Hi there!

I have a question for you.

Until now, I haven't had any experience with version control systems. However, today I find myself in need of such a system for a particular project.

Here's the issue: I am working on Project 1, but I'm using multiple machines. It's not very convenient to deploy the project on each machine and then try to figure out which one has the latest changes. That's why I decided to give GIT a try for version control. But here's the catch - whenever I make changes to the project, I need it to be immediately updated on the working hosting.

So, my question is: Is there a way to export from GitHub to FTP? If not, does anyone know of an alternative method? We need a collaborative approach to website development with real-time updates on hosting.

Thank you in advance for your answer!

Yes, there are several ways to achieve real-time updates on hosting while using version control systems like Git. One common approach is to use a Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline.

With a CI/CD pipeline, you can automatically build and deploy your project whenever changes are pushed to a specific branch in your Git repository. This can be set up to trigger a deployment to your hosting environment, such as an FTP server, immediately after changes are made.

GitHub itself offers a feature called GitHub Actions, which allows you to easily automate workflows, including CI/CD pipelines. You can configure GitHub Actions to listen for changes in your repository and trigger a deployment action whenever new changes are detected. This can include exporting your project to an FTP server.

Alternatively, you can explore other CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Travis CI, or CircleCI, which also support automated deployment to FTP servers or other hosting environments.

In summary, to achieve real-time updates on hosting while using Git, you can leverage a CI/CD pipeline and tools like GitHub Actions to automatically deploy your project to an FTP server whenever changes are made in your repository.

Here's a more detailed explanation of setting up a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions to export your project to an FTP server:

1. First, create a repository on GitHub for your project if you haven't already. Initialize it with a `.gitignore` file and a `README.md` file.

2. Set up an FTP server or identify the FTP details of your hosting environment where you want your project to be deployed.

3. In your GitHub repository, create a directory (e.g., `deploy`) to hold the deployment scripts or configurations.

4. Inside the `deploy` directory, create a script (e.g., `deploy.sh` or `deploy.py`) that will handle the exporting of your project to the FTP server. This script should include logic to copy the necessary files to the appropriate FTP location. You can use programming languages like bash, Python, or any other scripting language of your choice to write this deployment script.

5. Commit this deployment script to your repository.

6. Now, it's time to set up the CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions. Create a new YAML file named `.github/workflows/deploy.yml` in your repository. This file will define the workflow for the CI/CD pipeline.

7. In the `deploy.yml` file, define a workflow that triggers whenever changes are made to a specific branch, like the `main` branch.

8. Configure the workflow to execute the deployment script (`deploy.sh` or `deploy.py`) when triggered. You can use the `run` command in the workflow file to run your deployment script located in the `deploy` directory.

9. Inside the deployment script, make sure to include the necessary FTP credentials and commands to connect to the FTP server and transfer the updated project files.

10. Once you have configured the workflow, commit and push the `.github/workflows/deploy.yml` file to your repository.

Now, whenever changes are made to the specified branch in your repository, the GitHub Actions workflow will be triggered. It will run the deployment script, which in turn will export the project files to the FTP server or hosting environment specified in your script.

Remember to regularly test and validate your CI/CD pipeline to ensure that it works as expected.

A solution available today is https://github.com/git-ftp/git-ftp/. It provides a simple and convenient way to upload git-tracked projects to an FTP server.

Here's how to use it:

$ cd my_git_tracked_project
$ git ftp push --user <user> --passwd <password> ftp://host.example.com/public_html

If you prefer using the Brackets open text editor, there's also the Git for Brackets extension. Once installed, you can enable the option

• Use Git-ftp in the settings. This makes the process even easier - just update the code in the repository with a keyboard shortcut, and then use another shortcut to upload the site to the hosting via FTP.

I'm not familiar with git, but mercurial can accomplish this task. To achieve it, you would have to set up a mercurial server and include a hook in the repository on the server. This hook will be triggered when commits are pushed to the server, allowing it to update the working copy on the server from the same repository.

At my workplace, we utilize a similar approach for backing up repositories on Bitbucket. Once someone pushes changes to the server, a hook is responsible for forwarding these modifications to Bitbucket.

It's essential to ensure that the backups are regularly scheduled and reliable to prevent any potential data loss. Additionally, it's worth exploring other version control systems and their backup mechanisms to find the best fit for your needs.