Thread

I know this question may come up alot, but I am going to transfer a client site I have been working on for many months to a brand new hosting service. I am pretty scared to do it, because I am afraid I will lose everything. So for my own confidence, I am writing to this board for advice (want to avoid common pitfalls).

What is the best method of backing up and restoring data? Also how do I backup things like global variables and snippets? Do I just install on a new server and populate the templates/global variables/snippets by hand? Is there any software that makes migration easier?

Also if I wanted to have a live server and test server setup, what is the best ways of going about that via expression engine?

I know these questions are kinda broad, but again I am pretty scared to transfer.

1.  Highly recommend enginehosting - they will also backup etc

2.  You can keep the current working setup account for a bit so you can do a 301 redirect as a fail-safe for when you’re working out any issues on the new server setup that will force you offline. 

3. server environments:  config bootstrap at ee-garage.com

Good luck!

Hi Reverie123,

Good news! The process is completely documented in the User Guide: Moving ExpressionEngine to Another Server.

Global Variables, Snippets and Templates, even when using templates-as-files, are store in the database. Using your favorite database utility is the best way to capture a backup of the DB.

Also if I wanted to have a live server and test server setup, what is the best ways of going about that via expression engine?

You can have as many instances of the site as required to support the main installation. Managing multiple environments isn’t built into ExpressionEngine per se, but there are several “bootstrap” configurations that can help. Check out the Focus Lab Master Config.

I’m going to move this thread into the more appropriate Community Help Forum to keep the discussion going.

Cheers!