Publishing a website

This guide takes a website you build on your computer, for example in /home/alice/site, and puts it on your web host. It then shows how to send only what changed on later updates.

Connect to the host

Your hosting provider gives you a host name, a user name and a password or key. Prefer SFTP. If the host offers only FTP, use FTPS (FTP with TLS) so your password is not sent in the clear. See your first connection.

Find the web root

Only one folder on the server is published. After you log in, look for a folder such as public_html, htdocs, httpdocs, www or, on your own server, /var/www/html. Everything inside it is visible on the web: a file about.html in it becomes https://example.com/about.html.

The page shown for a bare address is usually index.html. Ask your host if you are unsure which folder is the web root.

To land in it each time, set it as Remote directory under Advanced… › Environment › Directories, and the local project as Local directory.

First upload

1. Open the project folder in the local panel and the web root in the remote panel.
2. Select the files and folders to publish.
3. Press F5 (Upload) or drag them to the remote panel.

See uploading and downloading.

Name files for the web

• Web addresses are case-sensitive on most servers. A link to Logo.png does not find logo.png. Keep names in lower case.
• Avoid spaces and accented letters. Use - or _ instead: contact-us.html.

Update only what changed

Use Commands › Synchronize…:

1. Set the direction to Remote, so the server is made to match your computer.
2. Check Delete files if files you removed locally should also go from the server.
3. Check Preview changes to review the list before anything is sent.
4. Click OK.

Files that do not belong online, such as .git/ or node_modules/, can be left out with an exclusion File mask in your transfer settings, for example | .git/; node_modules/; *.psd.

See synchronizing directories.

While you edit, Commands › Keep Remote Directory up to Date… uploads each file as soon as you save it. See keeping a remote directory up to date.

Permissions

Web servers need to read your files. Common modes are 644 for files and 755 for folders. If a page returns “403 Forbidden” after an upload, check the permissions in Properties.

Changes not showing

If the browser still shows the old page, it is probably cached. Reload without the cache (Ctrl+Shift+R in most browsers). Some hosts and CDNs cache as well; their control panel usually has a “purge cache” action. If the server decides by timestamp, make sure uploaded files keep a correct one; see timestamps.

Automate the upload

Once it works in the GUI, you can publish with one command. This linscp-cli call mirrors the local folder to the web root and deletes files that you removed locally:

linscp-cli /command \
  "open sftp://deploy@example.com/ -hostkey=\"ssh-ed25519 255 SHA256:...\"" \
  "synchronize remote -delete -filemask=\"| .git/; node_modules/\" /home/alice/site /var/www/html" \
  "exit"

Replace the -hostkey value with your server’s fingerprint and use a key for login rather than a password in the URL. To get a correct open line for a saved site, select it in the Site Manager and use Generate Session URL/Code… from its context menu. See your first automated transfer.