How to move a Contao installation

Moving a Contao installation from a local server to a live server is not much different from installing a fresh Contao version, except that you are using the files from your local installation instead of the Contao download archive and an SQL dump of your local database.

Uploading the files ¶

Open your FTP program, connect to the target server and upload all files from your local Contao installation.

Exporting the database ¶

The easiest way to create a MySQL dump is to use the database administration tool phpMyAdmin. If you are a server administrator, you can also use the mysqldump utility of course. Log into phpMyAdmin, choose the database that you want to export and click the Export tab in the top menu. It is important to adjust the export settings according to the screenshot below to minimize MySQL version compatibility problems.

Importing the database ¶

Log into phpMyAdmin on the target server and create a new database for Contao. Depending on the server configuration, you probably have to use the server administration panel (e.g. Plesk or Cpanel) to create new databases. Select the empty database and click the Import tab in the top menu. Then upload the SQL dump of your local database an start the import.

Adjusting the database configuration ¶

Finally open the Contao install tool of the new installation (the password should be the same as for your local installation) and adjust the database configuration if necessary. Then go to the back end and log in with your username and password.