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Pushing to a Development Server

This guide walks through the process of setting up a development server environment using VentraIP, configuring DNS with Cloudflare, and establishing automated deployments with GitHub Actions.

  1. Login to VentraIP:

    • Access VentraIP and navigate to the cPanel for perth.agency.

  2. Create a New Domain:

    • In cPanel, create a new domain, e.g., intro.startdigital.com.au.
    • Untick Share document root and set the document root to a simple name like intro.

  3. Configure DNS in Cloudflare:

    • Log in to Cloudflare and navigate to the DNS settings for startdigital.com.au.
    • Create an A record that points to the server's IP address. Ensure the name matches the domain created within cPanel.

  4. Set Up MySQL Database:

    • In cPanel, go to MySQL® Databases.
    • Create a new database, a database user, and add the user to the database.

  5. Upload WordPress Core:

    • Access the File Manager in cPanel, find the intro folder, and extract the WordPress core within the folder.

  6. Install WordPress:

    • Navigate to the domain, e.g., intro.startdigital.com.au, and proceed with the standard WordPress setup.

  7. Install WP Migrate Plugin:

    • Install the WP Migrate plugin on both the local site and the development site.

  8. Migrate Content:

    • Click Migrate, and create a find and replace rule for 'http://' with 'https://'.
    • Select all options except themes and proceed with the migration.

  9. Edit GitHub Workflow:

    • Modify the deploy.yaml file within your .github/workflows directory.
    • Change the server-dir to the domain document root created earlier, e.g., intro/.

  10. Configure FTP Credentials:

    • In VentraIP, click manage on perth.agency to find the username and password.
    • Enter the username into the deploy.yaml.
    • In the GitHub repository, go to Settings > Secrets & Variables > Repository Secret, and create a DEV_FTP_PASS secret containing the FTP password.

  11. Deploy Changes:

    • Push the changes to GitHub and monitor the GitHub Actions to ensure the deployment is successful on the server.