Moving ExpressionEngine to Another Server¶

1. Verify Server Compatibility¶

Upload the Server Compatibility Wizard to the new server and run it to verify basic compatibility with ExpressionEngine.

2. Synchronize Templates¶

You can skip this step if you are not saving templates as files.

From the Control Panel, go to Design ‣ Templates ‣ Template Manager ‣ Synchronize Templates, select all templates and click Submit.

3. Clear Caches¶

Go to Tools ‣ Data ‣ Clear Caching. Select All Caches and click Submit.

4. Back-up Database and Files¶

• Back-up your existing ExpressionEngine database.
• Back-up all existing ExpressionEngine files and folders.

5. Prepare the New Database¶

Create a new, empty database on the new server and import the back-up file you created in Step 4 into it. Typically this will be a SQL file (or a ZIP file containing the SQL file).

6. Copy Files and Folders¶

Copy all ExpressionEngine files and folders from the old server to the new server. At a minimum, this will typically include:

• admin.php
• index.php
• images/
• system/
• themes/

Your folder structure may look a bit different if the site was configured to run with the system folder renamed or above web root.

7. Verify File Permissions¶

The following permissions are typical for UNIX-based hosts. You may want to check with your host to see if more restrictive permissions can be used to allow PHP to write to files (666) and folders (777). On Windows servers the following will not apply, but you will need to ensure that the files and folders are writable by ExpressionEngine. You may need to contact your host for this.

• Ensure the following files are set to 666:
  • system/expressionengine/config/config.php
  • system/expressionengine/config/database.php
• Ensure the following folders are set to 777:
  • system/expressionengine/cache/
  • images/avatars/uploads/
  • images/captchas/
  • images/member_photos/
  • images/pm_attachments/
  • images/signature_attachments/
  • images/uploads/

8. Update database.php¶

Open system/expressionengine/config/database.php and update the settings to match those of the new server.

9. Verify index.php and admin.php¶

Verify that your site’s root index.php and admin.php files have the correct settings for the new server.

10. Log In and Update Paths¶

At this point, you should be able to log in to the Control Panel using admin.php. If not, please verify that the settings made in Steps 8 and 9 are correct.

There are typically several areas of the Control Panel in which paths may need to be updated, including:

• Admin ‣ General Configuration
• Admin ‣ Security and Privacy ‣ Captcha Preferences
• Admin ‣ System Administration ‣ Emoticon Preferences
• Content ‣ Files ‣ File Upload Preferences
• Members ‣ Preferences
• Design ‣ Templates ‣ Global Preferences
• Admin ‣ Channel Administration ‣ Channels

You can also set many of these paths in your config.php file using configuration variables:

$config['site_url'] = "http://example.com/";

$config['tmpl_file_basepath']   = "/home/user/example.com/templates/";

$config['theme_folder_url'] = "http://example.com/themes/";
$config['theme_folder_path'] = "/home/user/example.com/themes/";

$config['captcha_url'] = "http://example.com/images/captchas/";
$config['captcha_path'] = "/home/user/example.com/images/captchas/";

$config['emoticon_url'] = "http://example.com/images/smileys/";

$config['avatar_url'] = "http://example.com/images/avatars/";
$config['avatar_path'] = "/home/user/example.com/images/avatars/";

$config['photo_url'] = "http://example.com/images/member_photos/";
$config['photo_path'] = "/home/user/example.com/images/member_photos/";

$config['sig_img_url'] = "http://example.com/images/signature_attachments/";
$config['sig_img_path'] = "/home/user/example.com/images/signature_attachments/";

$config['upload_preferences'] = array(
    1 => array(                                                            // ID of upload destination
        'name'        => 'Image Uploads',                          // Display name in control panel
        'server_path' => '/home/user/example.com/images/uploads/', // Server path to upload directory
        'url'         => 'http://example.com/images/uploads/'      // URL of upload directory
    )
);

11. Clear Caches (Again!)¶

Go to Tools ‣ Data ‣ Clear Caching. Select All Caches and click Submit.

You’re Done!¶

At this point, your site should be fully functional. Check to make sure that there are no links still pointing to the previous server. It is recommended that links be generated using the {path} or {site_url} variables for maximum portability.