If you have an existing WordPress website and you may want to migrate your WordPress to a new server then you should do this as easy as possible without losing a lot of time. In this article and video, I will show how I have migrated more then 10 websites on a new server that is using WordOps.

The procedure is not without downtime and it utilizes a free WordPress plugin. Below is the video in case you want to see everything in detail:

Steps for WordPress Migration

Below are the exact steps with commands that needs to be done:

Step 1: Install WPVivid Backup Plugin

For things to be easy you need to install the WPVivid Backup Plugin. This is a free plugin that will help you backup your database and WordPress Files like: uploads, theme and plugin.

Step 2: Take a Backup of Your site

After WPVivid is installed you just need to take a backup of your site and download it to your PC. To do this you just need to push the below button:

Step 3: Change the A Records to The New Server

As a DNS manager I am using CloudFlare, also WordOps doesn’t come with a DNS so you need to use a external one. For the domain to point to the new site you need to change the A record for the main site to go to the new IP :

After you should wait for about 20 minutes so the server to see the new IP and add the WordOps WordPress.

Step 4: Add a WordOps WordPress

Next you need to login to your WordOps VPS and add the website, the command should be as bellow to add a Let’s Encrypt certificate and Redis caching:

wo site create domain.tld --wpredis -le --force --php74

In case you have issue with cert generation as the server is not seeing the right DNS you can try flush the DNS and wait some more, after you can run the bellow:

#Flush DNS
sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches
#Add the Certificate
wo site update domain.tld -le --force

Step 5: Install WPVivid and Upload the Backup

To be able to restore the backup you need to install WPVivid on this fresh install and upload your backup. You just need to go to upload tab and upload the backup, after will appear in backups and you just hit restore:

Step 6: Change the domain from NON WWW to WWW

With the initial user you can login to your site and go to Settings – General and change the WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL)

Step 7: Configure the Cache Plugins

WordOps comes with 2 plugins NginX Helper and Redis Object Cache, you need to activate and enable both plugins to take care of the caching and have a fast site.

That should be everything that you need to do, I have done this for more then 10 sites and the only issues I faced is with the DNS details not updating fast.