Automating Hugo Blog Deployment with GitHub Actions and Gitee Mirror

To keep blog articles under version control, a GitHub repository is created to store the Hugo source files on the main branch while a separate pages-git branch holds the compiled static HTML.

Repository and Branch Setup

The repository uses Hugo with Markdown content and a chosen theme. The main branch contains the source, and the pages-git branch is dedicated to the generated public directory.

GitHub Actions CI/CD Workflow

A workflow triggers on pushes to main. The essential configuration is:

name: github pages
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

The job checks out the code, deletes the previous pages-git branch, and runs Hugo to build the site:

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          submodules: true
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Delete branch
        uses: dawidd6/action-delete-branch@v3
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.GIT_TOKEN }}
          branches: "pages-git"

Next, Hugo is installed and the site is built:

- name: Setup Hugo
  uses: peaceiris/actions-hugo@v2
  with:
    hugo-version: '0.74.2'
    # extended: true

- name: Build
  run: |
    hugo --minify
    ls public
    tar zcf ${version}-public.tar.gz public
    ls

After building, all files except the public directory are removed, the generated files are moved to the root, and the changes are committed to the pages-git branch:

- name: commit
  run: |
    rm -fr archetypes content demo static themes .DS_Store 1.1.0-public.tar.gz README.md config.toml
    mv public/* ./
    sleep 3
    ls -l
    rm -fr public
    git config --global user.email [email protected]
    git config --global user.name cccc
    git add .
    git commit -m "update" -a

Finally, the workflow pushes the pages-git branch:

- name: Push changes
  uses: ad-m/github-push-action@master
  with:
    github_token: ${{ secrets.GIT_TOKEN }}
    branch: "pages-git"

Mirroring to Gitee

Because GitHub Pages can be slow in some regions, the pages-git branch is mirrored to a Gitee repository using the repository‑mirroring action:

- name: get code
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    submodules: true
    fetch-depth: 0
    ref: "pages-git"
- name: Mirror to gitee
  uses: pixta-dev/repository-mirroring-action@v1
  with:
    target_repo_url: [email protected]:devopsgo/devopsgo.git
    ssh_private_key: ${{ secrets.GIT_PRIVATE_KEY }}

After mirroring, Gitee Pages is triggered to deploy the static site, which can be accessed at devopsgo.gitee.io.

Workflow Usage

Authors write Markdown files locally, preview with hugo serve, commit to main, and the GitHub Actions pipeline automatically builds and publishes the site to both GitHub Pages and Gitee Pages.

The complete workflow enables seamless CI/CD for a Hugo blog, providing fast domestic access via Gitee while maintaining the original GitHub repository.