Moving your blog to a new server
I am continuing the series of answers to questions that were asked in my pre-Christmas post. You can ask your questions to be added to the series by commenting on this or any other post.
Today’s question:
I have a question for you. What is the procedure to use if you want to transfer a current blog to a different server? Can you just back it up on the current server and then restore it to the new server?
Okay to answer this question I need to make an assumption and any regular reader knows how I feel about the word assume. I will assume that you are dealing with a shared hosting account. If you are moving it to a new account on your own dedicated server you can usually move it direct through the WHM which I will not be addressing. End of assumptions.
Copy all of the files off of your existing server to a folder and export the complete data base through phpMyAdmin to your computer. Set up the new account on your new server.
Create a data base on the new server. It is best to use the same names and password that you had on the old server. (Open the config.php file to find this information.) Do make sure that the location is the same. Most are set to local host. If your old host used a remote data base sever and your new one does not you will need to edit the config.php file but most will be using local host.
It will show like this in the config.php file if you are using local host.
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // 99% chance you won’t need to change this value
Now upload all of the files you originally downloaded in the same structure that you had them on the previous server.
Note: It is important that if the blog was in the root (public_html) or a sub folder like blog that it is in the same place on the new server.
Import the data base to the new one you created using phpMyAdmin.
Now you can change the nameservers for the domain to point to your new server and you should be good to go.
As always your questions and comments are welcomed.
About the author
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Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps |
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6 comments
Ron Barrett on January 7, 2010 at 8:46 am
This does sound a bit complicated, especially if someone doesn’t know how, or is not experienced in how, the file structure works. It looks like as long as you follow the instructions accurately, you shouldn’t have any problems.
Good information to have.
Thanks
Ron Barrett´s last blog ..Webhosting for Newbies – Getting Your Website Online
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Mike Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 8:56 am
Yes you do need some skills in FTP and understanding of using phpMyAdmin. If not a definite job to be outsourced to someone that does.
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Lonnie Minton on January 7, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Mike, thanks for this info on moving your blog to a new server. I have been needing to do that and will now attemp it with your instructions. Wasn’t sure how to handle the database.
Lonnie Minton´s last blog ..Affiliate Marketing PLR Bundle with Private Label Rights
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Earl Netwal
Twitter: EarlNetwal
on January 7, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I have blogs on two different servers, although no plans to move any of them, its nice to get a heads up on what would be involved. And based on your description, it shouldn’t be that difficult – if I remember to search for this post. If nothing else I now understand that it is possible and not too dificult a thing to do.
Earl Netwal´s last blog ..Creative Use of Clickbank as a Free Marketing Intelligence Tool
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Joel Osborne
Twitter: JoelOsborne
on January 7, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Thanks for the post Mike. Until I moved my first blog from one host to another, I was pretty worried about doing it. But once you do it, it really isn’t that hard to do. Just make sure to back up everything before hand in case anything should happen.
Joel Osborne´s last blog ..Avoid Bad Quality PLR Material by Nicole Dean of Easy PLR
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Luca Di Nicola
Twitter: rsonline
on January 9, 2010 at 9:31 am
Mike, I just finished moving one of my blogs to new host and the next one will be easier. I followed your instructions but the only problem I encountered was the export and import of the databases. I had timeouts on both ends. The db size was 14mb so not to big. I had my old host do a db dump for me and had to help to import it – my son used ssh to do that.
I agree with Joel though until you do your first one there is a lot of worry so it might be better to outsource to an expert like you.
Great learning experience though
Luca Di Nicola´s last blog ..How to Create Effective Goals for 2010 and Beyond
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