{"id":107780,"date":"2023-11-07T11:59:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/?p=107780"},"modified":"2025-06-17T09:33:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T13:33:44","slug":"migrate-manually-rsync","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/support\/product-guides\/ultrastack-one\/migrate-manually-rsync\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrating WordPress to UltraStack ONE Manually with rsync"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Migrating<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A manual transfer is the most reliable way to ensure that your migration is successful for large or busy websites. In this guide, we\u2019ll focus on using the command line and the rsync protocol. Remote synchronization using rsync has a few major advantages, including the ability to easily resume interrupted transfers and quickly resync any files that have changed. This guide will also feature using WP-CLI over SSH, a convenient way to manipulate WordPress websites from a remote terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout this guide, we\u2019ll use the terms Origin<\/strong> site and Destination<\/strong> site to refer to your old hosting provider to your new site on UltraStack ONE for WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prepare the Origin Website for Migration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You should do several things to prepare for your transfer ahead of time, including some housekeeping and maintenance tasks that often get overlooked on any live website. Check out our Ultimate Guide to WordPress Site Migration<\/a> for a detailed list of things to prepare for during a website transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, before performing a major operation on your website, you should make sure that you have a backup.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set up SSH Keys for Access from Server to Server<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, follow these instructions to add an SSH key to your UltraStack ONE server<\/a> and log into it. Then, we\u2019ll set up a separate key that you\u2019ll use to communicate between the origin server and the destination server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Log in to your UltraStack ONE server via SSH, and switch to the wordpress<\/code> user.
    su - wordpress<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Create the .ssh directory and generate a new SSH key.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Follow the interactive prompts to name the key and add a passphrase to ensure the security of your new key.
    mkdir -p ~\/.ssh && cd ~\/.ssh\/ && ssh-keygen<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. In this example, the new key is named transfer_key<\/strong> for clarity\u2019s sake. If you name your key something different, replace the name of the key in the following commands in this guide.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Run the following command to print your public key:
    cat transfer_key.pub<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Copy the public key, and add it to your Origin Server<\/strong>\u2018s authorized keys. This step will depend on your hosting provider, so check their documentation if you\u2019re not sure. Here\u2019s a guide on adding the key using cPanel<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Once it\u2019s added, test the connection with a command similar to the following, substituting your origin user and server for username@example.com<\/strong>:
    ssh -i ~\/.ssh\/transfer_key username@example.com<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Configure SSH to use Origin Server Easily<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Next, we\u2019ll set up a simple configuration file to make our lives easier for the rest of the process. Enter the command nano ~\/.ssh\/config<\/code> and enter the following values for your origin server:<\/p>\n\n\n\n