Host on Render

Use these instructions to enable continuous deployment from a GitHub repository. The same general steps apply if you are using Bitbucket or GitLab for version control.

Prerequisites

Please complete the following tasks before continuing:

1. Create a Render account
2. Log in to your Render account
3. Create a GitHub account
4. Log in to your GitHub account
5. Create a GitHub repository for your project
6. Create a local Git repository for your project with a remote reference to your GitHub repository
7. Create a Hugo project within your local Git repository and test it with the hugo server command
8. Commit the changes to your local Git repository and push to your GitHub repository

Procedure

Step 1

Create a Render Blueprint in the root of your project.

render.yaml

services:
  - type: web
    name: hosting-render
    repo: https://github.com/jmooring/hosting-render
    runtime: static
    buildCommand: chmod a+x build.sh && ./build.sh
    staticPublishPath: public
    envVars:
      - key: DART_SASS_VERSION
        value: 1.100.0
      - key: GO_VERSION
        value: 1.26.3
      - key: HUGO_VERSION
        value: 0.163.0
      - key: NODE_VERSION
        value: 24.16.0
      - key: TZ
        value: Europe/Oslo

Step 2

Create a build.sh file in the root of your project.

build.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# @file
# Builds a Hugo site hosted on a Render.
#
# Render automatically installs Node.js dependencies.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Exit on error, undefined variables, or pipe failures
set -euo pipefail

build_temp_dir=""

# Perform cleanup
cleanup() {
  if [[ -n "${build_temp_dir:-}" && -d "${build_temp_dir}" ]]; then
    rm -rf "${build_temp_dir}"
  fi
}

# Register the cleanup trap
trap cleanup EXIT SIGINT SIGTERM

main() {
  # Create and move into a temporary directory for downloads
  build_temp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
  pushd "${build_temp_dir}" > /dev/null

  # Create the local tools directory
  mkdir -p "${HOME}/.local"

  # Install Dart Sass
  echo "Installing Dart Sass ${DART_SASS_VERSION}..."
  curl -sLJO "https://github.com/sass/dart-sass/releases/download/${DART_SASS_VERSION}/dart-sass-${DART_SASS_VERSION}-linux-x64.tar.gz"
  tar -C "${HOME}/.local" -xf "dart-sass-${DART_SASS_VERSION}-linux-x64.tar.gz"
  export PATH="${HOME}/.local/dart-sass:${PATH}"

  # Install Go
  echo "Installing Go ${GO_VERSION}..."
  curl -sLJO "https://go.dev/dl/go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
  tar -C "${HOME}/.local" -xf "go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
  export PATH="${HOME}/.local/go/bin:${PATH}"

  # Install Hugo
  echo "Installing Hugo ${HUGO_VERSION}..."
  curl -sLJO "https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v${HUGO_VERSION}/hugo_${HUGO_VERSION}_linux-amd64.tar.gz"
  mkdir -p "${HOME}/.local/hugo"
  tar -C "${HOME}/.local/hugo" -xf "hugo_${HUGO_VERSION}_linux-amd64.tar.gz"
  export PATH="${HOME}/.local/hugo:${PATH}"

  # Return to the project root
  popd > /dev/null

  # Verify installations
  echo "Verifying installations..."
  echo Dart Sass: "$(sass --version)"
  echo Go: "$(go version)"
  echo Hugo: "$(hugo version)"
  echo Node.js: "$(node --version)"

  # Configure Git
  echo "Configuring Git..."
  git config core.quotepath false
  if [ "$(git rev-parse --is-shallow-repository)" = "true" ]; then
    git fetch --unshallow
  fi

  # Build the site
  echo "Building the site..."
  hugo build --gc --minify --baseURL "${RENDER_EXTERNAL_URL}"
}

main "$@"

Step 3

Commit the changes to your local Git repository and push to your GitHub repository.

Step 4

On the Render dashboard, press the Add new button and select “Blueprint” from the drop-down menu.

Step 5

Press the GitHub button to connect to your GitHub account.

Step 6

Press the Authorize Render button to allow the Render application to access your GitHub account.

Step 7

Select the GitHub account where you want to install the Render application.

Step 8

Authorize the Render application to access all repositories or only select repositories, then press the Install button.

Step 9

On the “Create a new Blueprint Instance in My Workspacee” page, press the Connect button to the right of the name of your GitHub repository.

Step 10

Enter a unique name for your Blueprint, then press the Deploy Blueprint button at the bottom of the page.

Step 11

Wait for the site to build and deploy, then click on the “Resources” link on the left side of the page.

Step 12

Click on the link to the static site resource.

Step 13

Click on the link to your published site.

In the future, whenever you push a change from your local Git repository, Render will rebuild and deploy your site.