How do I move wordpress site from Namecheap server to Linode

Hi @skd4,

Welcome to the community :)

Are you on shared hosting with Namecheap? (I.e. CPanel?)

If so, managing a virtual server (which is what a Linode is) is a very different beast to shared hosting, where Namecheap would have managed the server for you.

Probably the easiest place to start is the Marketplace which allows you to boot up a Linode with a pre-configured application such as WordPress.

This will give you a base, empty WordPress install to start from.

You would then need to be able to migrate over the files and MySQL database from your Namecheap website and restore them over the top of the empty WordPress install.

I don't have much experience of the Marketplace apps, so I don't know exactly how you would go about this, but typically once you're connected to the Linode via SSH, you can use the mysql command to restore your SQL backup file.

A guide like the below may help:

https://phoenixnap.com/kb/how-to-backup-restore-a-mysql-database

For the website files, you would be looking to backup the "wp-content" folder from your WordPress site and overwriting the same folder on your Linode's copy of WordPress.

The wp-content folder contains your uploaded files, plugins and themes.

Sorry I cannot give more direct help due to my lack of experience with the marketplace WordPress app.

Thanks dear. I am reading up so many things as fast as possible. I want to learn things and my head is open to so many ideas.
Currently I saw a post and some videos too on youtube which say almost the same thing you just gave me here.
I am looking at Deploying cPanel & WHM and then installing wordpress. I hear this app will make it easy for you to upload or edit files just like I am used to in shared hosting and I want to try it. In any case I make a good progress I will come up here to share the experience. Thanks

Indeed, Cpanel is a very good tool.

It is available as a Marketplace app as well:

https://www.linode.com/marketplace/apps/cpanel/cpanel/

Just bear in mind there is an additional cost for Cpanel, you will need to purchase a licence using the links within the app once it is installed.

I am currently where I am to set SSH public key and am lost. Please help.

Also what is the additional cost of using cPanel and is it one time payment or every month? Can I Go ahead and install wordpress maybe later I will set the SSH public key.

Okay! I have seen the pricing and its high for me at this point. Maybe I will install wordpress without the cpanel. Hope File zilla can replace it.

I am currently where I am to set SSH public key and am lost. Please help.

You can import SSH keys under your user profile > SSH keys in the Cloud Manager.

While these are better for security for logging into your Linode, they’re not essential.

Hope File zilla can replace it.

FileZilla can certainly upload and replace files on your Linode. Set the protocol to SFTP I think it is, port 22, hostname is your Linode’s public IP address and the password you entered when you created the Linode.

If you’re using Ubuntu, web files typically go into /var/www/html so that would be my first starting point to locate the WordPress files.

Am at a point am trying to point my domain to the server. I just finished adding lines like this ns1.linode.com on namecheap. Maybe I have to change the name to my site before it works. Am waiting a little and I will update you. Thanks
Am really having issues after changing the ns1.linode.com and changer my address from the ip to my domain name my the wordpress has refused to connect again.

How do I configure the zone file. I have pointed my domain from namecheap but they said my hosting will guide me on how to set zone file

@skd4 - You can set up your DNS records in the DNS Manager. You would need an A record with a blank hostname pointing your domain to your Linode's IP address, along with an A record for the www prefix if needed. You may also need to set up additional records depending on your website's configuration.

Am confused on this after using default records from linode. I dont know if the default is correct or not. Please help me.

I've used my Dig tool on Solid Tools for Developers to check your domain out, and I can see it does come back to Linode and returns the IP address 45.56.73.85.

This does prove to be a Linode IP address, so if this is the IP of your Linode, it all looks good.

Going to that URL gives me a "D4 - News" site, which is certainly a WordPress site, so again if this is your site, it all looks set up correctly!

EDIT: actually looks like some links are incorrect as you haven't got HTTPS configured. You'll need to enable HTTPS in the web server (again, this is dependent on what the Marketplace image uses - likely Apache.)

You'd then need an SSL certificate. If you haven't one already, check out Let's Encrypt and the Certbot or acme.sh software.

Andysh I am really happy you find time to guide me this way. I am really thankful. Actually there was an SSL from namecheap which I am confused if it wont follow the domain. Maybe it only works there in their hosting? Checking out the link you sent so far it says to confirm if my host offers Let’s Encrypt support wherein they can install it and keep it updated automatically. So this is the part I am. Thanks. You have really tried for me.

My site has been off for some hours now and I don't know what to do. Please help me.

Please guide me on this part. I am very confused on how to do this SSL from Letsencrypt. I dont know what to do.

If you already have an SSL certificate from Namecheap that is specific to your domain (i.e. you purchased it for your domain from them) you can certainly bring this over.

You would need to have a copy of the certificate and private key - you should be able to download these from Namecheap. If not, shoot them a support ticket and ask.

Then you'd need to upload these files to your Linode somewhere (outside of the webroot) and configure Apache to look for them.

This is assuming you're running Ubuntu and the marketplace app uses Apache - these instructions will vary on other distros and web servers:

Enable the SSL module with the following command: a2enmod ssl && systemctl restart apache2

You then need to incorporate the certificates in your configuration.

Create a file at /etc/apache2/sites-available/website-ssl.conf with the below content (replace www.example.com with the main address of your website, and the 2 file paths with where you have uploaded your certificate and private key from Namecheap.)

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName www.example.com
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile "/path/to/www.example.com.cert"
    SSLCertificateKeyFile "/path/to/www.example.com.key"
</VirtualHost>

Then enable the new site and restart Apache: a2ensite website-ssl && systemctl restart apache2

The Apache SSL documentation is here: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/ssl/ssl_howto.html

Thanks master..it seems its only you that want me to get this in the whole community. Please is it possible to connect closely to you maybe on linkedin or facebook or whatsapp. I really need you to help me out on this more closely and I cant thank you enough if you accept my request please.

I have gotten the "certificate" and "private key" with one other file they called "ca Bundle file". I dont really know how to go about uploading this.

Enable the SSL module with the following command: a2enmod ssl && systemctl restart apache2

I dont know how to do this.
Please if you are there help me let me finish up with this. Thank you sir.

I have followed this process yo mentioned but didnt work.
I uploaded this <virtualhost *:443=""> ServerName www.daily4mative.com SSLEngine on SSLCertificateFile "/path/to/www.daily4mative_com.crt" SSLCertificateKeyFile "/path/to/www.daily4mative.com.key" </virtualhost>

to /etc/apache2/sites-available/website-ssl.conf
I put the edited file inside website-ssl.conf

Then I run a2ensite website-ssl && systemctl restart apache2 with PuTTY which said its enabled

But my ssl is not yet working. please help me further

The file I got from namecheap is uploaded to
/path/to/www.daily4mative_com.crt
/path/to/www.daily4mative.com.key

but not working. Any idea?

@skd4 - Your website's SSL is working. I was able to visit daily4mative.com and receive an https prefix. This is also visible when using curl:

Location: https://daily4mative.com/

Your site content is not currently being served, though. You'll need to ensure that your site content is available on your server, via a content management system such as Wordpress or in the Apache file path itself. Your site is currently returning a 503 "Temporarily Unavailable" page indicating that your site is undergoing maintenance. If your site content is uploaded to your server already, you'll need to remove the 503 redirect in order to see your content.

can you help me on how to remove wordpress from linode so that I can install a fresh one?
I ran into issue with htaccess and my post are given 404 error
and when I edit files it corrupts.
Please i want to reinstall wordpress any command for me to enter or should I remove the linode entirely and start all over?

It depends how comfortable you are with making the changes required to get your SSL certificate installed and working again - a rebuild of your Linode will wipe all this out.

Alternatively you may be able to get your installation working again by downloading WordPress from wordpress.org and overwriting the files.

Ok!but the truth is that am new here and I need to understand how things works before I can arrange things my way. Can we really be friends on facebook or linkedin or twitter.
I want to learn from you please.