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Migrate a WordPress via FTP with the CLI

Published on June 14, 2026

Step by step: YAML config file, migrate command, and what happens under the hood at each step.

Tutorielmigrate-toolkit.bitechlab.com

What You Need

  • FTP access for both the source and destination.
  • An empty MySQL database created on the destination side (via cPanel).
  • python3 and pip on your machine (or a VPS).

No SSH access is required: a PHP agent is deployed via FTP, executed via HTTP, and then automatically deleted.

1. Install the CLI

bash
$ unzip wp-migrate-toolkit-cli.zip && cd wp-migrate-toolkit-cli/cli
$ pip install -r requirements.txt
$ cp example.config.yml mysite.yml

2. Fill in the Config

Open mysite.yml and specify the source, destination, and target database (host, user, password, wp_path, site_url, and the destination database).

On shared hosting, set tls: false (plain FTP) if FTPS fails, or tls: true + verify_cert: false to ignore an invalid certificate.

3. Verify, then Migrate

wpmig migrate
$ python3 wpmig.py migrate -c mysite.yml
[1/2] SOURCE - export
 OK database exported: 77 tables
 OK files archived (zip): 12,776 files
[2/2] DESTINATION - import
 OK extraction: 12,776 files, 0 errors
 OK database imported: 77 tables
 OK search-replace: 282 lines
OK Completed in 92 s.

What Happens Under the Hood

  1. Source: the agent dumps the database in streaming and zips the site (or a .tar if ZipArchive is missing), then the CLI downloads both artifacts.
  2. Destination: FTP upload, on-site extraction, wp-config.php update, then .sql import.
  3. Finalization: serialization-safe URL replacement, and deletion of the agent and temporary files on both sides.

Migrate a WordPress site hassle-free

WP Migrate Toolkit moves files + database over FTP, without SSH.

Download the CLI Download the plugin