WordPress - Transfer / Migrate

Transfer / migrate from another hosting provider…

Database

Tip

We have two options for creating a MySQL backup. Our preference (at the moment) is to use Backup database using cPanel, Terminal rather than Backup database using phpMyAdmin. For more information, see Restore Issue (below)…

Backup database using cPanel, Terminal

cPanel, Advanced, Terminal, identify the folder containing your site e.g. www_hatherleigh_info. Check in wp-config.php for the database name, user and password, then backup:

mysqldump --user=www_hatherleigh_info --password=MyPassword --no-tablespaces www_hatherleigh_info > 2021-11-01-www_hatherleigh_info.sql

Download the backup to your server e.g:

ssh
wget ftp://72.720.72.72/2021-11-01-www_hatherleigh_info.sql --ftp-user=user@name.co.uk --ftp-password=abcdefgh

Then Restore database …

Backup database using phpMyAdmin

From Backing Up Your Database. Log into cPanel, then phpMyAdmin:

Select the database in the left hand panel.
Export (make sure the correct database name is listed in Exporting tables from “…” database).
Quick
Format SQL
Go

e.g. wpbackup.sql

Copy the database backup to your server.

Restore database

Restore the database:

mysql --user=www_hatherleigh_info --password=MyPassword www_hatherleigh_info < wpbackup.sql

Restore Issue

MySQL had an issue restoring the backup:

ERROR 2013 (HY000) at line 308244: Lost connection to MySQL server during query

The MySQL log contains the following:

2021-11-01T09:06:02.289281Z 0 [ERROR] [MY-013183] [InnoDB] Assertion failure: ddl0builder.cc:1495:n >= IO_BLOCK_SIZE thread 140515207010048
InnoDB: We intentionally generate a memory trap.
InnoDB: Submit a detailed bug report to http://bugs.mysql.com.
InnoDB: If you get repeated assertion failures or crashes, even
InnoDB: immediately after the mysqld startup, there may be
InnoDB: corruption in the InnoDB tablespace. Please refer to
InnoDB: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/forcing-innodb-recovery.html
InnoDB: about forcing recovery.
09:06:02 UTC - mysqld got signal 6 ;

I managed to workaround this issue by backing up using mysqldump and the --no-tablespaces option (Backup database using cPanel, Terminal).

Although I did manage a successful restore after using Backup database using phpMyAdmin by setting net-read-timeout = 60 in /etc/mysql/mysql.cnf:

Files

Tip

Downloading files directly to the server will save time downloading to your workstation, then copying back to the cloud.

Tip

Backing Up Your WordPress Files says, The important files to back up would be your wp-config.php file, which contains your settings and your wp-content directory (plus its contents) which contains all your theme and plugin files.

Tip

Browse the folders in your project before downloaded. Check for very large files (e.g. old backups) and remove (if you are sure they aren’t used).

Tip

For our old notes on WordPress backup, see WordPress (Old Notes)

cPanel, Advanced, Terminal, identify the folder containing your site e.g. public_html and archive:

tar cvzf 2021-10-26-public_html.tgz public_html/

Download the archive to your server e.g:

ssh
wget ftp://72.720.72.72/2021-10-26-public_html.tgz --ftp-user=user@name.co.uk --ftp-password=abcdefgh

Extract the archive (as root):

sudo -i root
cd /home/web/repo/project/www.hatherleigh.info/live
tar --strip-components=1 -xzf /home/patrick/repo/temp/2021-10-26-public_html.tgz

Re-run the Salt states (or this command to set the initial permissions):

chown -R www-data:www-data /home/web/repo/project/www.hatherleigh.info/live/