How to Build and Deploy a Hexo Blog on GitHub Pages Using CentOS

Prerequisites

The tutorial assumes a fresh CentOS 7.7 environment.

Install required tools

Install git and verify the version:

yum -y install git
git --version

Install Node.js (v10.0 or later) and create symbolic links so that node and npm are globally available:

# download Node.js
wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v10.0.0/node-v10.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
# extract to /usr/local
tar -zxvf node-v10.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz -C /usr/local/
# rename folder
mv /usr/local/node-v10.0.0-linux-x64 /usr/local/node-v10.0.0
# verify installation
/usr/local/node-v10.0.0/bin/node -v
# create symlinks
ln -s /usr/local/node-v10.0.0/bin/node /usr/local/bin/node
ln -s /usr/local/node-v10.0.0/bin/npm /usr/local/bin/npm

Install Hexo

With Node.js ready, install the Hexo CLI globally: npm install -g hexo-cli Initialize a new Hexo blog and install dependencies:

hexo init myblog
cd myblog
npm install

The generated myblog directory contains the configuration file _config.yml, package.json, theme folder, and source folders for drafts and posts.

Run the blog locally

Start the development server and preview the site at http://localhost:4000:

hexo server

Create a GitHub repository

Create a GitHub account if needed, then create a new repository named <username>.github.io. This repository will host the static site.

Configure SSH key

Set global Git user info, generate an SSH key pair, and add the public key to GitHub:

# set user info
git config --global user.name "YourName"
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
# generate key
ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "[email protected]"
# copy the content of id_rsa.pub and add it in GitHub Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key

Deploy Hexo to GitHub Pages

Install the deployment plugin, edit _config.yml to add the deploy section, then push the site:

cd myblog
npm install hexo-deployer-git --save
# edit _config.yml and add:
# deploy:
#   type: git
#   repo: [email protected]:YourUser/YourUser.github.io.git
#   branch: master
hexo clean
hexo generate
hexo deploy

After deployment, the blog is accessible at https://YourUser.github.io.

Configure a custom domain (optional)

Purchase a domain, add a CNAME record pointing to yourname.github.io, then set the custom domain in the GitHub repository settings under “Custom domain”.

Publish the first post

Create a new post with hexo new "Post Title", edit the generated Markdown file under source/_posts, then run the clean‑generate‑deploy cycle again to publish.

Conclusion

The guide covers the basic workflow of building a Hexo blog, deploying it to GitHub Pages, and optionally binding a custom domain; further customization such as themes, comments, and analytics can be added later.