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FTP / FTPS deploy

Upload your Astro dist/ folder directly to any shared hosting provider via FTP or FTPS. No CI/CD required — one click from the admin build page.

Who this is for

Shared hosting (World4You, Strato, IONOS, 1&1, cPanel hosts) runs on PHP and doesn't support Node.js. The typical Orbiter workflow for these providers:

  1. Run Orbiter Admin locally (or on a Hetzner VPS)
  2. Edit content in the admin, trigger an Astro build
  3. Click Deploy via FTP — Orbiter uploads the dist/ folder to your host

Configuration

Go to Settings → FTP / FTPS Deploy and fill in:

FieldExample
FTP hostftp.world4you.com
Port21 (FTP) or 990 (implicit FTPS)
Usernameu12345678
Passwordyour FTP password
Use FTPSEnable for explicit TLS (port 21 with STARTTLS)
Remote path/public_html or /www
Local dist path/Users/me/my-site/dist (absolute path)

Click Test connection to verify the credentials before saving. Save your settings, then go to Build to deploy.

Running a deploy

On the Build page, the FTP Deploy card shows the last deploy time and status. Click ↑ Deploy via FTP to upload. The entire dist/ directory is mirrored to the remote path — files are uploaded, existing remote files are overwritten.

Auto-deploy after build

Enable Auto-deploy after build in Settings to trigger an FTP upload automatically whenever the build webhook fires a successful build. This lets you set up a fully automatic pipeline:

  1. Content saved in admin
  2. Build webhook triggers astro build
  3. FTP deploy uploads dist/ to shared hosting

FTPS vs SFTP

Orbiter supports FTPS (FTP over TLS), which is what most cPanel and shared hosts provide. This is different from SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol). Check your host's control panel — if it says "FTP" or "FTPS", you're in the right place.

API

GET  /api/deploy/ftp/status  — last deploy time, status, and error
POST /api/deploy/ftp          — run a full deploy
POST /api/deploy/ftp/test     — test FTP connection only (no upload)
Credentials are stored in the POD. The POD is not meant to be public — keep it on your local machine or a private server. Do not commit it to a public repository.