Run WordPress long enough, and at some point you’re going to need to migrate your site from one spot to another. Perhaps you’re wanting a backup copy of your site so you can safely test a new design or plugin upgrades. Or perhaps your site isn’t performing well and you’ve decided to move it to a new AGhosted cloud server!
Migrating your WordPress site seems like it should be easy enough to do. While the idea is straightforward, migrating or cloning WordPress sites can be complicated, frustrating, and error-prone. Thankfully, the UpdraftPlus plugin can make the process not only painless, but downright simple.
Plugin Pick: UpdraftPlus
While UpdraftPlus is known for providing rock solid backups, it has many other amazing features. In this post, we’ll be looking at how to clone your site using the free backup/restore functionality. With this approach, the assumption is you’re keeping the same domain name.
If you are changing domain names for your site, you may want to look at the UpdraftMigrator utility. While it costs as little as $30, it will seamlessly handle all the necessary database changes required when moving to another domain.
Painless WordPress Migrations
Step 1: Configuring Updraft Plus
If you haven’t already done so, install and configure the UpdraftPlus plugin using our step-by-step instructions.
For migrating your site, it’s generally easiest to use one of the Remote Storage options. The steps below assume that approach, but can also be performed using other approaches (e.g., downloading the backup files to your local computer).
Step 2: Performing Backup
With UpdraftPlus configured, the next step is to take a snapshot of your site by performing a backup. To do so, go to Settings —> UpdraftPlus Backups. From there, follow our quick tips to set options for the backup, and press Backup Now.
Step 3: Preparing Destination Site
Log in to the new WordPress installation where you will be creating the clone of your site. Again, you need to install UpdraftPlus within this WordPress installation so you can access the backup you performed in the last step.
Go to Settings —> UpdraftPlus Backups —> Settings and connect to the same Remote Storage you configured in Step 1.
Step 4: Migrating Your Site
On the new WordPress installation, go to the Existing Backups tab and press Rescan remote storage. The backup of your site should appear. Press the blue Restore button.
On the next screen, choose all of the components to restore and press the Restore button:
Note: this will permanently delete all existing information on the site where you’re performing the restore, replacing it with the snapshot of your real site.
UpdraftPlus will now provide you with a running commentary of everything it’s doing.
That’s it! You now have a complete clone of your site running in a different location.
If this is going to be the new home for your WordPress site, there’s one additional step required. Browse through the site and make sure everything looks as it should, then update the DNS records for your website domain to point to the IP address of this new location. This step allows users to see your site at the new location. If you’re unsure how to update your DNS records, your hosting provider should be able to lend a hand.
AGhosted Migration Service
While UpdraftPlus gives you the power to migrate your WordPress site on your own, we realize it’s not for everyone. Agathon Group is here to help! We offer full-service, flat-fee migrations. No mess, no fuss, no work on your part: we just take care of it all! If you’re interested, drop us a line and let us know how we can help.
Brian works with clients to capture and organize their priorities and budgets and then coordinates our development team to get the work done. In addition, he plays an important role in the system administration for our hosting environment.