cPanel Git Guide

Basic Information — Every Field Explained

This tab is read-only information about your repository on the server. Here's what every field means:

Pull or Deploy — The Action Tab

This is where you update the server with your latest code from GitHub.

What "Pull" Does

Clicking Update from Remote runs the equivalent of:

cd /home/gather/repositories/solving-for-zero
git pull origin main

It fetches all new commits from your GitHub Remote URL and fast-forwards the server's main branch to match.

What "Deploy" Does

After pulling, cPanel can optionally run a .cpanel.yml deployment script. This file lives in your repo root and tells the server what to do after pulling — like copying files to the public directory.

Example .cpanel.yml

---
deployment:
  tasks:
    - export DEPLOYPATH=/home/gather/public_html/
    - /bin/cp -R public/* $DEPLOYPATH

This copies everything from public/ (your built React app) to public_html/ (where the web server serves files from).

Common deployment tasks

• /bin/cp -R public/* $DEPLOYPATH — copy built static files
• /bin/cp server.js $DEPLOYPATH — copy the Express server
• /bin/cp package.json $DEPLOYPATH — copy dependencies manifest
• cd $DEPLOYPATH && /usr/local/bin/npm install --production — install dependencies

Deploy HEAD Commit

There's also a Deploy HEAD Commit button. This re-runs the .cpanel.yml script without pulling new code — useful if you changed the deploy script but didn't push new code, or if a previous deploy failed.

Last Deployment Information

After each deploy, cPanel shows:

• Timestamp — when the deploy ran
• Commit deployed — which SHA was deployed
• Log output — stdout/stderr from each task in .cpanel.yml
• Status — success or failure for each task

If a task fails (exit code != 0), subsequent tasks still run but the deploy is marked as failed.

Step-by-Step: Local to Live

The complete workflow for getting code from your VS Code editor to your live site:

npm run build

git add src/App.jsx public/
git commit -m "Your commit message"

git push origin main

Automating the Pull (Webhooks)

You can set up a GitHub webhook to automatically trigger a pull on the server when you push. This eliminates Step 5 entirely.

How: GitHub repo Settings → Webhooks → Add webhook → point it to a script on your server that runs git pull. This is advanced but very convenient for frequent deployments.

Solving for Zero — Server Config

Your Local Auth Problem

Your local PC tried to push to GitHub and got "Invalid username or token". This is because your local git is using different (expired) credentials. You have two fixes:

Fix A — Use the same PAT locally

Your server has a working PAT. You can use the same token locally:

git remote set-url origin https://github_pat_YOUR_TOKEN@github.com/ccae-lab/solving-for-zero.git

Replace YOUR_TOKEN with the full PAT from the cPanel Remote URL field.

Fix B — Install GitHub CLI

winget install GitHub.cli
gh auth login

Follow the browser-based login flow. This stores credentials securely in Windows Credential Manager.

Fix C — Windows Credential Manager

Open Windows Settings → search "Credential Manager" → Windows Credentials → find git:https://github.com → Edit → update with your new PAT as the password.

Using the cPanel Terminal

cPanel has a built-in web terminal (the "Terminal" tab in your cPanel sidebar). It gives you SSH-like access without an SSH client.

Essential Commands

Navigate to your repo

cd ~/repositories/solving-for-zero

Check current status

git status
git log --oneline -5

Pull latest from GitHub

git pull origin main

Check which commit is live

git log -1 --format="%H %s"

Copy built files to web root

cp -R public/* ~/public_html/

If the repo gets stuck (merge conflicts)

git fetch origin
git reset --hard origin/main

Check Node.js availability

node -v
npm -v

Install dependencies (if needed)

cd ~/public_html
npm install --production

Restart Node.js app (if using cPanel Node.js selector)

# Usually done via cPanel GUI: Setup Node.js App
# But you can also touch the restart file:
touch ~/public_html/tmp/restart.txt

Your Deploy Sequence (Terminal)

If you prefer the terminal over the GUI, here's the complete deploy in one paste:

cd ~/repositories/solving-for-zero && \
git pull origin main && \
cp -R public/* ~/public_html/ && \
echo "Deployed $(git log -1 --format='%h %s')"

Common Problems & Fixes

"Authentication failed" on local push

Cause: Your local Git credentials (stored in Windows Credential Manager) are expired or wrong.

Fix: Update your PAT. See the "Your Setup" tab for instructions.

"Merge conflict" on server pull

Cause: Someone edited files directly on the server via cPanel File Manager.

Fix: In cPanel Terminal:

cd ~/repositories/solving-for-zero
git fetch origin
git reset --hard origin/main

Then never edit files on the server directly again.

"Repository is not up to date" after pull

Cause: You forgot to git push from your local machine, or pushed to a different branch.

Fix: On your local machine:

git log --oneline -3       # check your local commits
git push origin main       # push to GitHub

Then pull again on the server.

Site shows old version after deploy

Cause 1: Files weren't copied to public_html/. Check your .cpanel.yml or manually copy.

Cause 2: Browser cache. Hard refresh with Ctrl+Shift+R.

Cause 3: You changed source (src/) but didn't run npm run build before pushing. The public/ directory still has old built files.

PAT expired on server

Symptom: Server pull fails with auth error.

Fix: Generate a new PAT on GitHub, then update the Remote URL in cPanel Git Version Control, or via terminal:

cd ~/repositories/solving-for-zero
git remote set-url origin https://github_pat_NEW_TOKEN@github.com/ccae-lab/solving-for-zero.git

.cpanel.yml not running

Cause: The file must be in the repo root, committed to git, and use exact YAML syntax (spaces, not tabs).

Verify:

cat ~/repositories/solving-for-zero/.cpanel.yml

If missing, create it (see Pull & Deploy tab for template).

Node.js app not restarting

For cPanel Node.js App: Go to cPanel → Setup Node.js App → click the restart button for your app.

For Passenger (automatic):

mkdir -p ~/public_html/tmp
touch ~/public_html/tmp/restart.txt