Deploy to cPanel / Plesk

What Are cPanel and Plesk?

cPanel and Plesk are web hosting control panels — graphical interfaces that let you manage your website files, domains, email accounts, and databases without touching the command line.

They are the two most widely used control panels in the hosting industry . Most shared hosting providers bundle one of them with every hosting plan.

Feature	cPanel	Plesk
Operating System	Linux only	Linux and Windows
Interface Style	Classic, feature-rich	Modern, streamlined
Best For	Beginners, ease of use	Developers, cross-platform needs
Login Port	:2083	:8443

For Astro Docus — a static site — both panels work identically. You build locally, upload the dist/ folder, and the panel serves your files. No Node.js runtime is needed on the server.

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Prerequisites

Before starting, you need:

• A shared hosting plan with cPanel or Plesk
• Your domain pointed to the hosting provider’s nameservers
• Your Astro Docus project built locally (npm run build works)
• Access to your control panel login credentials

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Step 1 — Log In to Your Control Panel

cPanel Login

1. Open your browser
2. Navigate to: https://yourdomain.com:2083 or https://yourdomain.com/cpanel
3. Enter your username and password
4. If two-factor authentication is enabled, enter the six-digit code

Your hosting provider may also provide a single-sign-on link from their client area .

Plesk Login

1. Open your browser
2. Navigate to: https://yourdomain.com:8443
3. Enter your username and password
4. Click Log In

SSL Warning: If you see a security warning, it means no SSL certificate is installed yet. You can safely skip it for now .

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Step 2 — Build Your Site Locally

On your local machine (not the server), run:

npm run build

This generates the dist/ folder containing all your static files — index.html, _astro/, assets, and more.

Compress the dist folder into a ZIP file for easier upload:

• Windows: Right-click dist → Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder
• macOS: Right-click dist → Compress “dist”
• Linux: zip -r dist.zip dist/

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Step 3 — Upload Files via File Manager

Both cPanel and Plesk include a built-in File Manager for uploading files through the browser.

cPanel — Upload and Extract

1. In cPanel, navigate to the Files section → click File Manager
2. Double-click the public_html folder — this is the root directory for your main domain
3. Click the Upload button
4. Drag your dist.zip file into the upload area, or click Select File
5. Wait for the green progress bar to complete
6. Click Go Back to return to File Manager
7. Right-click the uploaded dist.zip file → click Extract
8. Confirm the extraction path — it should extract into public_html/
9. After extraction, delete the dist.zip file to save space

Important: If your dist folder contains a nested dist/ directory after extraction, move the contents up one level so index.html sits directly inside public_html/ .

Plesk — Upload and Extract

1. In Plesk, go to Websites & Domains → click your domain name → File Manager
2. Navigate to the httpdocs folder (Plesk’s equivalent of public_html)
3. Click the Upload button
4. Select Upload File and choose your dist.zip
5. Once uploaded, click the Extract Files button
6. Confirm the extraction — check “Replace existing files” if prompted
7. Delete the ZIP file after extraction

Plesk’s File Manager supports extracting ZIP, RAR, TAR, TGZ, and TAR.GZ archives .

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Step 4 — Verify Your Site

After extraction, open your browser and visit:

https://yourdomain.com

Your Astro Docus site should be live.

If you see a default hosting page instead of your site, check:

1. Files are in the correct directory (public_html for cPanel, httpdocs for Plesk)
2. index.html exists at the root of that directory
3. The domain’s DNS is pointing to this hosting account

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Step 5 — Enable SSL (HTTPS)

Most shared hosts include free SSL via Let’s Encrypt through AutoSSL.

cPanel — AutoSSL

1. In cPanel, search for SSL/TLS Status or AutoSSL
2. Click Run AutoSSL for your domain
3. Wait a few minutes for the certificate to be issued
4. The hosting provider handles automatic renewal

Plesk — Let’s Encrypt

1. In Plesk, go to Websites & Domains → your domain
2. Click SSL/TLS Certificates
3. Click Install next to Let’s Encrypt
4. Enter your email address
5. Plesk installs and renews the certificate automatically

Once SSL is active, your site should redirect from http:// to https:// automatically.

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Optional — Create a Subdomain for Docs

If your main domain hosts something else (like a WordPress site) and you want Astro Docus at docs.yourdomain.com:

cPanel — Create Subdomain

1. Go to Domains → Create a New Domain
2. Enter the full subdomain: docs.yourdomain.com
3. Deselect “Share document root” — this gives the subdomain its own folder
4. Set the Document Root to something like /home/username/docs
5. Click Submit
6. Upload your dist contents into that new folder

Plesk — Create Subdomain

1. Go to Websites & Domains → click Add Subdomain
2. Enter the subdomain name: docs
3. Select the parent domain
4. Set the document root
5. Click OK
6. Upload your files into the subdomain’s folder

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely Cause	Fix
Default page still showing	Wrong upload directory	Ensure files are in public_html / httpdocs
403 Forbidden	File permissions	Set folders to 755, files to 644
404 on subpages	Missing index.html	Check that index.html exists at root
CSS/JS not loading	Wrong base path	Check astro.config.mjs site URL
Changes not showing	Browser cache	Hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R)
SSL not working	Certificate not issued	Run AutoSSL or install Let’s Encrypt

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Quick Recap

1. Log in to cPanel (:2083) or Plesk (:8443)
2. Build locally: npm run build
3. Compress dist/ into dist.zip
4. Upload via File Manager:
   - cPanel: public_html/
   - Plesk: httpdocs/
5. Extract the ZIP
6. Delete the ZIP file
7. Visit https://yourdomain.com
8. Enable SSL (AutoSSL or Let's Encrypt)

cPanel and Plesk are the easiest hosting options for beginners. No terminal, no server configuration — just upload and extract. The File Manager handles everything through a web interface .

👉 Next: Explore other deployment options in the docs/deploy-hosting/ section.