Create a static website¶

Publish a simple HTML page by uploading it to your Asteroid with SFTP. This example uses FileZilla Client, but any SFTP client will work.

Use a fresh Uberspace 8 Asteroid with its default Apache backend. If you already run a website or application, uploading an index.html to the same directory can replace its landing page. Back up existing files or use a separate Asteroid.

Connect with FileZilla¶

In the Uberspace dashboard, select the Asteroid you want to use. Copy its hostname and username from the connection details. Set an SSH password or add an SSH key if you have not already done so.

In FileZilla's Site Manager, create a connection with these settings:

Setting	Value
Protocol	SFTP — SSH File Transfer Protocol
Host	Your Asteroid's server, for example `moondust.uberspace.de`
Port	`22`
User	Your Asteroid's name, for example `isabell`
Authentication	Your Asteroid's SSH password, or your local private key

For password authentication, choose the interactive password option if you do not want the client to save it. For key authentication, select your private key locally; do not upload it. The dashboard password is not the SSH password.

Check the host key¶

On the first connection, compare the fingerprint in FileZilla's host-key prompt with the same key type in the Asteroid's dashboard connection details. Accept it only when they match. If they do not, check the hostname and contact support before continuing.

Navigate to your DocumentRoot¶

On FileZilla's remote side, open /var/www/virtual/isabell/html, replacing isabell with your Asteroid's name. You can also follow the www link in your home directory and open html inside it.

This is the default DocumentRoot. $USER is shell syntax and is not expanded in FileZilla's path field: enter the actual username. Files in your home directory are not published by Apache.

Upload index.html¶

On your computer, save this as a plain-text file named index.html:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title>My first Uberspace website</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello World</h1>
    <p>My website is running on Uberspace 8.</p>
  </body>
</html>

Upload it to the remote html directory. Confirm that the transfer completed and that the filename is exactly index.html, not index.html.txt. Do not overwrite an existing file unless you intend to replace it and have a backup.

Open https://isabell.uber.space/, using your Asteroid's name. You should see Hello World and the sentence from your HTML file. HTTPS certificates are managed by Uberspace; you do not need to install one for the default domain.

The default Apache configuration serves index.html before nocontent.html, so you do not need to delete the placeholder page.

Troubleshooting¶

The placeholder is still visible: check the remote directory and the filename, and reload the page without the browser cache.
Permission denied / HTTP 403: public directories need mode 0755 and public files 0644. FileZilla's file-permissions dialog lets you change these. Apply them only to the files you intend to publish.
An existing app still appears: your domain may have a different backend or DocumentRoot. Check its web settings and the backend instructions before changing a running site's configuration.

To use your own domain, follow the Manual's web domain instructions. For a larger site, explore the Hugo Guide.