By petercrowell on

I'm brand new, so even if the answer to this is obvious, it is not so to me. I've got an instance of drupal on my Mac and plan to do all the site building there, then upload via ftp to my Web host's server.

When it comes to uploading, do I just upload the whole shooting match? Should I just upload the whole directory and click "replace" when Filezilla cues me?

I'm unsure because of all the password settings and admin configurations.

Any help?

Thanks!

PS: I post this at the risk of double posting, but proceed in the hope that this question is much more specific than my last, enough so to warrant a new thread.

Comments

mm167’s picture

mm167 commented

(updated ...)

what I can say to all of you ...

have a nice weekend.

minesota’s picture

minesota commented

What usually I do (assuming XAMP/localhost environ in my pc and webhost environ almost same):

Create a database at the production site

Import into that the database dump from my pc ( using export-import function of phpmyadmin )

Make necessary change in the database name, db user name and password in settings.php and upload it there

Copy all the files and folders there.

It works!

glennr’s picture

glennr commented

Just uploading the files won't work. You've got to import the database too. And I agree that recreating the site from scratch is the most foolproof way for beginners. But that sounds like too much unnecessary work, you can leave that as your Plan B. For Plan A, here's a quick and easy way that should work on most straightforward setups:

  1. Install and enable the Backup and Migrate module on your local Drupal installation, then use it to Backup/Export the database. Just keep the default settings, choosing 'Download' as the destination (and remembering where you save the sql file!).
  2. Archive all the files in your local /files folder, plus the sites/all/modules and sites/all/themes folders (at least, those modules and themes you need for the live site).
  3. Create a new Drupal installation on your web host.
  4. Upload, and unarchive, all the (files, modules and themes) archives to the equivalent folders in the new Drupal installation.
  5. Enable the Backup and Migrate module on the new Drupal installation, then use it to Restore/Import the sql file that you created when backing up your local Drupal installation.

Your local site should now be replicated on the web host. If it doesn't work, you can always delete the database (using phpmyadmin or whatever) and go back to Plan B. . .

deslick’s picture

deslick commented

Thank you for this information! These steps worked brilliantly!

petercrowell’s picture

petercrowell commented

Thanks everyone for your input.

Does it matter that I'm using a Mac? Also, my local instance of Drupal is done with MAMP.

Replicating from scratch seems the more risky way, because I'm sure to miss something, but that may be a good way to learn.

glennr, the process you describe seems like something I should learn, also. I already have an instance of drupal on my Web server (Webhero.com), with a database created there also. When I import my local instance onto the Web server, am I replacing the Web server database? Do they have to have the same name?

Is there a thorough resource that covers this topic?

Thanks again, everyone.

glennr’s picture

glennr commented

No, if you already have Drupal up and running on your local computer, it doesn't matter that you're using a Mac with MAMP: the basic process of migrating to a live web host is much the same.

And, yes, restoring a sql file using Backup and Migrate will overwrite the existing database. Sorry, I should have emphasised the importance of restoring it to a new Drupal installation.

So, it depends on whether you need to keep the existing live site on your web host. If it's not vital but you want to keep it as a backup, just use the technique I described above to back up that live Drupal site too (before step 3 above). Then delete that database, create a new Drupal installation, and restore the database and files from your MAMP installation as I described above.

On the other hand, if you need to keep the existing live site and add the site from your MAMP installation (say, in a sub-folder or sub-domain), you'll need to create a Drupal multi-site, which a whole other topic.

Regarding resources on this stuff, by far the best resource I've found is drupal.org's advanced search form. However, I recommend the above technique. The only time it hasn't worked perfectly for me is when I restored a site with some custom Javascript from a standard local installation to a live multi-site environment. However, that was reasonably easily fixed with some adjustments to paths.

flashy’s picture

flashy commented

Hi, I have followed this thread, which has been of most use! However, I have been given the option by my host provider to purchase a database upgrade to mysql 6. Would this be sufficent? I am unsure whether this is a decisive matter or not. In general what tools do you need to launch? Also, just to add another question, what happens to all the internal links and images - which have been added via HTML? Thanks and please excuse the newbie questions. X x x