What did you use to create the backup? That would be crucial to know in order to tell you how to proceed.
Hi @threadi thanks for replying, the backup was done through cPanel > files > backup as advised by my current Hosts.
Okay, then it probably contains all the files, but probably not the database. I’m not familiar with cPanel Backup, and it has nothing to do with WordPress itself.
My recommendation: you have the file locally on your computer. Unzip it there and see what’s inside. You need a directory that contains the subdirectories wp-admin, wp-content, and wp-includes, as well as some files such as wp-load.php. Once you’ve found it, you need to upload this exact directory to your new hosting provider as it is.
Note: simply uploading the zipped file will not automatically unzip it. In addition, the directory structure may be different from that of your previous host, so I recommend unzipping it locally first and checking it as described above.
Back to the database: it contains all the content and settings of the website. It may be included in some form in the zipped file. If so, it will probably (again, just a guess as I am not familiar with cPanel backups) be an SQL file that you can import into the new hosting via phpmyadmin. Your new host’s support team will certainly be able to help you with this. However, if there is no database available, you will have to request it again from your old host or find and export it yourself (also using a tool such as phpmyadmin).
Thank you, I have upzipped it on my local drive and I can see some SQL files in there but nothing that links to the wp- files. It did state quite a few files couldnt be unzipped while it was doing it. Wonder were these some of them.
Could I not just downloads the WP- files directly through FTP on the current host and then re-upload through FTP onto my new hosts public folder.
Or is this not the correct way to do it
Hi @afcleytonsec,
Could I not just downloads the WP- files directly through FTP on the current host and then re-upload through FTP onto my new hosts public folder.
That should also work. As long as you can import the SQL files (the database), re-uploading the WP files via FTP should work.
However, an easier workflow would be to consider a migration plugin. Maybe you could also explore that? You can check the following list of plugins:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/migration/
Regards,
Nithin
Okay, so you obviously have a backup of the database and you’re missing the files.
Could I not just downloads the WP- files directly through FTP on the current host and then re-upload through FTP onto my new hosts public folder.
Yes, you can definitely do that. It is important that you have the files from wp-content – all of them. These include images from your website as well as all currently used plugins. The directories wp-admin, wp-includes, and the files in the main directory belong to the WordPress core. You can also download these, of course – just everything 🙂
As a result, you should then have:
- The database as a compressed backup.
- The directories and files separately.
You then upload the latter to your new hosting via FTP.
You import the database into the new hosting via phpmyadmin or whatever database tool your host provides.
Finally, you need to edit the wp-config.php file. In this file, you need to enter the database access data from the new host. They will provide you with this information, which you then enter here. Upload the file to the new host via FTP (to the directory where wp-load.php is located).
You should then be able to access the website on the new host.
By the way, here is an article that describes the basic procedure. You may also find a few tips that are useful to you: https://developer.wordpress.org/advanced-administration/upgrade/migrating/#moving-to-a-new-server
@wpmudevsupport11 I had considered looking at a plugin to do this, but ive read such mixed things on various forums its left me a little anxious. Some one will suggest one, then others tear it down as terrible and advise not to use it. I dont know of any that stand out as a solid choice.
@threadi Thank you once again, your helped me massivly before when I needed to reinstall my wordpress core files and it seems you have done it again, this is really helpful thank you.
