How to Deploy a Jekyll Site with Git Hooks on a Linux VPS

The exact gem list belongs to your site. Build locally with the same command the server will use:

bundle install
bundle exec jekyll build

Resolve warnings and plugin errors before enabling automatic deployment. A hook that runs the system-wide jekyll executable instead of bundle exec can silently use a different version from the one tested in source control.

Install a branch-aware post-receive hook

The following hook accepts only pushes to main, serializes concurrent deployments with flock, builds in a temporary checkout, and switches Nginx to a completed release only after Jekyll exits successfully. It also handles a push that contains several refs by deploying the last accepted main update.

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#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# Git invokes receive hooks from the bare repository.
GIT_DIR=/home/deployer/myrepo.git
PUBLIC_BASE=/var/www/myrepo
RELEASES="$PUBLIC_BASE/releases"
CURRENT="$PUBLIC_BASE/current"
LOCK_FILE=/home/deployer/.myrepo-deploy.lock
TMP_GIT_CLONE="$(mktemp -d /tmp/myrepo.XXXXXX)"
NEW_RELEASE=''
TARGET_REV=''
DEPLOY=false

# Do not let an inherited checkout setting affect commands against another repository.
unset GIT_WORK_TREE

while IFS=' ' read -r oldrev newrev ref; do
    case "$ref" in
        refs/heads/main)
            # Ignore deletion of the production branch.
            [[ "$newrev" == 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 ]] && continue
            DEPLOY=true
            TARGET_REV="$newrev"
            ;;
    esac
done

$DEPLOY || exit 0

exec 9>"$LOCK_FILE"
if ! flock -n 9; then
    echo 'Another deployment is running; try the push again.' >&2
    exit 1
fi

cleanup() {
    rm -rf "$TMP_GIT_CLONE"
    if [[ -n "${NEW_RELEASE:-}" ]]; then
        rm -rf "$NEW_RELEASE"
    fi
}
trap cleanup EXIT

printf 'Deploying %sn' "$TARGET_REV"
git clone "$GIT_DIR" "$TMP_GIT_CLONE"
git -C "$TMP_GIT_CLONE" checkout --force main

if [[ ! -f "$TMP_GIT_CLONE/Gemfile" ]]; then
    echo 'Gemfile is required for the server build.' >&2
    exit 1
fi

(
    cd "$TMP_GIT_CLONE"
    BUNDLE_GEMFILE="$TMP_GIT_CLONE/Gemfile" bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
)

NEW_RELEASE="$(mktemp -d "$RELEASES/release.XXXXXX")"
(
    cd "$TMP_GIT_CLONE"
    BUNDLE_GEMFILE="$TMP_GIT_CLONE/Gemfile" 
        bundle exec jekyll build 
        --source "$TMP_GIT_CLONE" 
        --destination "$NEW_RELEASE"
)

# Replace the symlink in one rename, leaving the previous release available if needed.
ln -s "$NEW_RELEASE" "$CURRENT.next"
mv -Tf "$CURRENT.next" "$CURRENT"
printf 'Published %sn' "$NEW_RELEASE"

Save it as /home/deployer/myrepo.git/hooks/post-receive and make it executable:

sudo -iu deployer
chmod 755 ~/myrepo.git/hooks/post-receive
ls -l ~/myrepo.git/hooks/post-receive

The executable mode matters: Git explicitly ignores a hook that does not have its executable bit set. The script uses an absolute GIT_DIR so its behavior does not depend on the shell's current directory. It also unsets GIT_WORK_TREE, which prevents an inherited work-tree setting from redirecting commands intended for the temporary checkout.

Understand the hook's safety choices

Branch and ref validation

The hook compares the complete ref name, refs/heads/main, rather than interpolating a branch name supplied by a client. This prevents a feature-branch push from publishing accidentally and avoids treating arbitrary ref text as shell input. Change the literal only if your production branch has another fixed name.

Temporary checkout and dependency installation

Each accepted push gets a unique directory under /tmp. Bundler reads the checked-out Gemfile, and bundle exec jekyll build uses the project's locked dependency set. The temporary directory is removed by the exit trap whether the build succeeds or fails.

Release switching and rollback

Jekyll writes into a new directory. A failed dependency install or build therefore leaves the current symlink untouched. To roll back a successful but unwanted deployment, list the releases, then point the symlink at a previous one:

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sudo -iu deployer
ls -1dt /var/www/myrepo/releases/release.*
ln -s /var/www/myrepo/releases/release.PREVIOUS /var/www/myrepo/current.next
mv -Tf /var/www/myrepo/current.next /var/www/myrepo/current

Remove obsolete release directories only after confirming that the active release is healthy. If you prefer a single output directory instead of symlinked releases, follow Jekyll's documented sequence of cloning the bare repository to a temporary directory, running Bundler, and building directly to the configured public directory; staging first is safer when preserving the previous site matters.

Concurrent pushes

The file descriptor lock prevents two builds from switching the active symlink at the same time. A second push exits with a clear error and can be retried. If your hosting environment does not provide flock, use an equivalent OS-level lock and test its stale-lock behavior before relying on it.

Connect the workstation and deploy

From the local clone, add an SSH remote. The tilde is expanded by the remote shell, so it refers to the deploy user's home directory:

git remote add deploy [email protected]:~/myrepo.git
git remote -v
git push deploy main

Git sends the ref update over SSH. The hook's output is normally shown in the push response. A successful run ends with a message such as Published /var/www/myrepo/releases/release.xxxxxx. Visit the site, verify a page that changed in the commit, and check that links, assets, feeds, and any configured custom domain all resolve.

If the remote rejects a feature branch, that is intentional: merge it into main and push the production branch. If the push reports success but the page is unchanged, inspect the active symlink and the web server's error log rather than rebuilding manually first:

readlink -f /var/www/myrepo/current
find /var/www/myrepo/current -maxdepth 2 -type f | head
sudo journalctl -u nginx --since '10 minutes ago'

Troubleshoot common failures

“Permission denied” when Git runs the hook

• Check that post-receive is owned by deployer and has mode 755 or another executable mode.
• Check directory traversal permissions on /home/deployer, ~/myrepo.git, /var/www/myrepo, and releases.
• Confirm that the hook, not a manual root shell, is creating release directories. Existing root-owned files can block later pushes.

Bundler cannot install a gem

• Run bundle check as deployer inside a temporary checkout to see the missing dependency.
• Confirm that the VPS has the compiler and development libraries required by native gems.
• Verify the Ruby version and Bundler version against the project's lockfile.
• Do not delete the live release while investigating; the hook stages a new release and leaves the active one in place on failure.

Jekyll builds locally but fails on the VPS

• Compare the Ruby, Bundler, Jekyll, and plugin versions rather than assuming the system executable matches the workstation.
• Check case-sensitive paths. Linux treats About.md and about.md as different files.
• Look for environment-dependent configuration, missing files excluded by .gitignore, and plugins that expect credentials or network access.
• Read the complete hook output; redirect it to a protected log file if the push response is truncated.

The site returns 403 or 404

• Run readlink -f /var/www/myrepo/current and confirm that it resolves to a completed release containing index.html.
• Check that the Nginx or Apache user can traverse every parent directory and read the files.
• Validate the virtual host's server_name or Apache host declaration and reload the web server after configuration changes.
• Confirm that Jekyll's baseurl and url settings match the path and hostname being requested.

A push hangs or a second push is rejected

• A gem compilation or Jekyll build may still be running. Inspect the process list and hook output before killing it.
• If the process died while holding the lock, verify that the operating system closed the file descriptor; flock releases locks when the process exits.
• Do not allow unbounded concurrent builds. Keep the lock, or move builds to a queue or CI runner when deployment volume grows.

Security and operational hardening

• Use SSH keys for the deploy account and disable password login for it where your access policy permits.
• Keep the bare repository, Gem caches, temporary checkouts, and release history outside the public document root.
• Give the deploy account write access only to the repository and release tree. Give the web-server account read and traverse access, not write access.
• Pin Ruby and gem dependencies in Gemfile.lock; review dependency changes like application code.
• Validate a fixed ref before deploying. Never execute a client-provided branch or path as shell syntax.
• Capture hook output in a log owned by the deploy account with restrictive permissions, and rotate that log.
• Keep at least one known-good release until the new one has been checked. A failed build must not erase the live site.
• Review who can add keys to authorized_keys and who can edit the hook. Anyone who can modify the hook can execute commands as the deploy account.
• Apply operating-system updates, firewall rules, and TLS configuration independently of the deployment hook.

When a direct Git hook is the right choice

A post-receive hook is attractive when one repository publishes to one VPS and the server can build Ruby dependencies reliably. It has very little moving infrastructure: an SSH remote, a bare repository, one script, and a web root. The trade-off is that the VPS performs the build and owns the deployment policy.

Jekyll's automated deployment documentation lists CI services, webhooks, static publishers, Rake or SSH scripts, and scp as alternatives. Choose a CI or webhook design when several contributors, environments, approval gates, or compliance logs make a one-server hook difficult to audit. Keep the direct hook when the repository-to-VPS path is intentionally simple and you are prepared to maintain its runtime, permissions, logs, and rollback procedure.

Deployment checklist

• The deploy account authenticates with the intended SSH key and has no unnecessary keys.
• git --bare init was run in ~/myrepo.git.
• The hook is named post-receive, has an executable bit, and accepts only the production ref.
• Ruby, Bundler, Git, and Jekyll are available to the deploy account, not merely to root.
• The Gemfile and lockfile are committed and the same bundle exec jekyll build succeeds locally.
• Nginx or Apache serves /var/www/myrepo/current and can read the active release.
• A failed build leaves the old symlink target untouched.
• A successful push changes the active release and the site displays the new content.
• You know how to switch the symlink back to a previous release and where to find hook and web-server logs.

With those pieces in place, git push deploy main is the complete release command: Git receives the commit, the hook builds the exact project dependencies, and the web server exposes only the finished static output.

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