How to Set Up GitHub Actions to Deploy to Linux Server

GitHub Actions provides free CI/CD for public repositories. This guide deploys to a Linux server via SSH on every push to main.

Create Deployment Key

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "github-actions-deploy" -f ~/.ssh/github_deploy
cat ~/.ssh/github_deploy.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
# Add private key to GitHub: Settings → Secrets → SERVER_SSH_KEY

Workflow File

name: Deploy
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SERVER_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SERVER_SSH_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /var/www/app
            git pull origin main
            composer install --no-dev
            php artisan migrate --force

Conclusion

GitHub Actions automates deployments reliably. Our team sets up CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and GitLab CI.