What is an easy way to get a CraftCMS site up and running? I found this to be a rather simple method with help ofploi.io, aHetzner CX11 virtual cloud server (max. € 4.51 / month) andDDEV for local development.

Beware: I'm a CraftCMS newbie! 🤓

Prerequisites

1. InstallDDEV for local development
2. Sign up for aHetzner Cloud account
3. Sign up for aploi.io account
4. Connect the Hetzner account via API key on ploi.io (as service provider)
5. Create your first server via ploi dashboard

Create GitHub repository, clone it locally

Create a new GitHub project (with README), clone it locally and run these commands for the CraftCMS installation:

DDEV quickstart for CraftCMS

# Set up the DDEV environment:ddev config--project-type=craftcms--docroot=web--create-docroot# Boot the project and install the starter project:ddev startddev composer create-y--no-scripts craftcms/craft# Run the Craft installer:ddev craftinstallddev launch

Push the new files to your GitHub repository.

Dump the local database

For the initial installation we need a dump of the database. This can be achieved viaddev export-db -f dump.sql.gz.

This database dump will be later imported into the live sites database.

But do not worry: After that initial DB import, changes to the data structure will be applied via files in git and by CLI migrate commands (for examplephp craft migrate/all --no-content --interactive=0).

Create a new database on ploi.io (server)

Databases are managed via Server

Install phpMyAdmin, connect via DB user and password

Import the database dump file

Create a new site via ploi

You don't have to connect the real domain immediately, you can also generate a test domain later. Therefore you can also use "mysite.example.com" e.g.

Install from git repository

We use a git repository,not the 1-click installer for CraftCMS.

If you use a public repository, you can just paste the URL:

Adjust the deploy script

These are commands which are executed when you hit the "deploy now" button.

# ploi standard commandscd /home/ploi/craft-playground.mandrasch.devgit pull origin main# NodeJS support, e.g. for vite# npm install# npm run buildcomposerinstall--no-dev--no-interaction--prefer-dist--optimize-autoloader# deployment best practices by craftcms docs:# https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/deployment-best-practicesphp craft update/composer-install--interactive=0php craft migrate/all--no-content--interactive=0php craft project-config/applyphp craft migrate--track=content--interactive=0echo"" |sudo-S service php8.2-fpm reloadecho"🚀 Application deployed!"

Add .env values via "Edit environment"

Copy the .env values from.env.example.production, add a security key and adjust the database connection settings. For the security key you can use a generator likeBitwarden Generator.

Add a free "Let's encrypt" SSL certificate

Optional: Add a test domain

If you haven't connected a real domain yet, you can also use a test domain freely provided by ploi.io (for test usage / development).

gitignore the license.key

One last thing I would suggest is addingconfig/license.key to your.gitignore, otherwise you will end up with "Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge: config/license.key" after the first deployment.

Ready for deployment! 🎉

Hit the "Deploy now" button and pull the craftcms installation from your GitHub repository:

That's it. Open your site and enjoy developing with Craft CMS! 🎉

If you want to trigger auto deployment when pushing to GitHub, check out this guide:ploi.io - How to trigger deployments via GitHub actions

If you're interested in integrating Vite, there is an awesome pluginnystudio107/vite for CraftCMS. Check out example code and tutorial here:https://github.com/mandrasch/ddev-craftcms-vite.

In future it would be cool to have a good and robustddev pull script to download media assets and live content into local development.

Also make sure to join theDDEV discord. 💚