Deploying a Laravel application using GitHub Actions

Deploying a Laravel application efficiently and reliably is a critical part of modern web development. GitHub Actions allows you to automate, customize, and execute your software development workflows right in your GitHub repository. This guide will walk you through deploying a Laravel application using GitHub Actions.

Requirements

1. GitHub Repository
2. Laravel Application
3. Server for Deployment
4. SSH Access

Step 1: Set Up Your Server

1. Install PHP: PHP 7.3 or higher.
2. Install Composer: Composer is required to manage Laravel dependencies.
3. Web Server: Apache or Nginx configured to serve your Laravel application.
4. Database: Set up your database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) and ensure your Laravel .env file is correctly configured to connect to the database.

Step 2: Create GitHub Actions Workflow

• Create Workflow Directory: In your Laravel project, create a .github/workflows directory.
• Create Workflow File: Inside the workflows directory, create a file named deploy.yml.

Step 3: Configure secret keys

set up secret keys in your github i.e click on your repository, go to settings , settings and variables then click on Actions. Here input your credentials i.e FTP username, FTP password and FTP ports as captured in diagram below.

Step 4: Configure deploy.yml

Here is a sample yml code for deploying a Laravel application using github actions using ftp:

change the php version as per your php version you are deploying to

Step 5: Trigger Deployment

1. Push Changes to GitHub: Push any changes to the main branch of your repository to trigger the workflow.
2. Monitor Workflow: Go to the Actions tab of your GitHub repository to monitor the deployment process.

Conclusion

By using GitHub Actions, you can automate the deployment process of your Laravel application, ensuring a smooth and consistent deployment workflow.

Deploying with GitHub Actions not only simplifies the process but also integrates seamlessly with your development workflow, making it an invaluable tool for modern web development.