PHP: Deploy with GitHub Actions

How to deploy your PHP code using GitHub Actions

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GitHub Actions is a powerful tool that enables you to automate workflows, including deploying your PHP code directly to your production servers. In this guide, we will explain how to securely deploy your PHP application to both staging and production environments using GitHub Actions.

The recommended approach is to maintain two branches in your repository: staging and production. Each time you push code to these branches, it will be automatically deployed to the corresponding Stackhero instance.

Having a staging instance is not mandatory. However, using both staging and production instances is strongly recommended to ensure smooth deployments and greater confidence when deploying to production. This practice is in line with industry standards and helps to minimise risks.

To get started, you will need a GitHub account with your PHP code hosted in a repository.

Creating the PHP services

First, log in to your Stackhero dashboard and create two PHP services, one for staging and one for production. For clarity, you may wish to rename these services to "Production" and "Staging".

If you do not yet have a Stackhero account, you can create one for free in just two minutes and deploy your PHP cloud services with just a few clicks.

Example of production and staging services

Configure SSH keys

SSH keys are the recommended method for allowing GitHub Actions to securely connect to your PHP service during deployment. In this guide, you will create a dedicated SSH key pair for this purpose.

Generate SSH keys

To generate new SSH keys, run the following command on your computer:

ssh-keygen -C "" -f /tmp/ssh_key -N ""

Add the public key

Next, retrieve the public key by running:

cat /tmp/ssh_key.pub

Go to your Stackhero dashboard and select your "Production" PHP service. Click on "Configure" and follow these steps:

Under SSH public keys, click on "Add a public key".
Set the Description to "GitHub Action".
Paste the public key you have just retrieved into the Key field.

Get service settings

Add the private key

Now add the private key to your GitHub project so it can be used during deployment:

Go to Settings, then select Environments and click on New environment.

Configuring GitHub environments
In the Name field, enter "production" and confirm.

Setting the environment
Click on the No restriction button and select Selected branches and tags.

Setting environment restrictions
Click on Add deployment branch or tag rule, enter "production" in the Name pattern field, and click on Add rule.

Setting environment branch Setting environment branch
Under Environment secrets, click on Add secret.

Add secret

Retrieve the private key you generated earlier by running:

cat /tmp/ssh_key

In the GitHub environment settings:

For Name, enter STACKHERO_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY and paste your private key into the Value field.

Setting the SSH private key secret
In the Environment variables section, click on Add variable.

Setting variables
For Name, enter STACKHERO_ENDPOINT and paste your PHP service endpoint into the Value field. You will find this endpoint in your Stackhero dashboard.

Setting the endpoint variable

If you have customised your service's domain name, use the customised version instead of <XXXXXX>.stackhero-network.com.

Delete the generated keys

For security reasons, it is recommended to delete the generated SSH keys from your computer after setup:

rm /tmp/ssh_key /tmp/ssh_key.pub

Configure the GitHub Actions workflow

You will now create a GitHub Actions workflow file to automate your deployments. In your Git repository, create a folder named .github/workflows and add a file called deploy-to-stackhero.yml with the following content:

# File: .github/workflows/deploy-to-stackhero.yml

name: Deploy to Stackhero
run-name: Deploy branch "${{ github.ref_name }}" to Stackhero

on:
  push:
    # List of branches that will trigger the deploy action following a git push
    # Do not forget to create a corresponding environment in GitHub (under "Settings" -> "Environments") for each branch
    # Then add the secret "STACKHERO_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" and variable "STACKHERO_ENDPOINT" in that environment
    branches: [ "production", "staging" ]

jobs:
  Deploy:
    environment: ${{ github.ref_name }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: stackhero-io/github-actions-deploy-to-stackhero@v1
      with:
        # The secret "STACKHERO_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" and the variable "STACKHERO_ENDPOINT" should be defined in the corresponding GitHub environment (under "Settings" -> "Environments")
        ssh_private_key: ${{ secrets.STACKHERO_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
        endpoint: ${{ vars.STACKHERO_ENDPOINT }}

Once you have added this file, you can commit your changes with the following commands in your terminal:

git add -A .
git commit -m "Add GitHub Actions to deploy to Stackhero"

To create the production branch, you can run:

git checkout -b production

Then push your changes to GitHub:

git push --set-upstream origin production

This will push your code to the production branch on GitHub. GitHub Actions will then automatically run and deploy your code to the associated Stackhero instance. To check the deployment status, go to your GitHub project and click on Actions.

GitHub Actions that deployed to production

Congratulations! Your project is now set up for automatic deployment to production using GitHub Actions.

Creating the staging environment

You can configure your staging environment in the same way as the production environment. Simply repeat the steps above, replacing production with staging where appropriate.

Once the configuration is complete, create your staging branch as follows:

git checkout -b staging

Then push it to GitHub:

git push --set-upstream origin staging

GitHub Actions will automatically deploy the code from your staging branch to the PHP service you have set up for staging.

Going further

To ensure your application remains reliable and secure, it is advisable to protect your production and staging branches against direct pushes. For example, you could require that changes are made via pull requests, with the staging branch reviewed and merged only by those authorised to deploy. Once your changes have been validated in staging, authorised users can merge them into the production branch.

This approach ensures that only validated code reaches production, while new features can be tested in staging before going live, providing you and your team with extra peace of mind.