BackupBuddy is a WordPress backup plugin, but it’s also a WordPress migration plugin. With BackupBuddy, you can easily migrate your entire WordPress site to a new host or new URL or domain.
WordPress Migration Made Easy with BackupBuddy
If you’ve ever needed to move a WordPress site to a new host or new URL or domain, you may not know where to start. BackupBuddy allows you to make a complete backup of the WordPress site, download the zip file of the site and then move the WordPress site to a different host or domain using the ImportBuddy script. BackupBuddy handles migrating the entire site, including all themes, plugins, content, styles and widgets.
Examples of WordPress Migrations include:
- Moving an existing WordPress site to a different URL
- Moving an existing WordPress site from one host to another host
- Moving a WordPress site from a local or development environment to a live site
To perform a WordPress migration with BackupBuddy, you’ll need the following:
- The BackupBuddy plugin installed on the actual WordPress site you wish to migrate or move
- A complete backup of the site (download the zip file after performing the backup with BackupBuddy)
- The ImportBuddy script (download from within the BackupBuddy > Restore/Migrate page or from iThemes Sync)
- An FTP client with FTP access to your hosting account (so you can upload the backup zip file and the ImportBuddy script to the new destination directory)
- A new database along with administrator user credentials to the database (you’ll input this information during Step 3 of the ImportBuddy process).
Move a WordPress Site to New URL or Domain
If you need to change the domain name of your WordPress site, BackupBuddy has you covered.
The general WordPress migration method is:
- Run a complete backup with BackupBuddy and download the backup zip file.
- Download the ImportBuddy.php script from within BackupBuddy or from iThemes Sync.
- Change nameservers if necessary
- Remove the previous WordPress installation from the destination site if there is one already there
- Either create a new database that has an associated user with all privileges (the old destination database will still be there, just not pointed to currently)—OR—wipe the old destination database to re-use it for the migration (Advanced Configuration Options has an option in step 3 to wipe database on import to help if going this route)
- Upload the backup and importbuddy.php file to the web root of the site
- Run importbuddy.php by navigating to it in your web browser (such as www.yoursite.com/importbuddy.php or www.yoursite.com/subdirectory/importbuddy.php or wherever it got uploaded to)
- Follow the importbuddy steps to complete the WordPress migration.
For complete instructions on moving your WordPress site to a new URL, visit the BackupBuddy: Manual Migration documentation.
Move a WordPress Site to New Host
If you need to change hosts for your WordPress site, BackupBuddy makes it easy.
The general WordPress migration method is:
- Run a complete backup with BackupBuddy and download the backup zip file.
- Download the ImportBuddy.php script from within BackupBuddy or from iThemes Sync.
- Remove any WordPress installations from the destination location if there is one already there.
- Create a new database that has an associated user with all privileges
- Using an FTP client, upload the backup zip file and the importbuddy.php script file to the web root of the new host location
- Run the importbuddy.php script by navigating to it in your web browser (such as www.yoursite.com/importbuddy.php or www.yoursite.com/subdirectory/importbuddy.php, depending on where you uploaded the importbuddy script)
- Follow the importbuddy steps to complete the WordPress migration.
For complete instructions on moving your WordPress site to a new host, visit the BackupBuddy: Manual Migration documentation.
Staging & Development Sites with BackupBuddy Deployment
BackupBuddy’s Deployment feature also makes WordPress staging and development sites easy. Deployment is a popular feature for WordPress developers who build a custom site for a client on a temporary domain or locally (like a sandbox or playground site) and then want to move (or migrate) the entire site with themes, plugins, content, styles and widgets over to a live client domain.
With Deployment, you can set up a WordPress staging site and connect it with your existing site using BackupBuddy so you can push or pull changes in as few as two clicks.
