Can I migrate my wordpress site to a new server without mySQL/database?

September 3, 2020 1:13 PM

Actually its slightly more complicated than that. I may have MySQL in a Boldgrid backup I've been running but my knowledge of this stuff doesn't go that deep.

So buckle up, its a weird one.
Back in 2010 when I was first starting to get my portfolio online, a friend offered me free hosting space. I of course took him up on this and it worked great for years. Over time I decided I wanted faster hosting but what really forced my hand is that I couldn't get my SSL cert to take on the site. I decided to start over and move out on my own.
Only problem? He has no idea how to access my cPanel, and spookier still when I contacted the hosting company Liquid Hosting they couldn't find any record of me past or present. Thankfully they didn't pull my site down but that also might be because they have no idea where it is and it doesnt use enough bandwidth for them to care anyway.
So I do regular backups of the site through Boldgrid and I think theres MySQL data in there, but again thats out of my depth.
Is there a way to migrate a site without it? Or does anyone have guidance toward alternate routes of finding it?
I have FTP access to the server, but that hasn't helped.
Thanks!

posted by Senor Cardgage to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

If you're using Boldgrid you should be able to restore your WordPress instance from its backups. What I'd do is go ahead and get a new hosting provider for WordPress that allows you to install BoldGrid and try restoring to it. That way you'll know for sure whether it works.
posted by jzb at 1:18 PM on September 3, 2020

If you have access to the wordpress site's dashboard then you'd be able to export your posts, comments, etc. to a file that you could then import in a new wordpress install. I've done that before and it works pretty well. Looking at the import section of the dashboard of my site it looks like it can even pull stuff straight from a site, no need to do a manual export and import, but I've never tried that.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:46 PM on September 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

If you plan to completely revamp the site and thus only need the actual content, not any configuration for the site and its plugins, any portmanteau's suggestion is the easiest option for you.

If you do need the full database, the information you need to connect to said database can be found in one of the configuration files in your WordPress root folder. You can download that with FTP and get the necessary username, password, database type, and server address.

Personally, I'd probably upload a copy of PHPMyAdmin and use that to do a full DB dump, but a WordPress backup plugin should also be able to do the job.
posted by wierdo at 5:01 AM on September 4, 2020

I don't know Boldgrid. I do know UpdraftPlus and recommend it. If you pay them money for the full migration tool (and know your way around plugins, uploads, downloads), it will do what you need.

Say that your old site is accessible via oldsite.com and you have temporarily set up a new WP instance, hosted elsewhere, accessible via newsite.com.

1. Install UpdraftPlus incl. migration tool at oldsite.
2. Download backup created by UpdraftPlus.
3. Install UpdraftPlus incl. migration tool at newsite.
4. Upload the backup files into newsite's UpdraftPlus
5. Confirm that newsite has all your stuff etc.
6. Change urls/domain for oldsite (say to backup.oldsite.com).
7. Change urls/domain for newsite so that oldsite.com links get things at the new location.

You're done!
posted by alittleknowledge at 12:04 PM on September 4, 2020