Important! This post is out of date. You can find up-to-date information at:
https://help.vaultpress.com/restore-to-a-new-site/
Your friends at VaultPress have been busy dreaming up the latest contraption for you, and today we’re ready to launch it!
You’ve always been able to restore your VaultPress backups to the same server. But starting today, all VaultPress subscribers can automatically restore a backup to a new site altogether!
Why would I want to do this?
- Maybe you’ve always wanted to restore a backup to a new server, or a subdirectory on your current server, for troubleshooting or development purposes. Well, now you can restore your VaultPress backups to a test site!
- Or perhaps you’re getting ready to move to a new host. Now you can easily copy your current site to a new host!
What’s required to make this work?
You only need a few basic things to get started. You’ll need:
- A fresh WordPress installation on a new host, or in a subdirectory on your existing host
- A publicly accessible URL — “localhost” won’t work
- Your FTP, SFTP, or SSH credentials for the host where the new WordPress installation lives
- The filesystem path to the new WordPress installation
Okay, I’m ready! How do I use this thing?
You can restore your backup to a new site in just a few steps:
- Log into your VaultPress Dashboard
- Click on “Backups” in the sidebar
- Choose a backup, and click the “Restore” button:
- Click on the “Change Site” button:
- Fill out the form, including your site’s new URL, FTP credentials, and the path to your new WordPress installation:
- Click the “Save Alternate Site” button
- Click the “Restore” button:
You can watch the progress bars if you’d like, or you can close this page. The restore will run in the background, and your site will be restored in no time!
Have any questions?
If you have any questions about restoring your backup to a new site, or just want to say howdy, drop us a line!
VaultPress Blog 
Not that hard. Easy magic button. Well done guys!
We’re glad you like it! 🙂
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Looks like a pretty sweet addition! 😀
Does this include widget layout settings staying in place?
It restores the database and themes as they were at the point in time of the snapshot. So you’ll have the same theme and widget layout that you had at that point in time.
Due to security concerns, none of my sites have FTP servers installed. Will SSH/SCP access be added to the new site restore workflow?
SFTP/SSH support is already included in the restore to alternate site feature. Just fill in the account info and set the correct port number for that service on your server (default is port 22) and VaultPress will figure it out.
How do i use vaultpress to shift my site from my current hosting provider to another
You can use the Restore to Alternate Site tool to restore your site to a new hosting provider. You’ll need to specify a different site URL, but can change it back once you’ve pointed your domain to your new host’s DNS.
If you need further help, drop us a line! 🙂
Why does it have to be a fresh WordPress installation? Isn’t it going to totally overwrite it anyway?
No, VaultPress restores won’t overwrite WordPress core files.
I had requested for further help and this is what i received. Hope this is helpful
“When migrating your site to a new server you cannot restore to the same url. What you need to do is create a subdomain at your new host such as http://new.mysite.com, complete the migration using the restore to alternative site feature, and once it has been successfully migrated change your DNS at your new host from http://new.mysite.com/ to http://mysite.com/.”
What a totally amazing feature! I’ve been wanting to create a “test site” for ages. I’m interested to see what happens! (different versions of WordPress on both installations, because I don’t dare update my live site… everything breaks…) At least in this case it will be breaking on a test site. ….. watching progress bar anxiously. 🙂
I’m using a multisite install. Will I be able to move one of my clients’ sub-sites to a new hosting service? I understand that they will need to install the same plugins and theme since that isn’t backed up for a sub-site, of course, but I was wondering if moving the data and media files to a new hosting server would be possible.
Yep, that’s possible! You can also restore manually if you prefer: http://help.vaultpress.com/manual-restore/
Super! 🙂 I’ve just started and am on your lowest level plan… Will you be able to help me with such a move, or do I need a higher plan to request your assistance?
If you ever run into trouble or have questions about VaultPress, you can always contact us for additional help: http://vaultpress.com/contact/ 🙂