Static Sites quick start

Deploy a static website on DanubeData in under 5 minutes. This guide walks you through building a simple site and deploying it step by step.

Prerequisites

What you will build

A personal portfolio page with your name, a short bio, and links — hosted at https://your-slug.pages.danubedata.ro with automatic HTTPS.

Step 1: Create your website files

Create a folder on your computer called my-site with a single index.html file:

HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Jane Doe — Developer</title>
  <style>
    * { margin: 0; padding: 0; box-sizing: border-box; }
    body {
      font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;
      background: #0f172a;
      color: #e2e8f0;
      min-height: 100vh;
      display: flex;
      align-items: center;
      justify-content: center;
    }
    .card {
      text-align: center;
      max-width: 480px;
      padding: 3rem 2rem;
    }
    h1 { font-size: 2rem; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; color: #f8fafc; }
    .subtitle { color: #94a3b8; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; }
    p { line-height: 1.7; color: #cbd5e1; margin-bottom: 2rem; }
    .links { display: flex; gap: 1rem; justify-content: center; flex-wrap: wrap; }
    .links a {
      color: #38bdf8;
      text-decoration: none;
      padding: 0.5rem 1.25rem;
      border: 1px solid #38bdf8;
      border-radius: 6px;
      transition: all 0.2s;
    }
    .links a:hover { background: #38bdf8; color: #0f172a; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="card">
    <h1>Jane Doe</h1>
    <div class="subtitle">Full-Stack Developer</div>
    <p>I build web applications with modern tools.
       Currently exploring cloud infrastructure and open source.</p>
    <div class="links">
      <a href="https://github.com/janedoe">GitHub</a>
      <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/janedoe">LinkedIn</a>
      <a href="mailto:jane@example.com">Email</a>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Open index.html in your browser to preview it locally.

Tip: You can also use an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT to generate your site. See the Build with AI guide for prompts and examples.

Step 2: Package your site as a ZIP file

Select all files inside your my-site folder and compress them into a ZIP file.

macOS:

Bash
cd my-site
zip -r ../my-site.zip .

Windows: Right-click the files inside the folder > Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.

Linux:

Bash
cd my-site
zip -r ../my-site.zip .

Important: the index.html must be at the root of the ZIP, not nested inside a subfolder.

Step 3: Create a static site in the dashboard

  1. Log in to the DanubeData dashboard
  2. Click Static Sites in the sidebar
  3. Click Create Static Site
  4. Fill in the form:
    • Site name — my-portfolio (or any name you like)
    • Slug — auto-generated from the name; this becomes your URL
    • Description — optional
  5. Choose a plan:
PlanStorageBandwidthSitesCustom domainsPrice
Free100 MB10 GB22EUR 0.00/mo
Starter500 MB100 GB1010 per siteEUR 2.99/mo
Pro2 GB500 GB5050 per siteEUR 9.99/mo
  1. Select ZIP Upload as the deployment method
  2. Click Create Static Site

Step 4: Upload your ZIP file

  1. On the site detail page, click the Upload button
  2. Select your my-site.zip file
  3. The upload starts and a build is triggered automatically

Step 5: Wait for deployment

Watch the status on the dashboard — it updates in real time:

  1. Pending — Build queued
  2. Building — Your site is being built
  3. Deploying — Rolling out your site
  4. Active — Your site is live

Most builds complete in 1-2 minutes.

Step 6: Visit your site

Once the status shows Active, click the URL on the site detail page:

Text
https://{your-slug}.pages.danubedata.ro

Your site is now live with automatic HTTPS.

Step 7: Update your site

To deploy a new version:

  1. Edit your local files
  2. Create a new ZIP file
  3. On the site detail page, click Upload and select the new ZIP
  4. The previous version stays live until the new build succeeds

Next steps

Now that your site is deployed, here are some things you can do:

Add a custom domain

Point your own domain (e.g., www.janedoe.com) to your static site with automatic TLS:

  1. Go to the site detail page > Domains tab
  2. Click Add Domain and enter your domain
  3. Add the DNS TXT record shown in the dashboard for verification
  4. After verification, add a CNAME record pointing to {slug}.pages.danubedata.ro
  5. A TLS certificate is provisioned automatically

See the Custom Domains guide for detailed DNS instructions.

Switch to Git deployment

For continuous deployment from GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket:

  1. Push your site files to a Git repository
  2. Edit your static site in the dashboard
  3. Change the deployment method to Git Repository
  4. Enter your repository URL, branch, and publish directory
  5. Set up a webhook for automatic deploys on push

See the Git Deployments guide for step-by-step webhook setup.

Deploy from CI/CD

Use the API to deploy from any CI/CD pipeline:

Bash
# Create a tarball of your site files
tar -czf site.tar.gz -C ./dist .

# Deploy via API
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -F "file=@site.tar.gz" \
  https://api.danubedata.ro/api/v1/static-sites/{site-id}/deploy

Enable password protection

Restrict access to your site (useful for staging or client previews):

  1. Go to the site detail page > Edit
  2. Enable Password Protection
  3. Enter a username and password
  4. Click Save

Roll back to a previous version

If something goes wrong after a deploy:

  1. Go to the site detail page > Deployments tab
  2. Find the version you want to restore
  3. Click Activate

Rollbacks are instant — no rebuild required.

Quick reference

OperationHow
Upload new versionSite detail page > Upload > select ZIP file
Trigger rebuildSite detail page > Redeploy
View build logsSite detail page > click on a build entry
Roll backDeployments tab > Activate on a previous deployment
Add custom domainDomains tab > Add Domain
Enable password protectionEdit > toggle Password Protection
Delete siteSite detail page > Delete

Troubleshooting

Build failed

  • Check the build logs on the site detail page for error details
  • Ensure your ZIP file contains valid static files (HTML, CSS, JS)
  • Verify the ZIP is not corrupted and is within your plan's upload limit (100 MB on Free, 500 MB on Starter and Pro)
  • Make sure index.html is at the root level of the ZIP, not in a subfolder

Site shows "404 Not Found"

  • Ensure your site has an index.html file at the root of the publish directory
  • For SPAs, verify that the publish directory setting matches your build output folder

Custom domain not working

  • Verify the DNS TXT record is in place and verification status shows Verified
  • Ensure you have added a CNAME record pointing to {slug}.pages.danubedata.ro
  • DNS changes may take up to 24 hours to propagate, though most take only minutes

Git webhook not triggering builds

  • Verify the webhook URL and secret match what is shown in the dashboard
  • Check that the webhook is configured for push events
  • Ensure Auto-deploy on push is enabled in the site settings

Questions? Contact support at support@danubedata.ro