Host on Render

Use these instructions to enable continuous deployment from a GitHub repository. The same general steps apply for other Git providers such as GitLab or Bitbucket.

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.yaml file in the root of your project, adjusting the tool versions and time zone as needed.

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: 1.101.0
      - key: GO_VERSION
        value: 1.26.4
      - key: HUGO_VERSION
        value: 0.163.3
      - 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 project hosted on Render.
#
# Render automatically installs Node.js and any Node.js dependencies.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

# Set the build cache directory
HUGO_CACHEDIR="${PWD}/.cache/hugo"

# 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() {
  # Export the build cache directory
  export HUGO_CACHEDIR

  # Create a temporary directory for downloads
  build_temp_dir=$(mktemp -d)

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

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

  # Install Go
  if [[ -f "go.mod" ]]; then
    echo "Installing Go ${GO_VERSION}..."
    curl -sfL --output-dir "${build_temp_dir}" -O "https://go.dev/dl/go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
    tar -C "${HOME}/.local" -xf "${build_temp_dir}/go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
    export PATH="${HOME}/.local/go/bin:${PATH}"
  fi

  # Install Hugo
  echo "Installing Hugo ${HUGO_VERSION}..."
  curl -sfL --output-dir "${build_temp_dir}" -O "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 "${build_temp_dir}/hugo_${HUGO_VERSION}_linux-amd64.tar.gz"
  export PATH="${HOME}/.local/hugo:${PATH}"

  # Log tool versions
  echo "Logging tool versions..."
  command -v sass &> /dev/null && echo "Dart Sass: $(sass --version)" || echo "Dart Sass: not installed"
  command -v go &> /dev/null && echo "Go: $(go version)" || echo "Go: not installed"
  command -v hugo &> /dev/null && echo "Hugo: $(hugo version)" || echo "Hugo: not installed"
  command -v node &> /dev/null && echo "Node.js: $(node --version)" || echo "Node.js: not installed"

  # Configure Git
  echo "Configuring Git..."
  git config --global core.quotepath false

  # Fetch full Git history
  if [[ $(git rev-parse --is-shallow-repository) == true ]]; then
    echo "Fetching full Git history..."
    git fetch --unshallow
  fi

  # Initialize Git submodules
  if [[ -f .gitmodules ]]; then
    echo "Initializing Git submodules..."
    git submodule update --init --recursive
  fi

  # Build the project
  echo "Building the project..."
  hugo build --gc --minify
}

main "$@"

Step 3

In your project configuration, change the location of the image cache to the cacheDir as shown below:

caches:
  images:
    dir: :cacheDir/images

[caches]
  [caches.images]
    dir = ':cacheDir/images'

{
   "caches": {
      "images": {
         "dir": ":cacheDir/images"
      }
   }
}

See configure file caches for more information.

Step 4

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

Step 5

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

Step 6

Press the GitHub button to connect to your GitHub account.

Step 7

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

Step 8

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

Step 9

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

Step 10

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

Step 11

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

Step 12

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

Step 13

Click on the link to the static site resource.

Step 14

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.