GitLab to FTP CD Demo

1. Create repository on GitLab.
2. Create a new branch (ex: "dev"), besides the "master" so you can work on your project without uploading at every commit.
3. In the master branch, create a file named (.gitlab-ci.yml), which is a default name recognized by Gitlab.

   deploy:
script:
- apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq lftp
- lftp -c "set ftp:ssl-allow no; open -u $USERNAME,$PASSWORD $HOST; mirror -Rev ./ ./htdocs --ignore-time --parallel=10 --exclude-glob README.md --exclude-glob .git* --exclude .git/"
only:
- master

   The job name is "deploy", it will run a "script", then use "apt-get" to download the "lftp" program, connect to the ftp server and upload the files. Several parameters ware passed to lftp, but the important ones are the "exclude" and "mirror -rev".

   As you may know, a git repository generates a (.git) folder that you don’t need to upload. You can "exclude" this and other directories that you don’t want to upload. The "mirror -rev" command erases all files that was also erased from the repository. The line "only: -master" defines that only master branch will be uploaded to the ftp server, as a result it won't upload an eventual dev branch that you are working on.

   OBS: Do not forget to set the folder name. Some server they use public_html and others use htdocs. Modify according to your host.

4. Set the variables [$username, $password, $host] in the Gitlab project settings

   Sign in to your Gitlab account and select the project, then go to: yourproject > settings > ci_cd> Variables and click "Expand". You'll see a form to set name and value for the variable, as shown here.

All set! Work on dev branch and when you're ready to upload the changes just merge to master. Every time you merge or push to the master branch it will auto deploy to the ftp server. Most importantly part is that this service has no cost. Deployments using free runners takes about 2 min to run, you can also configure paid runners to do it faster.