How to Connect Your cPanel Account to a Private GitHub Repository

Introduction

This guide explains how to securely connect your cPanel hosting account to a private GitHub repository using SSH authentication.

Prerequisites

• Access to your cPanel account
• Git Version Control enabled
• Access to your private GitHub repository

Step 1: Generate an SSH Key

Option A: Using cPanel Interface

1. Login to cPanel
2. Go to Security → SSH Access
3. Click Manage SSH Keys
4. Click Generate a New Key
5. Enter:
   • Key Name: repo
   • Key Type: RSA
   • Key Size: 4096
6. Click Generate Key

Option B: Using Terminal

ssh-keygen -t rsa -f ~/.ssh/repo -b 4096 -C "git@mydomain.com"

Press Enter three times when prompted.

Step 2: Authorize the SSH Key

1. Go to SSH Access → Manage SSH Keys
2. Click Manage
3. Click Authorize

Step 3: Configure SSH

1. Open cPanel → File Manager
2. Navigate to the .ssh directory (enable hidden files)
3. Create a file named config

Host github.com
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/repo

Replace repo with your key name if different.

chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/repo
chmod 644 ~/.ssh/repo.pub

Step 4: Copy the Public Key

cat ~/.ssh/repo.pub

Copy the full output.

Step 5: Add the SSH Key to GitHub

1. Login to GitHub
2. Navigate to your private repository
3. Click your profile icon (top-right) → Settings
4. Click SSH and GPG keys
5. Click New SSH key
6. Paste your key and save

Step 6: Clone Repository in cPanel

1. Go to cPanel → Git Version Control
2. Click Create
3. Enter:

git@github.com:username/repository.git

Select a repository path and click Create.

Optional: Auto Deployment

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

Troubleshooting

• Permission denied: SSH key not added or incorrect permissions
• Repository not found: Incorrect URL or access issue
• Clone failed: Check SSH config and key setup