Move from Local macOS Development Sandbox (MAMP) to Live Production Environment

Follow these steps to move a local, MAMP development environment to a live, production environment (that has shell and WP-CLI enabled; good web hosts do). We will be using command line to achieve this end. The reason to use command line instead of graphical interfaces, like the myriad of available (S)FTP clients or phpMyAdmin, is that command line lends better performance and reliability. Graphical interfaces will time out, or seemingly take forever to load, if your files are large. There is a higher learning curve to command line—it will feel initially like yawping haphazardly into a void—but the reaped time savings make it well worth practicing.

Finalize everything in your local development environment (by adding, removing, editing, and updating plugins, themes, WordPress, content) before proceeding.

First: Back Up

1. Local wp-content folder:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   cd [Local WordPress Path] (drag WordPress folder from Finder to Terminal to get path)
   mkdir -p my-wp-backups && tar -czvf wp-content-`date +%F`.tar.gz wp-content -C my-wp-backups
2. Local wp-config.php file:
   cp wp-config.php my-wp-backups/wp-config-`date +%F`.php
3. Local MySQL database:
   [Local mysqldump Path] -u [DB_USER] -p --opt [DB_NAME] > wp-database.sql (e.g., /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqldump) (see local wp-config.php file for DB_USER, DB_NAME, and DB_PASSWORD)
   enter DB_PASSWORD
tar -czvf wp-database-`date +%F`.sql.tar.gz wp-database.sql -C my-wp-backups
rm wp-database.sql
4. Production wp-content folder:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   ssh username@example.com (e.g., ssh adamcap.com@adamcap.com)
   enter password
   cd [Production WordPress Path] (e.g., cd html)
   mkdir -p my-wp-backups && tar -czvf wp-content-`date +%F`.tar.gz wp-content -C my-wp-backups
5. Production wp-config.php file:
   cp wp-config.php my-wp-backups/wp-config-`date +%F`.php
6. Production MySQL database:
   wp db export wp-database.sql
tar -czvf wp-database-`date +%F`.sql.tar.gz wp-database.sql -C my-wp-backups
rm wp-database.sql

Second: Upload wp-content

1. Gzip local wp-content folder:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   cd [Local WordPress Path] (drag WordPress folder from Finder to Terminal to get path)
   mv wp-content wp-content-new && tar -czvf wp-content-new.tar.gz wp-content-new && mv wp-content-new wp-content
2. Upload local .tar.gz file to production:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   scp [Local .tar.gz Path] [username@example.com]:[Production WordPress Path] (drag .tar.gz file from Finder to Terminal to get path) (obtain from web host; e.g., adamcap.com@adamcap.com:/var/www/html/ad/adamcap.com)
   enter password
3. Unzip production .tar.gz file:
   ssh username@example.com (e.g., ssh adamcap.com@adamcap.com)
   enter password
   cd [Production WordPress Path] (e.g., cd html)
   mkdir wp-content-new && tar -xzvf wp-content-new.tar.gz -C wp-content-new --strip-components 1
4. (Switch production wp-content folder:)
   mv wp-content wp-content-old && mv wp-content-new wp-content
5. (Revert production wp-content folder:)
   mv wp-content wp-content-new && mv wp-content-old wp-content

Third: Prepare wp-config.php

1. Copy production wp-config.php file:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   ssh username@example.com (e.g., ssh adamcap.com@adamcap.com)
   enter password
   cd [Production WordPress Path] (e.g., cd html)
   cp wp-config.php wp-config-new.php
2. Edit production wp-config-new.php file:
   nano wp-config-new.php
   Update DB_NAME, DB_USER, and DB_PASSWORD (and verify $table_prefix)
   control + O (to save), control + X (to exit)
3. (Switch production wp-config.php file:)
   mv wp-config.php wp-config-old.php && mv wp-config-new.php wp-config.php
4. (Revert production wp-config.php file:)
   mv wp-config.php wp-config-new.php && mv wp-config-old.php wp-config.php

Fourth: Move database

1. Export local MySQL database:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   cd [Local WordPress Path] (drag WordPress folder from Finder to Terminal to get path)
   [Local mysqldump Path] -u [DB_USER] -p[DB_PASSWORD] --opt [DB_NAME] > wp-database-new.sql (e.g., /Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysqldump) (see local wp-config.php file for DB_USER, DB_NAME, and DB_PASSWORD)
2. Gzip local .sql file:
   tar -czvf wp-database-new.sql.tar.gz wp-database-new.sql
3. Upload local .tar.gz file:
   open new Terminal window/tab
   scp [Local .tar.gz Path] [username@example.com]:[Production WordPress Path] (drag .tar.gz file from Finder to Terminal to get path) (obtain from web host; e.g., adamcap.com@adamcap.com:/var/www/html/ad/adamcap.com)
   enter password
4. (Delete unneeded/old local files and folders:)
   rm wp-content-new.tar.gz
rm wp-database-new.sql
rm wp-database-new.sql.tar.gz
5. Unzip production .tar.gz file:
   ssh [username@example.com] (e.g., ssh adamcap.com@adamcap.com)
   enter password
   cd [Production WordPress Path] (e.g., cd html)
   tar -xzvf wp-database-new.sql.tar.gz
6. Switch production wp-content folder:
   mv wp-content wp-content-old && mv wp-content-new wp-content
7. Switch production wp-config.php file:
   mv wp-config.php wp-config-old.php && mv wp-config-new.php wp-config.php
   (wp config shuffle-salts)
8. Create new production database:
   wp db drop ; wp db create
9. Import production .sql file into production database:
   wp db import wp-database-new.sql
10. Search/replace production database:
    wp search-replace $(wp option get siteurl) [Production Site URL] (e.g., wp search-replace $(wp option get siteurl) https://adamcap.com)
    (wp search-replace [Local Hostname] [Production Hostname])
    (wp search-replace http://[Production Hostname] https://[Production Hostname])
11. (Revert production wp-content folder:)
    mv wp-content wp-content-new && mv wp-content-old wp-content
12. (Revert production wp-config.php file:)
    mv wp-config.php wp-config-new.php && mv wp-config-old.php wp-config.php
13. (Delete unneeded/old production files and folders:)
    rm wp-content-new.tar.gz
rm wp-database-new.sql
rm wp-database-new.sql.tar.gz
rm -rf wp-content-old
rm wp-config-old.php

See Also

• Move from Live Production Environment to Local macOS Development Sandbox (MAMP) (coming soon)