Blogs - 10 Minute Joomla! Tips Video Podcast

Upload Joomla! From Local to Live Server

Written by Marco Conti Friday, 19 March 2010 12:25

Moving Joomla from one server to another is a very valuable skill to have. It's not just necessary to launch or deploy new web sites but it's useful for all sorts of different things. For instance, creating a live site clone to troubleshoot a bug or creating a "staging" area for training an office staff.

In this 2 part episode of 10 Minute Joomla! Tips I'll show you how to perform a Joomla! site launch from a local XAMP server to a Cpanel based Live Server. Make sure to check out the checklist below the videos for a handy reference the first few times you will attempt the move.

Part 1

Part 2

Moving a Joomla Site from a Local Server to a Live server - Checklist
NOTE: This checklist assumes you have Cpanel on the live server and you have used XAMP for your local server.

Locate the local folder where your local site is located (usually htdocs/yourfolder)
Open the folder and select your Joomla files
Use your ZIP program to create a ZIP file
Go to your Cpanel and click on "File Manager"
Navigate to your public_html folder
If necessary, create another folder where you'll upload the ZIP file you just created. If the file is going live, you can expand directly in public_html
In Cpanel's File manager Click on "Upload" and, from the new window, search for your zip file and click Upload
Once it's done, go back to the file manager and click on "Reload" and you'll see the zip file
Select the ZIP file and click on the "Expand" Icon - Your files should be now in the directory of your choice
Go to the Copanel DB manager and create a new database
Now create a new user and remember to assign it to the new database
Throughout this process, make sure to take some notes of the various names and passwords.
Go back to your local site and in XAMP open PhpMyAdmin. Click on the "Export" tab.
Locate your database and export it
Now, in Cpanel open PhpMyAdmin and click on the "Import"
Once again, locate the DB file you just exported and upload it
Now go to your file manager and select "configuration.php". Click on "Edit" or "Code Editor" (or use the editor of your choice locally and upload the file)

Change these fields:
var $log_path = 'D:\\xampp\\htdocs\\localvm\\logs';
var $tmp_path = 'D:\\xampp\\htdocs\\localvm\\tmp';
to something like this:
- var $log_path = '/home/youraccount/public_html/yourfolder/logs';
- var $tmp_path = '/home/youraccount/public_html/yourfolder/tmp';
Then find these fields:
- var $user = 'root';
- var $password = '';
- var $db = 'yourDB';
and change them with your own data from the new Database and user you just created.
If you have a Virtuemart store, remember to change these entries:
- define( 'URL', 'D:\\xampp\\htdocs\\localvm\\' );
- define( 'SECUREURL', 'D:\\xampp\\htdocs\\localvm\\' );
to the ones relative to your own site by going to administrator/components/com_virtuemart/virtuemart.cfg.php

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Questions...

Great Tutorial, but there are a couple of things different in this tutorial than in actual life which drive me crazy, for example:
-I dont have the Changelog.php file in my joomla folder.

-In my configuration.php on the left there is no VAR instead there is Public.

-When I try to upload my SQL gzipped file to my database i always get a huge error page.

I hope somebody can help me with this, cause i worked very hard on this website and i'm very frustrated.

Thank you,
Emill

Emill , September 01, 2011

Administrator interface to staging site/sub site

Ok - sometimes things turn out to be as simple as they ought to be. I should have tried it before I asked the question. But like I said - I'm completely new to Joomla so please forgive the dumb question.

Turns out that all that's necessary is to log into the staging subdomain that I set up ... ie http://stage.xxxx.com/administrator.

Thanks again for the excellent tutorial - it really made this simple.

Cheers.

AnthonyG , September 27, 2010

Very helpful tutorial!

I'm completely new to Joomla and I've just used this information to create a staging version of a Joomla site in a folder called /public_html/stage/ . It renders the pages as expected. HOWEVER, what wasn't mentioned in the tutorial and what I'm now wondering how to do is ... configure Joomla - or a 2nd instance of Joomla - to interface with the /public_html/stage/ version.

How is this done?

Thanks.

AnthonyG , September 27, 2010

Your Comment Form

Hello.

Thanks for your video tutorials. They are clear, informative and effective. I learn something new with each video.
By the way, the form you have here: http://www.conticreative.com/1...erver.html

Is it a free form that I can add to my Joomla website?
Also, I am here in Cambodia where the locals pay in local currency, and many do not have the means to pay in foreign currencies, i.e., Visa/GBP/$. Is there anyway we can come to a win/win agreenment where I am authorized to re-sell your videos? Thanks.

Ricky ly , July 21, 2010