Backup and Migration plugins
I just got done testing the backup/migration plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/
I must say it worked well for my needs.
I logged in to the existing wordpress site, installed the plugin and did a full export, to my local computer.
I did a fresh install of wordpress on a different server, installed the plugin and then did an import.
One thing I ran into during the import process, was that I also had to install another extension which allowed the free version of the plugin to import more then 2 megs, (the import was 491 megs)
Now for additional background, let me also explain a few "what-if's" that most likely many of you would not need to worry about.
First, instead of upgrading to the latest greatest wordpress, I chose to install the same version I was migrating.
Also, I was exporting an https site, and installing on an http site (I will get the cert for it after the dns move since the old host was not very co-operative in helping me export the current cert)
And here is one almost no one would experience. Since I am moving this site to an entire different server and ip class, I had to write an entry in my host file, with the new ip address, so that I could access the fresh install under the correct host name (domain) and perform the import. (Sure I could have logged in using the ip but I kinda like doing it the geek's way so that domains all match etc and I wanted to verify everything is intact for the domain name upon the dns move)
I have used plugins in the past to perform migrations, and they do sometimes have benefits, since depending on the setup the import process handles the db import process well and some times the less geeky folks do not not like messing about more then they have to in webmin, mysql admin, workbench or whatever method of managing mysql is provided to them.
Since this is the first try using this particular plugin in the future I will play around with the automated backups and such, and may well try importing again in the future on a different server to see how well the disaster recovery works, since that is when backups are always needed, when they are unscheduled and unplanned.
If others have additional plugins they recommend for back or migration, let us know and be sure to tell us if you have used them to perform imports or re-installs and how it went.
The reason I chose this plugin to use was based on a search at wordpress and I notice of the two top rated plugins, this one had a few thousand more 5 star ratings (over 6000) then the next competitor, which was updraft plus (over 3000 5 stars)
For a free plugin on 1st try, darn happy with the results.
Side note:
After the fresh install of wordpress on the new server, copy all the folders back, but do not over-write the wp-config or in my case the htaccess. In my scenario I was migrating FROM a local host, to a mysql server on the lan that is only accessed from the web servers on the private lan
If back to same server, using local host, and http/https matches, using the exact same database server, same username and password this would probably be acceptable, so adjust according to your specific situation.
Rick
Universal4
