Migrating the site from a local to remote server

We have reached the stage in the development of our social network where we will migrate our site to a remote host. The migration process involves backing up our entire site, downloading the backup files, and then using them to restore our site in a different hosting environment. This same backup process can be used for routine backups of a Joomla! site as a security measure. It can also be used for the restoration of a site or for switching a site from an old to a new hosting account. These processes are invaluable to a Joomla! website developer.

Backing up the local site using Akeeba Backup

Following are the steps necessary to create an Akeeba Backup:

1. Download Akeebabackup and the kickstart.php script from the AkeebaBackup website: http://www.akeebabackup.com/download.html.

The Kickstart download is a .zip package. We will have to extract the files to access the kickstart.php file.

2. Install the Akeebabackup component through the regular Joomla! extension installation process. Akeebabackup is designed to back up the entire website, including database data and website configuration.
3. Configure the Akeebabackup component by going to Components Akeebabackup | Configuration|.
   

   As shown in the previous screenshot, most of the default settings work well.We should pay attention to the Output Directory and the Archiver engine.The Output Directory is the folder where the backup will be saved; this can be changed if necessary. Take note of this directory, as we will download the archived file after backing up the site. The Archiver engine determines the backup format. The JPA format is recommended for backing up from a Linux environment and restoring it also in a Linux environment.

   We used ZIP format for our backup. Akeeba comes with detailed instructions that can be found in the documentation files. More information can be found on the Akeeba Backup website: http://www.akeebabackup.com/documentation/index.html.

4. Click on Backup Now to prepare for the backup. This step allows us to name the backup and provide a description of it. We will keep the defaults here.Click on the Backup Now button (on the right) to initiate the backup process.The duration of the backup depends on the size of the website.

   
5. We will see the following message if the backup process is successful. Click on Administer Backup Files to download the ZIP file.

   

Creating a live website from the backup

Akeeba Backup provides us with a seamless process for restoring websites from backups. The restoration process requires the backup file and a hosting environment, that meets the Joomla! installation requirements. But before we restore our site, we need to log in to our remote server and create a database. To run the restoration, we will need the database name, server information (this could be localhost or a unique hostname), and a database username and password. Make sure that the database user has been assigned all privileges on the database.

We have purchased a hosting account from http://www.hostmonster.com and, as we can see from the following screenshot, the domain is parked. Hostmonster has a good array of open source and proprietary software. One of our favorite Hostmonster services is Simplescript, which is accessible through the Hostmonster Cpanel. This service simplifies the installation and upgrade processes of a select number of open source software applications.

Let’s create a live site from the local backup:

1. Upload the Akeebabackup.zip file (site backup file) and the kickstart.php file into the root folder of our hosting account. The remote root folder could be public_html, www, htdocs, or a sub-folder, depending on the hosting setup. The upload of the Akeebabackup.zip (site backup file) and the kickstart. php files can be done by using the Control Panel of the hosting account, or through an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client such as FileZilla. FileZilla is an open source FTP client that can be downloaded from the official website: http://filezilla-project.org/.

   

2. Run the kickstart.php script by browsing to the site address, for instance, http://www.yourwebsite.com/kickstart.php—in our case, this is http://www.kifari.com/kickstart.php. This will activate the website’s restoration wizard online. Keep the default settings and click on Start, as illustrated in the following screenshot. The wizard will walk us through the extraction of the backup files, and complete the migration process. We are not using FTP Options, so we will not put any information in here.Click on Start, and let the wizard do its thing.

   

3. The wizard will prompt us to enter the correct details as needed. We will be required to enter the database name, hostname, database username, and password. If the installation is successful, we will be prompted to remove the installation directory.

Although the system provides a link to remove the installation directory, we need to check the root folder to make sure that the installation folder has been deleted. We may need to manually remove the folder.

4. Our website address is http://www.kifari.com; browse to this address.

   

5. Congratulations! We have migrated our site from the local server to a remote server. Note that our site is restored with its configuration, and administrator username and password intact.

We do not have to install Joomla! for the migration process. The backup file contains all of the necessary files for the complete migration of the website from the local server to the remote server. Once the backup has been installed, we will have the same Joomla! version as we did when the backup was created.

In review, we have restored our development website on a remote server by using the Joomla! backup and restoration component Akeebabackup.

Signing up for an account

It is important to understand the user profile settings as a way of determining what tools are available to users to facilitate their interaction with others in the network. Also, as an administrator we have to understand that interaction among site users depends on how we configure the site, especially in terms of the default user profile settings and the applications that we make available to the users.

Let’s create a new profile, by signing up for an account:

1. Click on Sign Up–Become a Reviewer.
2. Sign up for an account by clicking on JOIN US NOW, IT’S FREE.

   

3. Enter the required registration information, and then click on Next. Notice that some of the information is marked with an asterix (*) alongside it. This means that those fields are required. Complete the requirements as set by the administrator.

   

   The registration process also encourages us to upload our image or avatar. We can skip this process and change our image later. We may want to pay attention to the maximum file size and width of the image that we can upload. The maximum file size for uploads that shows here is the maximum size defined in the php.ini file. we set the maximum image upload size to 8 MB? This means that users cannot upload images larger than 8 MB.

   

4. After we click on Skip, we will get a message stating that an activation link has been sent to our e-mail account. This serves as a verification of the account and an anti-spam mechanism. If we want users to start working on their profile without activating their account, the settings can be changed from the administrative back-end by going to Site Global Configurations | System | User settings|.

   

5. Click on the Sign Up–Become a Reviewer link. Notice that there are now two users in the system.

   

Managing an account

In this section, we are going to manage a user profile by editing the profile, changing profile pictures and profile privacy settings, and adding applications and privacy settings for those applications.