Or create a deploy token and deploy from your terminal or CI, which gives you a deploy on every push from GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket.
• Node.js apps are detected and built automatically. Python, PHP and other languages run from your own Dockerfile.
• Each plan includes a PostgreSQL database, automatic SSL and custom domains.

The App Platform has no SSH or root access, and it is not meant for WordPress. See Getting started with the App Platform and Deploying from GitHub.

If you need a shell, background workers or software of your own choice, a VPS gives you full root access, so any Git workflow works there.

8. Troubleshooting

• Permission denied (publickey): your public key is not on the account, or SSH is not enabled yet. Check with support.
• Files do not change after a push: check that the hook is executable, that GIT_WORK_TREE points to the right folder, and that the branch name matches (main is not master).
• The site shows old content after a deploy: the cPanel servers can serve a cached copy of a page for up to 120 minutes. Add ?t=1 to the URL to see the fresh version.
• cPanel will not deploy: commit or discard any changes in the cPanel copy of the repository, and check that .cpanel.yml is valid YAML.

Ready to deploy? Ask for jailed SSH through a support ticket, start an app on the App Platform, or choose a VPS for full control.