Migrating Exponent

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    A guide to Configuring your Exponent site after installation.
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    A guide to Migrating an existing Exponent installation to a new server.
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Image:Icon_Geting_Started_40px.png Migrating Exponent

This page contains a guide to Migrating an existing Exponent website to a new location.

Alert_blue_40px.png ALERT! It is recommended that you install the latest version of Exponent in the new location. You must ensure that the new Exponent installation has the same functionality as the old Exponent installation. All custom themes, modules and database tables should be duplicated on the new site.


Contents

Migrating Exponent Icon_Warning_20px.png

Migrating an Exponent website from one server to another, or from one location on a server to another, can be readily achieved in a few simple steps. For more detailed instructions see the sections below.

  1. Export your Exponent Database. See Export your Database below.
  2. Export your Exponent Files Folder which contains the Files and Resources you have uploaded to your existing Exponent website. See Export your Files Folder below.
  3. Make a copy of your Exponent Themes Folder which should contain any custom Themes which you've created for your website. See Copy your Themes Folder below.
  4. Make a note of your Exponent Configuration Settings and installed Modules. See Save your Configuration Settings below.
  5. Perform a clean Exponent Installation in the new location, including adding any custom modules which are used in the old site. See Install Exponent in New Location below.
    Image:Alert_blue_20px.png Ensure the install process DOES NOT overwrite your Database with sample data (erasing your old data).
  6. Restore your Exponent Themes to the new location. See Restore your Themes below.
  7. Restore your Exponent Database by uploading the Export to the new website. See Restore your Database below.
  8. Restore your Exponent Files by uploading the Export to the new website. See Restore your Files below.
  9. Restore your Exponent Configuration Settings to the new website. See Restore your Configuration Settings below.
  10. Visit your new Exponent website and verify that all your data is intact.

Export your Database Icon_Warning_20px.png

You need to export the Database which contains your website content. This is most easily achieved using the Exponent Data Exporters.

  1. Login to your Exponent website.
  2. Load the Administration Control Panel.
  3. Load the Database > Export Data page.
  4. Locate the EQL Database Exporter and click the Run Data Exporter link.
  5. Click on Select All to Export all installed tables.
  6. Name the Export file.
  7. Click on Export Data and when prompted Save the .eql file to your local computer.

Migrating Exponent to a New Location on the Same Server — if you are migrating an existing Exponent installation to a new location on the same server, then you can use the existing Exponent database. It is still recommended that you export a backup copy of your database before proceeding with the migration.

For details of other ways to export your database see Backup the Exponent Database on the Upgrading Exponent page.

Export your Files Folder Icon_Warning_20px.png

You need to export the Files and Resources you have uploaded to your existing Exponent website located in the folder: 

/files/             (folder, including sub-folders)

This is most easily achieved using the Exponent Data Exporters.

  1. Login to your Exponent website.
  2. Load the Administration Control Panel.
  3. Load the Database > Export Data page.
  4. Locate the Uploaded Files Exporter and click the Run Data Exporter link.
  5. Click on Select All to Export resources from all modules.
  6. Name the Export file.
  7. Click on Export Data and when prompted Save the tar.gz file to your local computer.
    Please note that this file is not in standard .tar.gz format.

For details of other ways to export your Files Folder see Backup your Files Folder on the Upgrading Exponent page.

Copy your Themes Folder Icon_Warning_20px.png

You need to export any custom Themes which you've created for your website. This can be most easily achieved by using FTP to download your Themes folder.

  1. Connect via FTP to your Exponent website and locate your Themes Folder. 
    /themes/            (folder, including sub-folders)
  2. Copy this folder to your local computer, or directly to the new location for your Exponent site.
    In Linux, use the command: tar -cvzf themename.tar.gz themename/

Save your Configuration Settings Icon_Warning_20px.png

Make a note of all the custom settings and modules you have installed on your system.

  1. Login to your Exponent website.
  2. Load the Administration Control Panel.
  3. Load the Configuration > Configure Site page.
  4. Print this page for reference and either save the HTML page to your local computer or copy all of your custom settings to a text file for safe keeping, including:
    • Database Options
    • Display Settings
    • Site Maintenance Settings
    • Search Engine Friendly URLs
    • General Site Configuration
    • SMTP Server Settings (Note: These may vary if moving to a new server)
  5. Load the Extensions > Manage Modules page.
  6. Print this page for reference, making a note of any custom modules which you've added to your Exponent installation.

Install Exponent in New Location Icon_Warning_20px.png

You're now ready to install a fresh copy of Exponent to the new location.

Alert_blue_40px.png ALERT! When installing Exponent, ensure you DO NOT select the option to Install Example Content, as this will create database tables which may conflict with your website content when you restore the database, or if you are reusing an existing database will erase your existing content!
  1. Upload and Extract a new version of the Exponent Software to the location of your new website.
  2. Run the Exponent Install Wizard.
  3. On the Database Configuration page, enter the Database details:
    • Migrating Exponent to a New Server — if you are installing Exponent on a new server and want to initialise a new Exponent Database, then enter the new database settings.
    • Migrating Exponent to a New Location on the Same Server — if you are installing Exponent on the same server and want to reuse an existing Exponent database, then enter the database settings from your old installation.
      Image:Alert_blue_20px.png Make a backup of your database before proceeding!
  4. Untick the Install Example Content box and click Test Settings.
  5. Set up an Administrator Account and complete the installation.

Restore your Custom Modules Icon_Warning_20px.png

  1. Install any Custom Modules which are in use on your old website. You must do this before restoring the database!
  2. Ensure that you also restore all Datatypes, Definitions and Subsystem Files.
  3. If you have customised any of the Subsystem Files for the base modules then restore those also.

See the Installing Modules page for more info.

Restore your Themes Icon_Warning_20px.png

You now need to restore your custom Themes to the new location. This can be most easily achieved by using FTP to download your Themes folder.

  1. Connect via FTP to your new Exponent website and locate your Themes Folder. 
    /themes/            (folder, including sub-folders)
  2. Copy the backup folder from your local computer.
    In Linux, use the commands:
    cp themename.tar.gz themes/tar
    -xvzf themename.tar.gz themename/

Restore your Database Icon_Warning_20px.png

You how need to restore the Database you exported from your old site. This is most easily achieved using the Exponent Data Exporters.

Alert_blue_40px.png ALERT! You must install any Custom Modules before restoring your database or their content will not be restored as part of this process.
  1. Login to your Exponent website.
  2. As you have not installed the Sample Content, you will need to access the Administration Control Panel > Import Data function by directly inputting the following url: www.yoursite.com/index.php?module=importer&action=list_importers
  3. Locate the EQL Database Importer and click the Run Data Importer link.
  4. Click on Browse and locate the .eql file you saved earlier your local computer.
  5. Click the Restore button. You should then see the message "Data restored successfully from backup" and your website structure and database content should be restored.

Migrating Exponent to a New Location on the Same Server — if you have used an existing Exponent database then you can skip this step.

Restore your Files Icon_Warning_20px.png

You how need to restore the Files Folder you exported from your old site. This is most easily achieved using the Exponent Data Exporters.

  1. Login to your Exponent website.
  2. Open the Administration Control Panel > Import Data function either by clicking on admin page of your website or by directly inputting the following url: www.yoursite.com/index.php?module=importer&action=list_importers
  3. Locate the Uploaded Files Importer and click the Run Data Importer link.
  4. Click on Browse and locate the .tar.gz file you saved earlier your local computer.
  5. Click the Restore button.
  6. When prompted with a list of Files to restore, select the ones you wish to restore and click Process.
  7. If all the files are marked as passed, then click Restore Files. You should then see the message "Successfully restored uploaded files from backup" and your Files should be restored.

Restore your Configuration Settings Icon_Warning_20px.png

The final step is to restore the custom settings to your new site.

  1. Login to your Exponent website.
  2. Load the Administration Control Panel.
  3. Load the Configuration > Configure Site page.
    You can access this page directly by inputing the url: www.yoursite.com/index.php?module=administrationmodule&action=configuresite
  4. Click on the Edit link.
  5. Replace the default settings with those saved from your old website, including:
    • Database Options
    • Display Settings
    • Site Maintenance Settings
    • Search Engine Friendly URLs
    • General Site Configuration
    • SMTP Server Settings (Note: These may vary if moving to a new server)
  6. When complete, click Save. Your website should now be fully migrated and ready to use.


Image:Icon_Resources_20px.png Getting Started Resources

Retrieved from "http://docs.exponentcms.org/Migrating_Exponent"
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