June 26th, 2008Successful Wordpress Server to Server Migration
Smart Computer Dog Installing Wordpress
I have successfully migrated my Wordpress installation from 1&1 hosting to my very own dedicated server. I am not an expert with Linux, MySQL and technical things so I am REAL proud of myself! Wahoo!!!
1&1 is one of the biggest Web Hosting companies but the service is bad and their servers have been very rough with my Blog and Podcast! Lots of “Error 500” and various problems. I guess it couldn’t handle the daily visitors, so I got myself a dedicated server! Up to now it’s working like a charm except I’ve had to hard reboot my server a few times for unknown reasons.
The wordpress migration from one server to the other went perfectly fine except for one thing. It took me 2 hours to figure out my .htaccess was messing up my entire site! So I deleted it and configured it properly.
How to Migrate your Wordpress Installation
- Backup your site. Export your database using PhpMyAdmin and backup all your blog’s files through FTP.
- Create a Database in your new PhpMyAdmin and import your SQL file. Write down the name of the new database, the username and password to access the database.
- Add your new domain in your Web Control Panel (CPANEL), so it creates an FTP folder and the associations between the folder on the server and the URL request.
- Upload your files on your new FTP.
- Modify your wp-config.php file with the new database information.
- Modify the DNS to point to your new web server.
- Wait a few hours
- Now it should be working! I usually check all my Wordpress settings and Plugins.
If your Site doesn’t Work
- Trying deleting your .htaccess file inside the root directory.
- Remove your php.ini if there is one.
- Check your file and folder permissions on your FTP. You might have to chmod 777 some files and directories.
- Are you sure the new DNS are already in place? Upload a random file and try to access it.
- Check if your wp-config.php is correctly setup.
Read more info about moving your Wordpress Blog, Click Here.
Main Feed
November 25th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Just one thing. Better to test the site before to point DNS.
You should to point the “hosts” on Your client to do it.
January 18th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
My case is exactly like yours.
I am having the same problems with my website which is being hosted by 1and1 and I keep getting these internal 500 server messages.
So now I have finally decided to move on and migrate my site. I am planning to migrate my site to MediaTemple and use their grid server hosting since I am hearing rave reviews about them on different blogs.
What I would like to know is, how do you carry out the 6th step – Modify the DNS to point to your new web server?
Could you elaborate on this with respect to 1and1.
Thanks.
January 18th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
(Forgot to check the ‘notify by email for followup comments….so this one)
January 18th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Hey Troy!
It’s been a while since I modified DNS address but if I remember correctly, you simply goto your domain config settings and use external DNS addresses (not 1and1 DNS) and set the primary and secondary DNS of your new ISP.
Does that make sense?
January 18th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Hmmm…will try it out. When you say wait a few hours [step number 7], how much roughly? 24, 48, 36?
Thanks
January 18th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
The DNS servers across the world have to propagate the DNS changes so it takes anywhere from 2 hours to 24 hours. Voila! Good luck with your Migration! I got myself a dedicated server with dedibox france and I’m REAL happy about it!
January 20th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I did it!
Hopefully I will write a comprehensive report on my migration experience. It was almost migraine introducing as I hit couple of roadblocks on the way.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Excellent job!
Once you’ve done it properly once, you feel a lot more confident about your technical competence!
What “roadblocks” did you hit during your wordpress migration?
What’s your blog’s url?
January 20th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
The DB dump was more than double the limit imposed by PhPAdmin import feature.
I figured out a simple way – importing table by table.
Before the migration, I had no clue the structure of WP_Database. Now it seems like a piece of cake.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:50 am
Big Ouch! Table by Table! That sounds nuts!
I find a wordpress database is easily movable under 20MB. More than 20MB means you have a HUGE blog! 20MB of text is a lot of information!
I had a blog using feedwordpress and my db was 80MB ! Only way to get to that much is by scraping others content! I’ve been posting articles for more than 2 years on xarj.net and my db is less than 10MB!