The following procedure was developed for use tightly restricted hosts that prevent a zip archive from getting created. Note that this operation is valid for both Duplicator and Duplicator Pro but is usually not needed in Pro due to its support of the “DupArchive” format. DupArchive was specifically designed to get around limitations imposed by hosts related to zip.
PART 1: Manually copy WordPress files
These steps show how to manually copy from source site to destination.
cPanel (Faster)
- Login to the source site’s cPanel, click “File Manager” and enter the site’s directory*
- Select all files, right click, select “Compress”, choose zip and set name to mysite.zip.
- Download mysite.zip to your local computer
- Upload mysite.zip to the new location*
- Extract mysite.zip and remove the mysite.zip file
FTP
- Login to an FTP Client
- Copy the files from the source site to your computer*
- Copy files from your computer up to the destination site*
*Website directories will likely be public_html, or public_html/sitename. If unsure about where site files are located talk to your host support.
PART 2: Copy the database with Duplicator
After you have all the files uploaded correctly to your new location you will then run all these steps to copy over the database.
1. Create DB Only Package
- Goto Duplicator > Packages > click “Create New” button
- On Step 1 Setup > Archive > check “Archive Only the Database”
- Build package and download package (installer.php and archive.zip/daf) files
2. Transfer Package to Target
- Login to target location via FTP, cPanel or your host’s control panel tools.
- Transfer installer and archive to target location
- If a wp-config.php file exists in this location remove or rename it.
- Open web browser and browse to http://yoursite.com/installer.php
3. Run Installer
- Installer should have ‘Database Only Mode’ in upper right corner.
- On Step 1 > Click the next button
- On Step 2 > Enter database setup info > test connection > click next
For the database setup enter in information on an empty database. You can easily create a new one or simply contact your hosting provider to have them set it up for you and have them give you the setup info. Some hosting providers have specific instructions for connecting to their databases, so be sure ask them what to use.
- On Step 3 > Click the next button
- On Step 4 > Login remove installer files
- Only the database will be updated
After all steps are complete your site should be fully migrated. These two parts together allow you to move your WordPress site in a two stage process.