Your First Deploy

Put your own code online from a directory on your machine, with no Git repository needed. Every command below was run against a sh0 server, with its real output.

Overview

sh0 deploys an app from four sources. This guide follows the first one, which suits most projects:

• A directory on your machine, sent by sh0 push as an archive -- your code, with a Dockerfile or a detected stack (Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, PHP…).
• A ZIP archive uploaded from the dashboard.
• A Git repository, public or private, cloned by the server.
• A template from the catalogue (databases, CMS, tools).

Step 1: Prepare the directory

A Dockerfile at the root gives you full control over the image. Without one, sh0 detects the stack from the project's files. The app must listen on a port, here 3000:

FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY server.js .
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node","server.js"]

sh0 check scores the directory before anything is sent and points out what to fix. sh0 push runs the same check and stops on a blocking issue (unless --no-check); warnings do not stop it:

$ sh0 check .
  Scanning /home/you/my-api
  Detected:  Dockerfile

  Health Score: 95/100
  Complexity:   2 (Simple)

  [~] Warnings (1):
      - Missing .dockerignore
        Fix: Create a .dockerignore file with: node_modules, .git, dist, .env

  1 issue(s): 0 blocking, 1 warnings, 0 auto-fix, 0 info

Step 2: Connect the CLI

Install the CLI on your machine (see CLI installation), then run sh0 login --url https://panel.example.com with your panel's address. It asks for your email and password (and your 2FA code if enabled), then stores an API key in ~/.sh0/config.toml.

Check the connection:

$ sh0 whoami
  Server:  https://panel.example.com
  User:    [email protected]
  Role:    owner

Step 3: Push

From the project directory:

$ sh0 push -n my-api --port 3000
  Deploying my-api
  Detected dockerfile -- 95/100 health
  2 files (0.0 MB) packaged
  Uploading OK 5ms
  Routing OK 10.0s

[ok] Live in 10.0s
  -> https://my-api-<instance>.sh0.app

• -n names the app; without it, the directory's name is used. The same name later updates the same app.
• --port is the port your app listens on inside the container.
• An archive is limited to 500 MB. Add a .dockerignore to leave out node_modules, .git and build output; see Push to deploy for the other limits.

Step 4: Verify

The last line of sh0 push is the app's address. On a server connected to the sh0 cloud proxy it is a *.sh0.app subdomain with HTTPS; on your own domain, see step 6.

$ sh0 status my-api
  App: my-api
  ------------------------------
  ID:         85aab295-4166-470a-9538-807b46e8bec3
  Status:     running
  ...
  Latest Deployment
  ------------------------------
  ID:         551c1602-5a46-49eb-93df-70ee831cfea3
  Status:     running
  Duration:   37.9s
  When:       39s ago

$ curl -s https://my-api-<instance>.sh0.app/
{"db":true,"version":2,"greeting":"salut"}

If the app does not answer, read its logs with sh0 logs my-api --tail 100, or open the app in the dashboard and look at the deployment's build log.

Step 5: Update

Change your code and run the same sh0 push -n my-api --port 3000 again: sh0 builds a new image and replaces the running container once the new one is ready. The update above took 38 seconds, and the app answered with its new version.

Step 6: Your own domain

Point an A record of your domain to the server's IP address, then add it to the app, from the app's Domains tab or with sh0 domains my-api add api.example.com. sh0 requests the TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt. Details in Custom domains.

From the dashboard

Open Deploy in the sidebar and choose a source:

• File Upload -- a ZIP archive of your project.
• Git URL or GitHub -- a repository and a branch.
• Template -- an application from the catalogue.

What's Next

Your app is online. Next steps: