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https://github.com/18F/pages

DEPRECATED: Publishing platform for 18F sites a la GitHub pages
https://github.com/18F/pages

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DEPRECATED: Publishing platform for 18F sites a la GitHub pages

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README 

        
# 18F Pages



[18F Pages](https://pages.18f.gov/) is the serving host and publishing

platform that [18F](https://18f.gsa.gov/) uses to prototype and publish many

of its [Jekyll](http://jekyllrb.com/)-based and other statically-generated web

sites. It works very similarly to [GitHub pages](https://pages.github.com/).



This repo contains the Jekyll source for the https://pages.18f.gov/ home page

itself.



The 18F Pages publishing server is available as the [`18f-pages-server`

npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/18f-pages-server), the code for which

resides in the [18F/pages-server

repository](https://github.com/18F/pages-server/). Complete details on the

publishing mechanism and server installation, configuration, and

administration are available in the README posted on both of those pages.



## Reusability



The server may be reused by other organizations, as it is completely

configurable via the [`pages-config.json`](#pages-config) file. You may

imagine replacing all instances of "18F" in the instructions that follow with

your own organization's handle.



## Publishing to `pages.18f.gov`



Published sites will appear as `https://pages.18f.gov/REPO-NAME`, where

`REPO-NAME` is the name of the site's repository without the organization

prefix.



For example, `18F/guides-template` will publish to

https://pages.18f.gov/guides-template/.



The status of the most recent build attempt will be visible at

`https://pages.18f.gov/REPO-NAME/build.log`.



### When to use this technique



The one condition test: "Is this site going to be for public (non-18F) consumption? If yes, use pages.18F.gov."



### Adding a new site



See the [18F Guides Template](https://pages.18f.gov/guides-template/) for

step-by-step instructions on how to develop a site for 18F Pages and configure

its GitHub repository for publishing.



Alternatively, if you're an 18F team member who's already comfortable with

Jekyll and GitHub, the short version is:



- Create the `18f-pages` publishing branch. If you already have a `gh-pages`

  branch, you can do this on the command line via:

```sh

$ git checkout -b 18f-pages gh-pages

$ git push origin 18f-pages

```

  or by clicking on the **Branch:** button on your repository's GitHub page,

  selecting `gh-pages`, clicking the button again, and entering `18f-pages` in

  the _Find or create a branch..._ box.

- If your repo is primarily an 18F Pages site (as opposed to a project site

  with an `18f-pages` branch for documentation), you may optionally set the

  default branch on GitHub to `18f-pages`.

- [Make sure all internal links are prefixed with `{{ site.baseurl

  }}`](https://github.com/18F/pages-server/blob/master/README.md#prefixing-jekyll-links-with--sitebaseurl-).

  This is essential for proper publishing to `https://pages.18f.gov/REPO-NAME`,

  though your local site will continue to serve correctly from

  http://localhost:4000/.

- Push a change to the `18f-pages` branch to publish your site. The site will

  not appear when the branch is created, only after it is updated.



For further information, read

[the "Publishing" section of the 18F/guides-server

README](https://github.com/18F/pages-server/blob/master/README.md#publishing)

for a thorough explanation of the entire publishing mechanism.



### Staging area



Any changes pushed to a `18f-pages-staging` branch will appear on

`https://pages-staging.18f.gov`, which requires authenticated access.



## Administering `https://pages.18f.gov/` and `https://pages-staging.18f.gov/`



### 18F GitHub organization webhook



There is a webhook configured for the 18F GitHub organization that will send

push notifications from every 18F GitHub repository to

`https://pages.18f.gov/deploy`. This enables every update to an `18f-pages` or

`18f-pages-staging` branch in every 18F GitHub repository to automatically

publish to `https://pages.18f.gov/` or `https://pages-staging.18f.gov/`,

respectively.



Individual 18F repositories _do not_ need to set up their own publishing

webhooks, and any existing publishing webhooks should be removed.



### Getting access to `pages.18f.gov`



**Note:** `pages.18f.gov` and `pages-staging.18f.gov` are the same machine.

Both sites are served using the same `18f-pages-server` instance.



- Get SSH access to `pages.18f.gov` via #devops.

- For convenience, add the following stanza to `$HOME/.ssh/config`, replacing

  `$HOME` with the full path to your home directory:

```

Host 18f-pages

   Hostname pages.18f.gov

   User ubuntu

   IdentityFile $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa

   IdentitiesOnly yes

```



In the sections that follow, each set of command line instructions presumes

that you have logged into `pages.18f.gov`. Alternatively, you may execute each

command from your local machine by adding `ssh 18f-pages` as a prefix.



### Cloning the 18F/pages repository and installing the server



Should `18f-pages-server` ever need to be re-installed, or installed on a new

instance, log into the host via `ssh 18f-pages` and follow the

[`18f-pages-server` installation instructions](https://github.com/18F/pages-server/blob/master/README.md#installation).



Once the server is installed, clone the 18F/pages repository and run the server using [Forever](https://www.npmjs.com/package/forever):



```sh

$ git clone [email protected]:18F/pages.git /home/ubuntu/pages

$ forever start -l /var/log/18f-pages-server/pages.log -a /usr/local/bin/18f-pages /home/ubuntu/pages/pages-config.json

```



### Upgrading the server



Run the following command to upgrade `18f-pages-server` npm, and then follow

the [instructions to restart the server](#restart):



```sh

$ sudo npm upgrade -g 18f-pages-server

```



You should see output similar to the following upon success:



```sh

/usr/local/bin/18f-pages -> /usr/local/lib/node_modules/18f-pages-server/bin/18f-pages

[email protected] /usr/local/lib/node_modules/18f-pages-server

├── [email protected] ([email protected])

└── [email protected] ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected])

```



### Updating the configuration



The [`pages-config.json` configuration file from this

repository](./pages-config.json) is the configuration for the

`18f-pages-server`. The schema is fully-documented in [the "Generate and

configure `pages-config.json` section of the `18f-pages-server`

README](https://github.com/18F/pages-server/blob/master/README.md#pages-config).



After changes to this file have been pushed or merged into the `18f-pages`

branch on GitHub, run the following to pull the configuration updates onto

`pages.18f.gov` then follow the [instructions to restart the server](#restart):



```sh

$ cd /home/ubuntu/pages && git pull

```



_Note: When running from your local machine using the `ssh 18f-pages`

prefix, this command must be surrounded by quotation marks._



### Restarting the server



To restart the server:



```sh

$ forever restart /usr/local/bin/18f-pages

```



To validate that the update succeeded, print the last lines of the log file,

which should look similar to the following:



```sh

$ tail -n 2 /var/log/18f-pages-server/pages.log

18f-pages-server v0.0.3

18F pages: listening on port 5000

```



### Setting up the `https://pages.18f.gov/` home page



`pages-generated/index.html` is a symlink to

`pages-generated/pages/index.html`, as explained in the

["Create a symlink to the `index.html` of the generated homepage" section of

the 18F/pages-server

README](https://github.com/18F/pages-server/blob/master/README.md#homepage-symlink).



### System configuration files



Updating these files in the repository _does not_ update them on the server.

Currently, server configurations should be updated directly, verified, then

updated within the repository to maintain parity.



#### logrotate.d



The `/etc/logrotate.d/18f-pages-server` file controls the log rotation

mechanism, `logrotate(8)`. This file is checked into this repository as

[`_deploy/etc/logrotate.d/18f-pages-server`](./_deploy/etc/logrotate.d/18f-pages-server).



#### Nginx



The [Nginx](http://nginx.org/) configuration for both `https://pages.18f.gov/`

and `https://pages-staging.18f.gov` is in the `/etc/nginx/vhosts/pages.conf`

file, checked into this repository as

[`_deploy/etc/nginx/vhosts/pages.conf`](./_deploy/etc/nginx/vhosts/pages.conf).



This file is imported into `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf` and includes other files

containing configuration directives for SSL, New Relic, and authentication.

The paths to these other files are relative to `/etc/nginx`. These other files

can be seen in the [`18F/hub nginx configuration

directory`](https://github.com/18F/hub/tree/master/deploy/etc/nginx), as they

are served from the same Nginx instance as `hub.18f.gov`.



## Contributing



1. Fork the repo (or just clone it if you're an 18F team member)

2. Create your feature branch (`git checkout -b my-new-feature`)

3. Commit your changes (`git commit -am 'Add some feature'`)

4. Push to the branch (`git push origin my-new-feature`)

5. Create a new Pull Request



Feel free to [file an issue](https://github.com/18F/pages/issues) or to ping

[@mbland](https://github.com/mbland) with any questions you may have,

especially if the current documentation should've addressed your needs, but

didn't.



## Public domain



This project is in the worldwide [public domain](LICENSE.md). As stated in [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md):



> This project is in the public domain within the United States, and copyright

> and related rights in the work worldwide are waived through the [CC0 1.0

> Universal public domain

> dedication](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

>

> All contributions to this project will be released under the CC0 dedication.

> By submitting a pull request, you are agreeing to comply with this waiver of

> copyright interest.