Deploy CraftCMS via ploi.io on Hetzner cloud (the fast way)

What is an easy way to get a CraftCMS site up and running? I found this to be a rather simple method with help of ploi.io, a Hetzner CX11 virtual cloud server (max. € 4.51 / month) and DDEV for local development.

Beware: I'm a CraftCMS newbie! 🤓

Prerequisites

1. Install DDEV for local development
2. Sign up for a Hetzner Cloud account
3. Sign up for a ploi.io account
4. Connect the Hetzner account via API key on ploi.io (as service provider)
5. Create your first server via ploi dashboard

Create GitHub repository, clone it locally

Create a new GitHub project (with README), clone it locally and run these commands for the CraftCMS installation:

DDEV quickstart for CraftCMS

# Set up the DDEV environment:
ddev config --project-type=craftcms --docroot=web --create-docroot

# Boot the project and install the starter project:
ddev start
ddev composer create -y --no-scripts craftcms/craft

# Run the Craft installer:
ddev craft install
ddev launch

Push the new files to your GitHub repository.

Dump the local database

For the initial installation we need a dump of the database. This can be achieved via ddev export-db -f dump.sql.gz.

This database dump will be later imported into the live sites database.

But do not worry: After that initial DB import, changes to the data structure will be applied via files in git and by CLI migrate commands (for example php craft migrate/all --no-content --interactive=0).

Create a new database on ploi.io (server)

Databases are managed via Server

Install phpMyAdmin, connect via DB user and password

Import the database dump file

Create a new site via ploi

You don't have to connect the real domain immediately, you can also generate a test domain later. Therefore you can also use "mysite.example.com" e.g.

Install from git repository

We use a git repository, not the 1-click installer for CraftCMS.

If you use a public repository, you can just paste the URL:

Adjust the deploy script

These are commands which are executed when you hit the "deploy now" button.

# ploi standard commands
cd /home/ploi/craft-playground.mandrasch.dev
git pull origin main

# NodeJS support, e.g. for vite
# npm install
# npm run build

composer install --no-dev --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader

# deployment best practices by craftcms docs:
# https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/deployment-best-practices
php craft update/composer-install --interactive=0
php craft migrate/all --no-content --interactive=0
php craft project-config/apply
php craft migrate --track=content --interactive=0

echo "" | sudo -S service php8.2-fpm reload
echo "🚀 Application deployed!"

Add .env values via "Edit environment"

Copy the .env values from .env.example.production, add a security key and adjust the database connection settings. For the security key you can use a generator like Bitwarden Generator.

Add a free "Let's encrypt" SSL certificate

Optional: Add a test domain

If you haven't connected a real domain yet, you can also use a test domain freely provided by ploi.io (for test usage / development).

gitignore the license.key

One last thing I would suggest is adding config/license.key to your .gitignore, otherwise you will end up with "Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge: config/license.key" after the first deployment.

Ready for deployment! 🎉

Hit the "Deploy now" button and pull the craftcms installation from your GitHub repository:

That's it. Open your site and enjoy developing with Craft CMS! 🎉

If you want to trigger auto deployment when pushing to GitHub, check out this guide: ploi.io - How to trigger deployments via GitHub actions

If you're interested in integrating Vite, there is an awesome plugin nystudio107/vite for CraftCMS. Check out example code and tutorial here: https://github.com/mandrasch/ddev-craftcms-vite.

In future it would be cool to have a good and robust ddev pull script to download media assets and live content into local development.

Also make sure to join the DDEV discord. 💚