Issue Plesk Migrate has merged my Staging server into my Main server for some reason

[FunkyBeefOne]

Server operating system version

Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 LTS

Plesk version and microupdate number

18.0.55

Hello,

While doing a Plesk Migrate, I noticed something weird happened.

Within Websites and Domains, I should be seeing:

mainserver.com
Location: root directory

and

mainserver.com
Location: /staging/

However, after Plesk Migrate, I am now only seeing:

mainserver.com
Location: root directory

Could really do with a little help, folks. Thanks.

 

[Peter Debik]

mainserver.com
Location: root directory

and

mainserver.com
Location: /staging/

Not at the same time, that is impossible. You can have different document root directories or different domains, but you cannot have different document root directories for the same domain.

 

[FunkyBeefOne]

Not at the same time, that is impossible. You can have different document root directories or different domains, but you cannot have different document root directories for the same domain.

Not following, as that was a copy and paste from the Plesk output from the WordPress tab of the domain.

mainserver.com

Wordpress

mainserver.com
Location: root directory

Check updates Logs Security Clone Copy Data Backup / Restore Open WP Toolkit

mainserver.com
Location: /staging/

Check updates Logs Security Clone Copy Data Backup / Restore Open WP Toolkit

---------------------------------

As said, after the migrate, I am now only seeing:

mainserver.com

Wordpress

mainserver.com
Location: root directory

Check updates Logs Security Clone Copy Data Backup / Restore Open WP Toolkit

 

[FunkyBeefOne]

This clone was originally performed using your WP-Toolkit and selecting:

- Use existing domain at mainserver.com [/staging]

Which then went on to create the staging server within my main server root, at /staging.

The reason I need to fix this, is that I can now not access any of the WP-Toolkit tools for the staging server, because the new Plesk server is only seeing the mainserver.com and not the staging site at mainserver.com/staging, which means password protected exposed etc.

Hopefully this is making sense to you?

I think you are forgetting that the clone option has the 'Use existing domain' option.

Thanks.

 

[FunkyBeefOne]

Reproducible steps for this:

1. Clone a Wordpress server specifically with the option Use existing domain
2. Use Plesk Migrate tool from the other target server, pull in the source server containing the Wordpress server and the cloned staging server
3. Plesk / WP-Toolkit doesn't see the cloned staging server (but it is still accessible)

I hope this helps the Plesk Migrate dev team.

Can someone with experience of this suggest a workaround solution for getting my staging server properly migrated over to my new Plesk server? I don't mind using a subdomain instead of the 'Use existing domain' option, as I am pretty certain by this point that that option is better supported to work with Plesk Migrate.

Thanks.

 

[Peter Debik]

So you have one Wordpress installation as a subdirectory within another Wordpress installation? That would be a flawed setup. It will always cause issues, because in such a case the .htaccess directives of the upper WP will also influence the WP in the subdirectory. It's just a totally wrong setup. Maybe you can first fix the issue on the source server and move the "staging" website into its own document root.

 

[FunkyBeefOne]

The only thing I know for sure is that the Plesk Server 2's Plesk Migrate tool has not pulled over the same set up I had on Plesk Server 1.

If you are adamant that the setup is flawed, should Plesk consider getting in touch with the makers of WP-Toolkit and communicating this.

I am in limbo here. And the setup I have was because of the tool that you ship in your Plesk.

Thanks.

 

[Peter Debik]

It may have been the tool the comes with Plesk, but it is your choice as a user to use it correctly. If you nest Wordpress websites, the nested websites won't work correctly.

Anyway, migration works with both, packing files into archives and rsyncing files. Both create exact copies of the file structure, so very likely databases, files and directories are all there. What you may experience is that Wordpress Toolkit has an issue with detecting the nested Wordpress website. You can try to click the "Scan" button in Wordpress Toolkit to detect the nested installation. You can also check the /staging directory in your File Manager to check whether the files required for Wordpress are there. If for some reason they are not, please also check the source for what is in the /staging directory. You could easily zip it, transfer the zip to the target and unzip it there to the right location.

If you need more assistance, it could be best to contact support staff for this case: https://support.plesk.com.