Migrating to GCP

Hello,

Has anyone already gone through the process.

Well, thousands of websites are moved from one host to another every day, probably every hour even. I don’t see what’s special about Google Cloud or any particular host as long as you have a properly configured server ready for deployment.

And you have already found what you consider a “pretty informative site”.

So what’s really your concern or question?

If you could drill down your question to any particular concern you may be having now… anything you’re uneasy about, that would help tremendously to move the conversation forward.

Good luck!

Hi George – thanks for your reply! The link to the site I was referencing in my thread above. The only concern I have is with changing to a Debian based OS as opposed to what I’m currently running on, CentOS 7. I was trying to use the Quick Launch feature in Google and noticed only Debian machines available. Perhaps I need to stop being lazy and just mirror my config state on a new CentOS machine :). I’ll give the “Export”, “Import” a go as the referenced link walks through the process.

It this is is more than a handful of sites, I’d handle the migration from the server level, rather than exporting and importing individual sites (and dealing with media issues).

Here’s a high-level overview:

1) Dump all the MySQL databases, tarball all the individual sites’ files, and SCP everything to the already prepared new server.

2) Import the individual databases into the MySQL server on the new server, and untar and move the individual WordPress sites’ files to appropriate locations.

3) Point the domains to the new server, and perform all the obligatory sysadmin dances to ensure everything works fine.

This, of course, requires the right level of sysadmin skills and confidence to pull off… especially if something doesn’t work as expected.

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If you still prefer to manually move one site after another, here’s one little trick which is definitely quicker, easier, and safer than using the WordPress IMPORT and EXPORT function: use the free ManageWP service!

ManageWP is a central WordPress management platform (acquired by GoDaddy a while back). The basic features are free for an unlimited number of sites, and, surprisingly enough, that includes one free backup every month which is stored on their servers. And it’s this free backup stored on GoDaddy’s servers that you’re going to leverage to do your migration.

1) Install and activate the ManageWP Worker plugin on a site, connect the site to the ManageWP dashboard, and run a backup.

2) Point the domain (of the site you just backed up on ManageWP) to the new, already-prepared server, run a fresh WordPress installation there.

3) Install and activate the ManageWP Worker plugin on the newly-installed WordPress site, connect to the ManageWP dashboard once again, and RESTORE the backup.

I recently used this process to move a large-ish site and it went very smoothly.

I’d suggest you give this a try with one site!

Hey George,

I was able to move it over via ssh and, after redirecting to the new IP and updating the ssl cert, it works! I move all the other sites I’m administering over in bulk and replicate the process. Thanks for your insight!

I’m glad I could be of help.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I’m up and running in GCP as of last week. Just wanted to share with you that I gave you a shoutout in a blog I wrote detailing the process I took. Thanks again!

https://operationitops.com/wordpress-migrating-to-gcp/