How to Migrate a WordPress® Installation to a cPanel & WHM Server

1. Overview

This tutorial explains how to migrate a WordPress® installation from a macOS® server to a cPanel & WHM server. This process is useful when you develop your website locally and want to deploy it to a public-facing server.

Warning:

• Your website may experience downtime during the migration.
• Because WordPress is not developed by WebPros International, LLC, cPanel Support cannot assist with the migration.

Note: Apple discontinued support for website hosting on macOS Server in 2018.

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2. Migrate Your WordPress Installation

2.1 Pre‑Migration Requirements

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• A domain hosted on a cPanel & WHM server.
• An FTP client and valid FTP credentials.

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3. Export the WordPress Database

Use phpMyAdmin on your macOS server:

1. Navigate to localexample.com/phpmyadmin.
2. Click Export.
3. Select an export method:
   • Quick (recommended)
   • Custom
4. Ensure the format is SQL.
5. Click Go to download the database file.

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4. Upload WordPress Files to the New Server

Connect to your hosting account via FTP and upload all WordPress files to:

public_html/

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5. Create a MySQL Database in cPanel

Create a new database using one of the following interfaces:

• Version 118 and earlier: cPanel » Databases » MySQL® Databases
• Version 120 and later: cPanel » Databases » Manage My Databases

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6. Import the WordPress Database into cPanel

1. Open cPanel » Databases » phpMyAdmin.
2. Select the database you created.
3. Click Import.
4. Click Choose File and select your SQL backup.
5. Click Go to import the database.

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7. Update the Website URL in the Database

In phpMyAdmin:

1. Open the wp_options table.
2. Edit the siteurl entry and replace it with your new domain.
3. Edit the home entry and update it as well.

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8. Configure WordPress Database Settings

Update wp-config.php to match your new database credentials:

1. Open cPanel » Files » File Manager.
2. Navigate to public_html.
3. Edit the wp-config.php file.
4. Update the following lines:

define( 'DB_NAME', 'your_db_name' );
define( 'DB_USER', 'your_db_user' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'your_db_password' );
define( 'DB_HOST', 'localhost' );

Click Save Changes.

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9. Update Links and Images

To fix broken URLs:

1. Open phpMyAdmin.
2. Select your database.
3. Click SQL.
4. Run a query such as:

UPDATE wp_posts 
SET post_content = REPLACE(post_content, 'localexample.com/', 'www.newdomain.com/');

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10. Save Changes in the WordPress Dashboard

1. Log in to WordPress.
2. Go to Settings » General and click Save.
3. Go to Settings » Permalinks and click Save again.

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11. Delete the macOS Website

After confirming your site works correctly on the cPanel server, delete the old installation from your macOS server.

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Conclusion

By exporting your database, uploading your WordPress files, configuring your database settings, and updating URLs, you can successfully migrate a WordPress installation from macOS to a cPanel & WHM server. This ensures your site is fully functional and ready for public access.