Goal:  Migrate a WordPress Site from a hosted provider to an IONOS cloud instance.

Video:  Check out the Webinar where we walk through this process

As a reminder, it is always important to test prior to making any production changes. that is why this how to starts with restoring the WordPress site to another DNS name, test your site on the new name to verify that everything is going to function properly when moved.

This how-to is going to go through the following

• Building and installing a cloud WordPress instance https://ionoslabs.com/index.php/get-started-wordpress/
• Create a DNS entry for this new instance for WordPress testing
• Installing the Updraft Pro plugin on an existing WordPress site
• Backing up the existing site and downloading to local machine
• Installing the Updraft Pro plugin on the new cloud WordPress instance
• Restoring the site on the new instance for testing
• After testing verified, change the URL to production name

Building and installing a cloud WordPress instance https://ionoslabs.com/index.php/get-started-wordpress/

1. Login to the IONOS DCD at https://dcd.ionos.com
2. Create your Virtual Data Center
3. Create your server instance by dragging the server icon to the design grid
4. Connect the server to the internet by clicking the plus sign on the server and dragging to the internet icon
5. Click on the HDD storage and drag onto the server
6. From right select image drop down and select the most recent version of Ubuntu
7. Set the desired root password in the password field
8. From right click “Copy to Clipboard” for the WordPress Deploy
9. Within the DCD click “Cloud-Init user data” click in the “User Data” field and paste the cloud-config
10. Click “OK” and then click “Provision Changes” this will start the server build
11. To follow the build WordPress build process right click on the instance and select “Console”  login with username root and the password you previously set.  type “tail -f /var/log/cloud-init-output.log  The installation is complete when the text stops scrolling and you see entries for “Database Name, Database User, Database password, and Mysql root password.  Make note of these randomly generated values for future reference
12. Get the DHCP assigned address by clicking on the instance and going to the “Network” tab on the right and copy the IP address listed in “Primary IPv4”
13. Paste the previously copied IP address into a web browser to complete the WordPress setup with the test DNS name you plan to use ex test.anywherecity.net

Create a DNS entry for this new instance for WordPress testing

Note: Depending on your hosting provider you may or may not be able to manage your DNS settings, please check your hosting providers capabilities

• Login to your hosting providers console and locate the DNS section
• Create a new A record for your new WordPress instance with the IP address assigned  ex. test.anywherecity.net 192.168.1.10

Change the WordPress site URL

• Login to wp-admin section of the new WordPress site
• Go to Settings –> General
  • Change the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to the new DNS entry you created ex http://test.anywherecity.net
• Scroll to the bottom of screen and click “Save Changes” you should then be redirected to login to wp-admin section again.

Installing the Updraft Pro plugin on source WordPress site

• Follow the updraft plus plugin install instructions from here https://updraftplus.com/download/
• Now Perform a backup
• Download the backup files to your local computer by going to Settings –> UpdraftPlus Backups
  • Find your backup listed at the bottom and click on each item next to date of backup to download, ex. “Database” “Plugins” etc..

Installing Updraft Pro plugin to destination site

• Follow the updraft plus plugin install instructions from here https://updraftplus.com/download/
• Register your plugin by going to the UpdraftPlus menu and selecting  “Backup/Restore” and then “Premium Extensions” login with Updraft Pro premium username and password.
• Once successfully connected to Updraft pro account, under the addons section click on the link “Available to claim on this site – activate it on this site”
• Go back to the “Backup/Restore” tab and scroll down to “Existing Backups” and click on “Upload backup files”
• Select the previously downloaded backup files from the source site to upload

Restoring and testing

• Once the backup files have been uploaded, go to the “Migrate/Clone” tab within the UpdraftPlus Backup/Restore page
• Click “Restore an existing backup set onto this site”
• Select the date of the backup from the Restore dropdown and click “Restore”
• Select all of the items in the next screen
• In the next screen make sure that “Search and replace site location in the database (migrate)” is selected and continue restore
• Once restored, test functionality of site with test url

Place site in production mode

• Once testing and validation are complete, you can change the site to production URL
• Log in to hosting provider and change production DNS records to point to new instance  ex.  www.anywherecity.net 10.10.10.20
• Log in to wp-admin section on new site and change the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) to the production DNS entry ex. http://anywherecity.net

Happy building!