<p>The accepted answer is a good one, but I thought I'd add something as food for thought. If you set up your workflow such that:</p>

<ul>
<li>All of your Craft CMS project is checked into a git repo and deploy it as discussed in the <a href="https://nystudio107.com/blog/setting-up-a-craft-cms-3-project#deploying-craft-cms" rel="noreferrer">Setting up a New Craft CMS 3 Project</a> article</li>
<li>You use <a href="https://github.com/nystudio107/craft-scripts" rel="noreferrer">Craft-Scripts</a> (or the like) to sync down your db and assets (or you put your assets in an S3 bucket) as discussed in the <a href="https://nystudio107.com/blog/database-asset-syncing-between-environments-in-craft-cms" rel="noreferrer">Database &amp; Asset Syncing Between Environments in Craft CMS</a> article</li>
<li>You use a provisioning like Forge to spin up a new VPS as discussed in the <a href="https://nystudio107.com/blog/web-hosting-for-agencies-freelancers" rel="noreferrer">How Agencies &amp; Freelancers Should Do Web Hosting</a> article</li>
</ul>

<p>...you can become a Digital Nomad. I realize it seems like a lot of tooling, but the payoff is exactly the question being answered here.</p>

<p>If you set things up in this manner, it's trivial to move to a new VPS because all of the ingredients that go into making the website are neatly compartmentalized, and can be deployed without any hassle.</p>

<p>Future-you will thank you for setting things up so that not only is your day to day workflow easier and more fault-tolerant, but also when you move to a new VPS, that's trivial as well.</p>

<p>While you're at it, set up backups as per the <a href="https://nystudio107.com/blog/mitigating-disaster-via-website-backups" rel="noreferrer">Mitigating Disaster via Website Backups</a> article too.</p>

<p>Aesop was wise; it's an <a href="http://read.gov/aesop/052.html" rel="noreferrer">ant &amp; grasshopper</a> thing.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-01T15:26:14.180Z
2018-07-01T15:26:14.180Z
andrew.welch
<p>You need a copy of the database which you can either export via Craft's Control Panel or via phpMyAdmin or a similar database management tool.<br>
You need these folders: </p>

<ul>
<li><code>craft/templates</code></li>
<li><code>craft/translations</code> (if it's multi-language)</li>
<li><code>craft/plugins</code></li>
<li><code>craft/config</code></li>
<li><code>public</code></li>
</ul>

<p>They might be called differently, I am writing this as if the previous developer followed the <a href="https://craftcms.com/docs/installing" rel="nofollow">installation instructions</a>. </p>

<p>Upload a fresh copy of Craft to the new server. </p>

<p>Import the database. </p>

<p>Replace the stock folders with the ones you got from the other install. </p>

<p>Make sure db-credentials are correct in <code>craft/config/db.php</code>. Make sure all paths are correct in <code>craft/config/general.php</code>. </p>

<p>Make sure the folders that need to be writeable are writeable.</p>

<p>Generally speaking your site should be running now. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-02T07:43:09.847Z
Note that a fresh copy of Craft will not work with backed database if that database was running on some of previous Craft’s versions. Before making back up make sure that you have Craft’s latest version.
Dominik Krulak
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T06:27:31.643Z
2016-03-03T08:12:36.410Z
2016-03-03T08:12:36.410Z
Florian
<p>I'm a newbie in Craft CMS. I need to make changes in an existing craft website which is with one hosting platform. 
The site was previously managed by another developer. I need to migrate to a new hosting platform and i would like to know what all credentials i would need to obtain to perform this task and how i can migrate it? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-07T19:06:31.717Z
would be nice of you to accept my answer. Or are there things that need to be cleared up?
Florian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-26T11:05:25.020Z
I have followed these instructions but after the site is back up I am seeing what looks like the original theme for Craft CMS. I have a few licensing issues in the backend of the site. Is this likely to cause the problem?: - You’re running Craft Pro with a Craft Solo license. - The license located at config/license.key belongs to xxxx.com - Your Commerce license key is invalid. This is my first time using Craft so bare with me being an absolute novice.
reececropley
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-21T14:28:41.413Z
I have a follow up question. I migrated the existing codebase to a new server and migrated database using phpmyadmin. The site loads fine but I cannot access the /admin - it will not take the credentials and just sits there. Is there something I need to update on the moved install? This is Craft 2.4 Thanks
Hugh Brown
<database><migration><hosting>
Migration of Craft CMS from one host to another
# Migration of Craft CMS from one host to another

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-02)

I'm a newbie in Craft CMS. I need to make changes in an existing craft website which is with one hosting platform.
The site was previously managed by another developer. I need to migrate to a new hosting platform and i would like to know what all credentials i would need to obtain to perform this task and how i can migrate it?

**Tags:** database, migration, hosting
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: would be nice of you to accept my answer. Or are there things that need to be cleared up?  
> **username_2**: I have followed these instructions but after the site is back up I am seeing what looks like the original theme for Craft CMS. I have a few licensing issues in the backend of the site. Is this likely to cause the problem?: - You’re running Craft Pro with a Craft Solo license. - The license located at config/license.key belongs to xxxx.com - Your Commerce license key is invalid. This is my first time using Craft so bare with me being an absolute novice.  
> **username_3**: I have a follow up question. I migrated the existing codebase to a new server and migrated database using phpmyadmin. The site loads fine but I cannot access the /admin - it will not take the credentials and just sits there. Is there something I need to update on the moved install? This is Craft 2.4 Thanks  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-03-03. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

You need a copy of the database which you can either export via Craft's Control Panel or via phpMyAdmin or a similar database management tool.  
You need these folders:

* `craft/templates`
* `craft/translations` (if it's multi-language)
* `craft/plugins`
* `craft/config`
* `public`

They might be called differently, I am writing this as if the previous developer followed the [installation instructions](https://craftcms.com/docs/installing).

Upload a fresh copy of Craft to the new server.

Import the database.

Replace the stock folders with the ones you got from the other install.

Make sure db-credentials are correct in `craft/config/db.php`. Make sure all paths are correct in `craft/config/general.php`.

Make sure the folders that need to be writeable are writeable.

Generally speaking your site should be running now.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Note that a fresh copy of Craft will not work with backed database if that database was running on some of previous Craft’s versions. Before making back up make sure that you have Craft’s latest version.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-01. Score: 5

The accepted answer is a good one, but I thought I'd add something as food for thought. If you set up your workflow such that:

* All of your Craft CMS project is checked into a git repo and deploy it as discussed in the [Setting up a New Craft CMS 3 Project](https://nystudio107.com/blog/setting-up-a-craft-cms-3-project#deploying-craft-cms) article
* You use [Craft-Scripts](https://github.com/nystudio107/craft-scripts) (or the like) to sync down your db and assets (or you put your assets in an S3 bucket) as discussed in the [Database & Asset Syncing Between Environments in Craft CMS](https://nystudio107.com/blog/database-asset-syncing-between-environments-in-craft-cms) article
* You use a provisioning like Forge to spin up a new VPS as discussed in the [How Agencies & Freelancers Should Do Web Hosting](https://nystudio107.com/blog/web-hosting-for-agencies-freelancers) article

...you can become a Digital Nomad. I realize it seems like a lot of tooling, but the payoff is exactly the question being answered here.

If you set things up in this manner, it's trivial to move to a new VPS because all of the ingredients that go into making the website are neatly compartmentalized, and can be deployed without any hassle.

Future-you will thank you for setting things up so that not only is your day to day workflow easier and more fault-tolerant, but also when you move to a new VPS, that's trivial as well.

While you're at it, set up backups as per the [Mitigating Disaster via Website Backups](https://nystudio107.com/blog/mitigating-disaster-via-website-backups) article too.

Aesop was wise; it's an [ant & grasshopper](http://read.gov/aesop/052.html) thing.


---

