Har du planer på att flytta din WordPress site till ett nytt webbhotell eller en annan server?
Den största risken när man byter webbhotell eller flyttar en website till en new server är dataförlust och driftstopp.
I denna Step-by-Step tutorial visar vi hur du flyttar din WordPress site till en ny server utan driftstopp. Vi kommer också att svara på vanliga frågor om att flytta en WordPress site till en new hosting provider.
Important: Innan vi börjar vill vi att du ska veta att många WordPress webbhotell erbjuder en gratis tjänst för att flytta. Det kanske inte står på deras website, så allt du behöver göra är att fråga. Vanligtvis är det gratis, men vissa kan ta ut en liten avgift.
Med detta sagt, låt oss titta på de steg vi kommer att täcka för att flytta WordPress till en ny server på webbhotellet (utan driftstopp):
Är du redo? Låt oss komma igång.
Step 1: Välj ditt nya webbhotell för WordPress
Om du är klistrad på en långsam server även efter att ha optimerat WordPress hastighet och prestanda, är det dags att flytta din WordPress site till en new server som kan hantera din växande trafik.
När du letar efter en new hosting provider för WordPress är det viktigt att du väljer med omsorg så att du inte behöver flytta igen inom en snar framtid.
Här är de vi rekommenderar:
- För tillförlitliga delade webbhotell rekommenderar vi att du väljer Bluehost. De rekommenderas officiellt av WordPress.org. Med vår Bluehost coupon kan WPBeginners användare få upp till 61% rabatt och ett gratis domain name.
- För snabbare delade webbhotell rekommenderar vi Hostinger. De är bland de högst upp WordPress webbhotell och erbjuder snabbare servrar med enastående customer support.
- Om du letar efter molnhotell eller location-specifika providers rekommenderar vi att du kontrollerar SiteGround. De har datacenter på tre olika kontinenter.
- Om du letar efter hanterat webbhotell för WordPress rekommenderar vi att du kontrollerar WP Engine. De är den bästa och mest välkända providern i branschen.
När du har köpt ditt nya webbhotell ska du INTE installera WordPress. Det kommer vi att göra i ett senare steg.
För tillfället bör ditt new web webbhotell account vara tomt, utan filer eller foldrar i din main directory.
Step 2: Ställ in Duplicator för enkel flytt
Det första du behöver göra är att installera och aktivera pluginet Duplicator på den website som du vill flytta. För mer detaljer, se vår Step-by-Step guide om hur du installerar ett plugin för WordPress.
Duplicator är marknadens bästa plugin för flytt av WordPress. Det kommer också med automatiserade tidsinställda backups, stöd för molnlagring, One-click migration, och smarta migreringar.
Note: Duplicator har också en gratis version som heter Duplicator Lite. Den kan användas för att flytta din website men har utvalda funktioner jämfört med pro-versionen.
När du har installerat och aktiverat Duplicator, gå till Duplicator ” Packages page i your WordPress admin area.
Därefter måste du klicka på knappen ”Skapa ny” i det övre högra hörnet.
Detta kommer att starta Duplicator’s backup wizard.
På nästa vy kan du valfritt ange ett namn för din backup eller helt enkelt click på knappen ”Next” för att fortsätta.
Därefter kommer Duplicator att skanna ditt system för att se till att allt är i order för att förbereda paketet.
Se till att dina skanningsresultat kontrolleras (allt ska säga ”Bra”) och klicka sedan på knappen ”Bygg”.
Processen kan ta flera minuter att completed, så lämna tabs öppen medan plugin gör sitt jobb.
När processen är completed ser du alternativen för download för Install och Archive-paketet. You need to click on the ’Download’ button and then select ’Both Files’.
Archive-filen är en kopia av din kompletta website, och installer-filen automatiserar installationsprocessen åt you.
Step 3: Importera din WordPress site till det nya webbhotellet
Nu när du har downloadat både archive- och installer-filerna är nästa steg att uploada dem till din nya server.
Det gör du genom att ansluta till din nya server via FTP.
Om du aldrig har gjort det förut kan du kontrollera vår guide för nybörjare om hur du uppladdar filer via FTP till WordPress.
Normalt brukar du enter din websites domain name som server när du ansluter din FTP-klient.
Men eftersom ditt domain name fortfarande pekar på din gamla server måste du ansluta genom att enter din servers IP-adress eller serverns värdnamn.
Du hittar den här informationen i dashpanelen på kontrollpanelen för ditt new webbhotell account.
Om du inte kan hitta den här informationen kan du be om support för ditt new webbhotell, så hjälper de dig.
Med hjälp av FTP-klienten måste du uploada både filen installer.php och filen archive .zip till rotkatalogen på din website.
Detta är vanligtvis mappen /användarnamn/public_html/.
Återigen, om du inte är säker, fråga ditt webbhotell.
Se till att din root directory är helt tom. Vissa webbhotell installerar WordPress automatiskt när du registrerar dig.
Om du har installerat WordPress i din root directory, måste du först ta bort WordPress.
När det är gjort måste du uploada både archive zip-filen och installer.php-filen till din sites root directory.
Step-by-Step 4: Ändra filen Webbhotell för att förhindra driftstopp
När du har uploadat båda filerna till din nya server, måste du komma åt filen installer.php i en webbläsare.
Normalt kan denna fil nås med hjälp av en URL som gillar detta:
http://www.example.com/installer.php
Men den här URL:en tar dig till din gamla server och du får ett 404 error. Detta beror på att ditt domain name fortfarande pekar på ditt gamla server.
Normalt kan andra tutorials säga att du ska ändra namnservrarna för din domän och peka den till ditt nya webbhotell, men det är fel.
Om you gör detta nu kommer dina visitors att se en trasig website när du flyttar den.
Vi visar dig hur du tillfälligt kan komma åt din new site på din dator utan att det påverkar din gamla webbplats.
Detta görs med filen hosts på din dator.
Filen hosts kan användas för att ompeka domain names till specifika IP-adresser. Med andra ord kan du lura din dator att tro att en website är flyttad trots att den ej är det.
Låt oss ta en titt på hur du lägger till en post för ditt domain name i filen hosts så att den pekar på ditt nya webbhotell.
Making these changes will allow you to access the files on your new server using your own domain name while the rest of the world will still be accessing your site from the old host. Detta garanterar 100 % drifttid.
Det första du behöver göra är att hitta IP-adressen till din nya web server.
För att hitta detta måste du logga in på din cPanel dashboard och click på länken förstora statistik i den vänstra sidebaren. Din servers adress kommer att listas som ”Delad IP-adress”.
På Hostinger hittar du till exempel IP-adressen till din server under detaljerna för ditt webbhotell.
Om du använder en Windows-dator måste du öppna appen Notepad med administratörsbehörighet.
Klicka bara på knappen ”Start” och leta sedan efter appen Notepad. Högerklicka på ikonen för appen Notepad och välj sedan ”Run as administrator”.
En Windows UAC-prompt kommer att visas och du måste klicka på ”Ja” för att starta Notepad med administratörsbehörighet.
På vyn Notepad går du till File ” Open och navigerar sedan till mappen C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Från den här mappen väljer du filen servers och öppnar den.
Om du använder en Mac måste du öppna appen Terminal och enter det här kommandot för att redigera filen hosts:
sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
För både Windows- och Mac-användare måste du längst ner i filen hosts ange IP-adressen som du kopierade och sedan ange ditt domain name. Gilla det här:
192.168.1.22 www.example.com
Se till att du ersätter IP-adressen med den som du kopierade från cPanel och example.com med ditt eget domain name.
När du är klar, save your changes.
You kan nu komma åt dina filer på den nya servern med hjälp av ditt domain name på din dator.
Import! Glöm inte att ångra de ändringar du gjorde i filen hosts när du har slutfört flyttningen (steg 6).
Step-by-Step 5: Skapa MySQL Database på din nya server
Innan vi kör installatören på den nya servern måste you skapa en MySQL database på ditt nya webbhotell account. Om du redan har skapat en MySQL-databas kan du hoppa till nästa steg.
Skapa en Database i cPanel
Gå till cPanel dashboard på ditt new webbhotell account, rulla ner till Database section och click på ’MySQL Databases’ icon.
Du kommer att se ett fält för att skapa en new database.
Enter ett namn för din database och click the ”Create Database” button.
När du har skapat MySQL-databasen måste du rulla ner till MySQL Users section.
Ange sedan ett användarnamn och ett password för din nya användare och click på knappen ”Create User”.
Efter det måste du add to denna användare till din database. Detta kommer att ge användarnamnet som du just skapade all behörighet att arbeta på den databasen.
Du kan göra detta genom att rulla ner till ”Add User to a Database” section. Välj helt enkelt den databasanvändare du skapade från dropdown-menyn bredvid användaren, välj sedan databasen och klicka på knappen ”Add”.
Din database är nu redo att användas med WordPress. Var noga med att obs/observera databasens namn, användarnamn och password. Du kommer att behöva den informationen i nästa steg.
Step 6: Påbörja migreringsprocessen för Duplicator
Nu är vi redo att runka installern. Navigera till följande adress i din webbläsare och byt ut example.com mot ditt domain name:
http://www.example.com/installer.php
Installern kommer att run några tester och kommer att visa ”Pass” bredvid archive och bekräftelse tester.
Du måste markera kryssrutan för villkor och fortsätta genom att klicka på knappen ”Nästa”.
Nu kommer du att bli ombedd att enter din MySQL server, databasens namn, användarnamn och password.
Din server kommer troligen att vara localhost. Efter det kommer du att enter detaljerna för den database som du skapade i föregående steg.
Därefter måste Duplicator kontrollera att den kan anslutas till databasen och kan köra installationen.
Klicka på knappen ”Bekräfta” längst ner för att fortsätta.
Om Duplicator kan anslutas kommer du att se testresultaten som Pass.
You can now check the terms and notices checkbox and click on the ”Next” button.
Klicka på knappen ”Nästa” för att fortsätta.
Duplicator importerar nu din WordPress Database från archive zip till din new database.
Därefter kommer du att bli ombedd att updating site URL eller Path. Eftersom du ej ändrar domain names behöver du INTE ändra något här.
Klicka bara på knappen ”Nästa” för att fortsätta.
Duplicator kommer att run de sista stegen och visa dig knappen för login.
Du kan nu logga in på din WordPress site på den nya servern för att se till att allt fungerar som förväntat.
Step-by-Step 7: Update Your Domain Name Servers (DNS)
Nu har du skapat en komplett kopia av din WordPress database och filer på din nya server, men din domän pekar fortfarande på ditt gamla web server account.
För att update din domän måste du byta DNS-namnservrar. Detta säkerställer att dina användare kommer till den nya location för din website när de skriver in din domän i sina webbläsare.
Om du registrerade din domän hos din hosting provider är det bäst att överföra domänen till ett new host.
Om du å andra sidan använder en domänregistrator som Domain.com, GoDaddy eller Network Solutions måste du updating dina namnservrar.
You will need the DNS nameserver information from your new web host. Detta är vanligtvis ett par URL:er som gillar det här:
ns1.hostname.comns2.hostname.com
I den här guiden kommer vi att visa you hur du ändrar DNS-namnservrar med GoDaddy.
För andra hosting providers, ta en titt på vår guide om att ändra namnservrar för domäner.
Beroende på din domänregistrator eller ditt webbhotell kan screenshots se annorlunda ut. Grundkonceptet är dock detsamma.
You need to look for the domain management area and then look for nameservers. Om du behöver hjälp med updating av dina namnservrar kan du fråga ditt webbhotell.
För GoDaddy måste du logga in på ditt GoDaddy-konto och sedan klicka på ”Domäner”.
Efter det måste du klicka på knappen ”Hantera” bredvid det domain name du vill ändra.
Gå till section ”Additional Settings”.
Sedan måste du klicka på ”Hantera DNS” för att fortsätta.
Därefter måste du rulla ner till ”Nameservers” section.
Här klickar du på knappen ”Change”.
Först måste du ändra dropdown för namnservertyp från ”Standard” till ”Custom”.
Efter det kan du fylla i din nya hosting providers information under Nameservers.
Glöm inte att klicka på knappen ”Save” för att spara dina ändringar.
You har utan problem ändrat namnservrarna på din domän. Det kan ta 4-48 timmar innan ändringar i DNS sprids till alla användare.
Eftersom du har samma content på din gamla server och på den nya servern kommer dina användare inte att se någon skillnad. Din WordPress flytt kommer att vara sömlös utan absolut ingen nedtid.
För att vara på den säkra sidan rekommenderar vi att du väntar med att canceled ditt gamla webbhotell account till 7 dagar efter din flytt.
Vanliga frågor och svar
Här är några frågor som många av våra användare ställer när de flyttar WordPress från en server till en annan.
1. Hur flyttar jag min WordPress website till en annan server?
Du kan flytta din WordPress website genom att flytta dina WordPress-filer och din database från ditt gamla host till den nya hosting providern.
Vissa webbhotell erbjuder också gratis tjänster för överföring av website, men du måste fråga dem. Alternativt kan du göra det själv genom att överföra filer med hjälp av en FTP-klient och importera databasen via phpMyAdmin.
2. Kan jag flytta min WordPress site till en annan hosting provider?
Ja, du är gratis att flytta din WordPress site till en annan hosting provider.
3. Kan jag registrera mig för det nya webbhotellets account utan att registrera ett domain name?
Ja, du kan absolut registrera dig för ett konto på ett webbhotell utan att registrera ett domain name.
Domain name och webbhotell är två olika tjänster, och du behöver inte nödvändigtvis registrera ett domain name när du registrerar dig för en new server. För mer details, se vår guide om skillnaden mellan domain name och webbhotell.
Vissa hosting providers kommer att be dig att select ett domain name som första steg när du köper hosting. They will also allow you to enter a domain name if you already have one.
4. Måste jag överföra mitt domain name till den nya servern?
Nej, du behöver inte överföra ditt domain name till det nya servern. Men om du överför ditt domain name till ditt nya webbhotell blir det enklare att förnya och hantera det under samma dashboard som ditt nya account.
Mer information om detta ämne finns i vår ultimata guide om domain names och hur de fungerar.
5. Hur fixar jag felet som etablerar felet för anslutning till databasen i Duplicator?
Om du ser ett fel vid anslutningen till databasen eller ett fel i anslutningen till databasen i Duplicator, har du troligen enter felaktig information för din databasanslutning.
Se till att namnet på din database, användarnamnet för MySQL och password är korrekta. Vissa webbhotell använder ej localhost som server för sina MySQL-servrar. Om så är fallet måste du be de anställda på ditt webbhotell att ge dig korrekt information.
6. Hur kontrollerar jag att min website hämtar från den nya servern?
Det finns flera tools på nätet som allow you att se vem som är webbhotell för en website. När du har överfört din webbplats till den nya servern kan du använda något av dessa tools, och de kommer att visa dig namnet på webbhotellet som hostar din website.
Om det inte var länge sedan du flyttade din website och gjorde ändringar i din domain name server (DNS), är chansen stor att din website fortfarande hämtar från din gamla server. Det kan ta upp till 48 timmar för ändringar av domain name att spridas fullt ut.
7. Behöver jag ta bort några filer eller data från den gamla servern?
När du byter webbhotell rekommenderar vi att du behåller din gamla website i minst en vecka. Efter det kan du delete filer från din gamla server. Om du cancellerar ditt account kommer din hosting provider att ta bort all din data enligt deras policy.
8. Hur länge ska jag hålla mitt account aktivt på den gamla servern?
När du har flyttat din website till det nya webbhotellet, och om du inte har några andra websites hosted med ditt gamla webbhotell, kan du cancel ditt gamla webbhotell account.
I vissa fall kan du dock redan ha betalat dem för ett årligt webbhotell. Du bör kontrollera deras återbetalningspolicy för att se om du är berättigad till någon återbetalning vid canceled.
9. Hur flyttar jag en site i WordPress med SSL/HTTPS?
Du måste installera ett SSL-certifikat på din nya hosting provider. Därefter kan du följa samma steg som nämns ovan. Se bara till att du använder HTTPS i URL-adresserna, gillar https://example.com
10. Bonus: Gratis flytt av webbplats av din nya server
Om du vill byta webbhotell, men stegen ovan låter för komplicerade, kan du välja följande providers, så flyttar de din website åt dig.
SiteGround, Hostinger och WP Engine erbjuder gratis flytt av website för WPBeginners användare.
Vi hoppas att denna Step-by-Step guide hjälpte you att flytta WordPress till din nya server utan några som helst driftstopp. Om du stöter på några issues med din WordPress-migrering kan du kontrollera vår guide om de vanligaste WordPress-felen och hur du fixar dem.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Syed Balkhi
Hey WPBeginner readers,
Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
You can get more details about the contest from here.
Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!
Shane
In the next step, Windows users need to go to Programs » All Programs » Accessories, right click on Notepad and select Run as Administrator. A Windows UAC prompt will appear, and you need to click on Yes to launch Notepad with administrator privileges.
On the Notepad screen, go to File » Open and then go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Select hosts file and open it.
I’m having trouble with this step. Can anyone shed any light?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Shane,
You just need to open the Notepad app as an administrator so that you can edit the hosts file.
Administratör
Shane
Oh, just microfosft simple wordpad and then “run as administrator”?
Is that all I have to do?
Muhammed Shabeer
Thanks for the wonderfull trick. Exactly the trick was intented to migrate Wordpress to new host, but I used for migrating from root to subdomain/subfolder. It done successfully with the plugin. Thank for sharing the trick.
Kenneth Aycox
Thank you for a wonderful product! worked perfect.
James Crow
Briliiant! Thanks so much, I’ve just moved a few sites without any problem at all.
Max
Sadly, this didn’t work for me either. I deleted all the website files as directed , uploaded to the installer.php file and package but when I went to website.com/installer.php I was served a 404 error: Not Found
The requested URL /installer.php was not found on this server.
I think it’s easier to just transfer the website the old fashioned way, as others have mentioned. No need for any scripts that might not work.
Max
Please disregard my comment. I later noticed the root folder was set to httpdocs. So created a folder, named it httpdocs and put the package and installer.php in there. Then the website.com/installer.php worked no problem. All went very smoothly thereafter.
Nandan Jha
Hello Max,
Actually it did work for me in the end. I am guessing that you moved the installer and archive to your new host , correct ?
Please look up the IP address from cpanel or equiv of the new host and try accessing via the IP address
http://IPAddress/installer.phpKB
Seems like a good tutorial, but I had no luck with it. There are also a few steps/screens in the Duplicator sequence that were different from mine. The end result was, I got a 404 error upon clicking Site Login – Login to finalize the setup in Step 4 of 4 of the Test Site screen. This differs substantially from the above. Top right corner there’s a version number of 1.2.30. Fairly certain I have the most up to date version of the plugin. If I use File Manager to view the contents of public_html I don’t see the normal list of wp files that I think I should see aside from a wp-snapshots directory, a few web.config files, some installer files and the archive.zip…oh and database.sql. So something has clearly gone wrong, but I’m at a loss to understand what. So…there it is.
Stephen Duffield
Let me guess, you tried to move from a Wordpress.com site? Duplicator & Duplicator Pro wont work for wp.com sites. Nothing works unless you use one of two host sites that they recommend. Duplicator after lots of help, ended up giving me a refund.
Rob
Hey, Just wanted to say thanks for this tutorial. Went perfectly smoothly and would use this duplicator again
Nandan Jha
Great article.
Friends, How do I make it work for an Addon Domain. I took a new plan with GoDaddy and now need to move my sites there. What entry do I make in my hosts file to navigate to install.php ? Thank you,
Nandan Jha
I tried it with my AddOn Domain. It worked for me over a couple of iterations. The thing to take care of is to supply the right ’domain name’ at Step 3 (or Step 4). The default value which it picks is ’primarydomain.com/addondomain’. Delete the default value and put addondomain.com
Thanks.
Sean
I recently switched hosts and my original hosting plan has expired. I failed to create a back up before it expired. I do have a local copy of my site on my computer (I use Dreamweaver for FTP). Is there any way to recreate the site with the local files?
Thanks.
Dave Porter
Hi Sean,
Try using WayBack Machine – it takes snapshots of websites over time…
You may be able to grab the source code, images etc… and recreate it from that. I’ve had to do that a few times for clients who have come to me after they have lost contact with their developer…
HTH, Dave
Miki
Hi there,
I have used the Wayback machine and was able to make a copy of my site. Unfortunately I have found myself involved with an unsavory company that had other plans for my business (selling their services on my site) without full disclosure in the beginning. I am now tasked with finding a new programmer to finish the site although it is in wordpress. I do not have wordpress at this time as I was not developing the site; however my understanding from these posts is that if I move the site to another host, I should be able to access wordpress. Is that correct?
WPBeginner Support
Hi Miki,
Yes you can move an existing WordPress website to any other host.
Michael
update…
it works….
be careful with IP address information…. you should read the information carefully…
Thanks
Michael
No luck..
After change the host file, my browser shows message:
This site can’t be reached
example.com took too long to respond.
Search Google for idea inspirations
ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT
I did flush dns, net stop, dan net start and restart my computer & modem, still not working…
Navajo
I have another question:
In the text it says:
”At this point, you’ve created a complete copy of your WordPress database and files on your new hosting server. But your domain still points to your old web hosting account.
To update your domain, you need to switch your DNS nameservers. This ensures that your users are taken to the new location of your website when they type your domain into their browsers.
If you registered your domain with your hosting provider, then it’s best to transfer the domain to the new host.”
I thought that when i buy a new hosting space, i also and immediatly have to name a doman name. As in: buying a hosting space is always linken to buying a domain. So the new ip addres which i have uploaded my old site to, and which i have to link to my old doman name, already HAS a (newly bought) domain name.
Or can i buy a hosting space, ánd get an IP address which i can use in this tutorial, without it already having a domain name?
Regards, Navajo
WPBeginner Support
Hi Navajo,
It is a common misconception. Hosting and domain name are two different services and you can buy them from two different companies. On the same page where hosting companies offer you to register domain name, they also show another option to indicate that you already have a domain name and you can continue without registering a new one.
For more details please see our detailed guide on What is a domain name and how do domains work?
Administratör
Uldis
this is really profound stuff. I was just scratching my head how to migrate client’s site without interruption while changing name servers. Eternally grateful!
Shadat
Hello, I face the database connection failed problem.
can you plz help me? plz
see the screenshots
Dave Porter
Shadat – this is quite an old article now – and you don’t give very much to go on – I would seek help from your hosting company, or get onto a WordPress discussion forum where there are active people who may be able to help you.
But if you are getting a database connection error message, it is generally because the database name/user or password is incorrect
I would try one of the backup tools like Duplicator and see if that works better for you.
Slade
Did you set up a new database and user on your new host?
You must make sure the database name and user and password are all correct for the new host.
Usually a database connection error is a simple oversight like a mispelling or something simple like that.
Michael Goriany
Thanks for this excellent tutorial
If I have well understood, the hosts file (Step 4) is providing for 100% uptime only for the Webmanager but not for the public
How can the DNS switchover time be shortened, or how can the downtime for the public be avoided ?
Slade
Editing the host file allows you to see your site at your new host. Until you update your dns nameservers the public will go to the old host.
The time it takes for dns changes to updare (propagate) is not something that can be controlled. However this guide is correct in providing a no down time solution.
What is happening on the backend that the public does not see is that your website is being hosted at two hosts. The nameservers tell the public which host they are viewing the site on. During the dns update process the users will still view the site at the old host until the propogation is complete.
Once the dns change officially kicks in the public will then be viewing the site at your new host.
Again, to provide the no downtime transfer you would need to change your host file on your local machine (tells your computer you want to view the site at the new host).
This allows you to do the actual install of your website on the new host.
Hope that helps
Lydia
i had to move a client’s site off our subdomain into their own hosting overnight and this REALLY REALLY saved my life! Especially as the domain needed to be repointed seamlessly! I only had trouble with the FTP, i dunno what was wrong with all the logins but i couldn’t get it working. Thankfully my hoster always has an awesome file manager on cpanel.
So yes, very nearly seamless, i’m just testing out the contact forms now which seems to need the DNS switchover time in order to function properly…
And one thing to add, Duplicator has changed the SQL database setup to Step 2 in their latest version, which really made me freak out a bit there.
Thanks very much for the detailed and extremely godsent tutorial!
Kurt
I’m getting ready to follow this tutorial. One question: I am switching servers but also am switching domain names. Should I change my website address in the WP admin settings before running duplicator or after? (Does the order matter?) Thanks!
Johel Fernandez
This tutorial worked out perfectly by April, 2017. ¡Thank you so much!
Ravijit
Hey,
I used this plugin so many times. even, once i used it for too. I really like this plugin but, the problem is it do not extract the big package. We’ve to manually unzip it or need to upload unzipped data to the new hosting.
Any fix for that? Reply as soon as possible.
Archit
Duplicator doesn’t work properly with GoDaddy’s cPanel Linux Hosting service. Script gets terminated even if the settings in php.ini are changed. Please suggest what to do to make Duplicator work there? If not possible, what would be the best alternative?
Hernan
Hi Archit,
I’ve just migrated a site to godaddy and it worked just fine. Which part failed?
best
Hernán
Susan Taunton
This GREAT tutorial successfully guided me through my very first migration of a Wordpress site to a different host! Especially life saving was the instruction about changing ”sudo nano /private/etc/hosts” in Terminal – worked like a charm. wpbeginner.com has the most succinct, articulate and smart tutorials, which I have come to depend on.
Thank you!!!!
Susan
Prinze
hi, pls have been having issues uploading my site to s new server using FTP client, my hosting company tried to give tutorials on how to transfer with no result.
the tutorials am getting from your site is abt using a duplicate plugin. my site is down, i can’t access my wp-admin to install the plugin.
i use a backup plugin when my site is up so i have a backup file from the plugin i used n also i did a cpanel backup from my old server.
pls, i need a tutorial hoe to upload my backup files to my new server, which one is best to upload?
the plugin backup or the cpanel backup…
pls help!
Greg Draven
What backup plugin did you use?
Ritadrik Chowdhury
Hi Sir,
I am stuck up with 3rd part which is verification part. I have changed the permalinks and I can see the dashboard as usual but the site is not running. Whenever I am clicking on ”TEST SITE” it returns error 404: File Not Found. I tried their help documents. Made changes as usual but no luck. Can you please help me out?
saurabh shelar
Hello Sir. I am saurabh from India. I love your website. I have a blog about software review. And I saw your posts and observe that you edited image in microscope effect. This is really fantastic. Can you please tell me how you do this or please make tuts for this please.
Thank you.
WPBeginner Support
Hi Saurabh,
Thanks for the kind words. There are actually tons of tutorials already. Try searching for how to add magnifying glass effect in Photoshop.
Administratör
Brad
Hello,
I have a situation where it would be ideal to have the database on separate hosting. Just because the host of the current site does not offer mysql. I cannot move the site (for a company)
Can I install wordpress on current hosting in a sub domain and have the database on another host? I have never used anything except ”localhost” in the wp-config file? Thank you!
Sachin
php not supported they are giving reason?? what to do??
Samuel
Does it work on addon domain?
Because there is this step
”Make sure that your root directory is completely empty. If you have WordPress installed in your root directory, then you need to delete WordPress first”
While my primary domain is already up and running
Cory
This is a well put together article, nice job guys!
Just as an FYI for users reading through the comments, any comment pre-dated 12-6-2016 does not pertain to the article above or the Duplicator plugin specifically.
This article was originally written using the Backup Buddy plugin and has since been updated and rewritten using the Duplicator plugin. This should help clear-up any confusion should some of the comments not really make sense or refer to topics not covered in the article.
Mark Rudder
This is an excellent tutorial.
I also believe this is the easiest and fastest way to to migrate a site.
Migrating DB files and tables with phpMyAdmin is the long way around.
Using Duplicator or BackupBuddy is way less work and you are less prone to mistakes that way.
You need to change DNS no matter what method you choose, so that aspect can’t be counted as far as which method is best.
Changing TTL settings to 1 hour (3600 seconds) as Dave Porter pointed out is the only missing piece of the puzzle. (even though that is not essential to success)
Augusto
Nice article, guys!
I feel that the most critical point migrating a site to another host is the email service. If the default email solution provided by host need to be replaced, a lot of work will came.
Anyone want to share your workflow to do this kind of thing?
Thanks!
Frans Kemper
hello,
Would this procedure also work for sub domains?
I have an add on domain to transfer with about 10 related sub domains.
Thank you
Dave Porter
A few days before I move a domain, I go into the DNS settings and change the TTL settings to 1 hour (3600 seconds), so that the site will move quickly (and do it overnight – so the new location will show for everyone in the morning)
(I was expecting this to be mentioned in the article when I saw the title!)
And to answer Dave’s question you can have as many entries in your Hosts file as you want – I have a reseller account with my hosting company and I’m often working on 2 or more sites I am working on that are located on a different server. You can’t specify a sub-directory in the entry – the one entry will point to all locations for that domain – to do what you want to do you are better using sub-domains – so for example example.com is the main location, then you can have play1.example.com as a sub domains that will have it’s own hosts entry.
Harindepreet singh
I think you should make a video or attach screenshots
David in Mississippi
Another article – directly related to this one, but sufficiently different to warrant its own separate article – would be ”Replacing A Legacy Website with a Fully-Developed WordPress Website.”
This has happened to me several times already. I have clients with older, legacy-type (non-WordPress) websites, and they ask me to convert their site to WordPress.
I have two methods I use to do this, and one of them involves building the brand new WordPress site on a temporary development URL. When it is done, I then need to transfer it to the existing URL for the client.
In other words, I develop it at DevelopmentSite, and when it is done, I then move it to ExistingLegacySite
I should think it would be easier to do this than the procedure outlined in your article above, but it would still be helpful for you to do an article on this type of migration.
Thanks.
Dave
Correct me if I’m missing something, but this ’hosts file change’ will only work if you have a just one site on your plan at that new IP address. I have several low-usage sites I’m hosting on one plan. They are in subdirectories under phulic_html.
So doing this:
192.168.1.22 http://www.example.com
in the hosts file will not specify which of your 5 sites to point to. And it seems the only thing you can specify in the hosts file is an IP address and a URL.
You can’t do something like this:
192.168.1.22/sitea http://www.example.com
Am I wrong?
Felipe
I think this is correct, it won’t work for shared domains.
It is better explained here: the voted answer says ”If you have shared hosting, this will make your site inaccessible by direct IP. In a shared hosting environment, the host (GoDaddy) will have multiple websites living at the same IP address. When a browser requests a website, the server relies on the domain name to determine which of the many websites to serve. Without a domain name, the server has no way to tell what the browser actually wants so you don’t get your website. To avoid this situation, you will need a host to give you exclusive use of an IP address.”
I think this should be highlighted in the article.
WPBeginner Support
Once you have added your domain name to your new host, your webserver knows that it is hosting domain name example.com and it’s root directory (Doesn’t matter if it is also hosting other domains as well). However, DNS servers take time to propagate so instead of sending your request to your new webserver, they will be sending users to old location for a while. The hosts file allows you to send your request directly to the new server. Hope this clears the confusion.
Administratör
Matt Davis
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you can type in (directly in the browser’s address bar) the IP address followed by a slash (/) and then the sub-directory of whichever site you’re trying to access. I would avoid changing the hosts file altogether. Most hosting companies I’ve used will also usually assign temporary URLs to each new website as well, so if that’s the case you could use that instead of the IP or messing with the hosts file.
Niko
That’s correct MATT. Temporary using the IP address instead of altering the hosts file seems like a better approach. However, both work fine.
Vyse
hello. good article but what about wp multisite?
Tanisia
I’ve tried for four hours to make these instructions work. The result? Now I can’t access my site at my old host. I tried following the directions on this 2-year-old article (will there be an update, since BackupBuddy has evolved?) and now everything is messed up.
I used FTP to upload the files, and edited the host file as instructed, but the ImportBuddy PHP script won’t run. It just shows me the code. I tried contacting Bluehost for assistance, and they were no help. So I tried setting all my other settings back to where they were before I started this odyssey, and now I can’t see my site at all. Not the Admin panel, nothing.
WPBeginner Support
Tanisia, please refer to our guide on what to do when you are locked out of WordPress admin area.
Administratör
Tanisia
I’m back in at my old host – my servers needed to re-propagage from Bluehost, and it took longer than I had anticipated. I’m still left with BackupBuddy not working the way it’s supposed to. Again, do you have updated instructions from 2014, since there have been several updates to BackupBuddy since this was written? When I did the Notepad update in Windows 10, it looked different from what was described here, so I couldn’t be sure if that trick worked.
Thank you for answering back.
Fahim
If it was a primary domain , can i follow this Process? I need to move and that domain is Main/primary domain, how can i move,will u plz help me?
Mark
Just stuck i step 4, can i just simply addon domain and change dns in new host, ? Following that, C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. , there is nothing in my etc, nothing like hosts file, btw great tutorial easy to fallow, thanks
Jacob
I was hoping there would be an easier way to do it with a third party service, but I’m not about to shell out 80 bucks just to do that.
Ash
The backupbuddy steps in the new version have changed quite a bit. Nothing to be afraid of though. I was able successfully migrate from t1.micro on aws to t2.small instance. So far so good.
David
A few questions for you:
1. Isn’t there a SIMPLE way to back up one site (themes, child themes, plugins, and post data), then restore it to another site?
It truly should be as simple as (a) Backup To (dropbox mysite.zip), then (b) Restore From (dropbox mysite.zip).
2. Is it possible, perhaps even EASY, to develop a client’s WP site on your development server, then use Backup Buddy (or some other backup/restore program) to migrate it to the client’s site?
3. Does Backup Buddy, or any other backup/restore program you know of, give you the ability to restore to an existing WP installation? In other words, can you set it to restore everything except the WP core files?
Thanks for this article.
David in Mississippi
WPBeginner Support
Actually, in the article we have shown how BackupBuddy does exactly what you are asking for. You simply backup your site, download an archive file and an importer file. Upload these files to the new location and run the script. Hope this helps.
Administratör
Ash
@David, with backupbuddy you can choose which files to leave out while backing up. So you can leave out the core WP files.
Robert
hi guys,
A friend just make me a new wordpress website and uploaded it to my hosting account. Now, I want to change the domain and hosting account and want to upload the website to the new hosting account.
My friend sent me the archive with all files of the website including database. How is possible to upload the website to my new host?
I appreciate your answer.
thank you
Ricardo Clarke
I actually just went through this process yesterday and need to transfer another site today. This is hands down the most thorough walkthrough I’ve seen. The 4 to 48 timeframe really helped ’cause I thought something went wrong, but the transfer just needed time to propagate across the interwebs.
WPBeginner Staff
As soon as you figure out that your new domain has regained the search positions for your old site. We hope that you have setup 301 redireccts on old domain otherwise search engines wouldn’t know that your old content has moved to the new domain permanently.
WPBeginner Staff
What’s the shorter way of doing this?
Sebastien
Hi there, thanks for your tutorial, here’s an other way of doing it… free.
1. Tools > export posts and pages from admin panel. If you also need the DB phpMyAdmin export tables from the db. Import them in the new db. Check for the extension of the tables to be the same (_wp for instance)
2. edit your virtual host config file, add what follows between your server {}
allow your_public_ip;
deny all;
3. Access the site by its ip. (make sure you set the ip of your new server instead of the url in phpmyadmin > wp_options > siteurl and home options)
4. Tools > import posts and pages
5. Change your DNS records at the old host.
6. Done. Use another plugin like UpdraftPlus to backup for free.
Ash
Tried UpdraftPlus. Didn’t do anything at all.
Rachel Charles
Clean and modern and Easy to modify!
Kate_H
Great guide. I can confirm these steps work brilliantly as I recently moved a 5 year old WP site from one domain to another domain and swapped web hosts as well.
The only difference I did was redirect the old site to the new site via the .htaccess as I wasn’t migrating the old domain name over at the time.
Out of curiosity how long would you leave it before deleting all the old content from the old domain and setting up a permanent URL redirect via your registrar?
zimbrul
I really hate Backup Buddy. In 80% of cases I got errors and their support is not that good. I’d rather move a site with Duplicator free WordPress plugin
WPBeginner Staff
Zimbrul, Duplicator is a nice plugin too. However, we have moved many WordPress sites using BackupBuddy and it has always worked flawlessly for us. That’s why we recommend it.
Jim
Fully agree. Duplicator has never let me down and I have backed up and installed to many websites to count. No need for a paid plugin.
Dennis Does Cricket
That’s a ridiculously long winded way of doing it.
Jonathan
I was looking for this. This already assumes knowledge of FTP etc. so why not just:
1. Copy over all files (download locally, upload to new server).
2. Export the DB (you can use Migrate DB free version if you can’t access the old hosts phpmyadmin or such). Also, if you’re moving from a different domain it replaces the urls etc.
3. Create a new DB on your new host, import the DB.
4. Transfer the domain.
Same result, no fiddling with installer scripts and such.
Matt Davis
This is how I would do it.. In addition, you would also need to edit your wp-config.php file with the new DB info (Specifically the database host entry, as I believe importing the old database will create the same database name, user and password on the new one). Also, I would avoid editing your hosts file and instead either use the IP address directly in your browser’s address bar followed by your sub-directory name (if needed) or use the temporary URL most hosters provide when a new account is set up.
The steps in this article are good for someone that doesn’t want to touch configuration files in their Wordpress folders, or who want an all-in-one solution that gets them their site and DB in one step.