---
title: "How to Clone a Drupal Site to Another Domain"
source: "https://docs.nexcess.com/hosting/cms/clone-drupal-site-to-another-domain/"
description: "Find out how to clone your Drupal site to another domain for testing, staging, or other web development purposes."
vertical: "Hosting"
date: "2021-12-15"
last_modified: "2026-08-17"
---

# How to Clone a Drupal Site to Another Domain

## What is Drupal?

Drupal is an open source content management software that many websites and applications use every day. A few of the great features of Drupal include authoring content, performance, and security.

It may become necessary to make changes to your live production site. Whether it is to update modules or your drupal version, it is a good idea to clone your drupal site to a development site and make the changes on the development site instead. This article will show you how to move or clone a Drupal site to another domain.

## Requirements

### Database Dump and Import

Users need the ability to create a mysql database dump using [PhpMyAdmin](https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/importing-databases-and-tables-with-phpmyadmin/), [Mysqldump](https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/mysql-backup-database/), or [Drush](https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/install-drush-ubuntu-16-04/). The method chosen determines how the database backup gets imported to the new database.

### Copying Files

Users need to copy the files from the live Drupal project to a new Drupal project. This tutorial uses the *rsync* command. If you are not familiar with the *rsync* command utility, this article provides tips and basic knowledge of using [*rsync*](https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/install-rsync-and-lsync-on-centos-fedora-or-red-hat/).

### SSH

Users need the ability to connect to their server using [SSH](https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/new-user-tutorial-basic-ssh/).

## How to Clone a Drupal site to Another Domain

This tutorial involves cloning https://growblop.com to https://staging.growblop.com. Use your domains where appropriate.

### Step 1: Dump the Database

There are three different methods for making a database backup dump. The one chosen depends on your preference. Choose the one that works best for you.

#### Dump the Database with the Export Function in PhpMyAdmin

With PhpMyAdmin, you will click the database name. Next, you will see buttons on the top menu. Click the **Export** button. For the Export method, choose **Quick**. Then click the **Go** button and select **Save** to save the backup to your local computer.

#### Dump the Database with the *mysqldump* Command

For this method, you need to connect to the server using SSH. First, change directories to the live Drupal project’s location from the Linux terminal with the *cd* command. In this tutorial, the Drupal project location is */home/growblop/public\_html*.

Once you have changed to the Drupal project location, issue the *mysqldump* command to make a database dump. The location of the dump file will be */home/growblop/public\_html/drup177\_cloning.sql*.

```
cd /home/growblop/public_html
mysqldump  drup177 > /home/growblop/public_html/drup177_cloning.sql
```

#### Dump the Database Using *drush*

The third method is a powerful utility called *drush*. Save the dump file to a location outside of the Drupal project location. This example makes a database dump using *drush* and stores it in */home/growblop/drup177.drushcloning.sql*.

```
cd /home/growblop/public_html/
drush sql:dump --result-file=../drup177.drushcloning.sql
```

### Step 2: Copy Over the Files

Sync the Drupal project’s files to the new Drupal domain. The preferred method is to use the *rsync* command. Using the example domains, it copies the files from */home/growblop/public\_html* to */home/growblop/staging.growblop.com*.

```
cd /home/
rsync -avH /home/growblop/public_html/ /home/growblop/staging.growblop.com/
```

### Step 3: Create the New Database

You need to create a new database for the cloned Drupal site. If you use cPanel, click **MySQL Databases** from the Databases section of the home page. Then, create the new database, database username, and password.

Once created, ensure the new database user has full privileges granted. Choose the database user and name under the **Add User To Database** section and click the **Add** button. Click the **All privileges** checkbox.

### Step 4: Set the New Database and Domain Details in the *settings.php* File

Now that the new database, user, and password are set, replace the live Drupal database settings with the cloned site’s new database settings. Next, open the cloned site’s *settings.php* file with your text editor and replace the old database connection details with the new ones.

```
cd /home/growblop/staging.growblop.com
nano sites/default/settings.php
```

Change the following database details in that file to the new database, user, and password. Here is an example of that process.

```
$databases['default']['default'] = array (
  'database' => 'drup177',
  'username' => 'drup177',
  'password' => '$password',
  'prefix' => 'dr40_',
  'host' => 'localhost',
  'port' => '3306',
```

You may have your live site’s domain name set inside the *settings.php* file. Change this setting to the new clone site’s domain name. In the *settings.php* file’s *$settings\[‘trusted\_host\_patterns’\]* section, change the existing URL to the new URL.

### Step 5. Import the Dump to the New Database

Now that the database is backed up to a dump file and synced to the cloned site’s file location, import the database dump. Importing the database uses the same method as making the dump. Use one of the following methods depending on how you created the database dump.

#### Import the Database Dump with PhpMyAdmin

You can import the database dump through PhpMyAdmin. First, click the new database name. You then click the **Import** button that appears on the top menu. Next, select the database dump file you exported to your local computer and click the **Go** button.

#### Import the Database Dump with the Mysql Command Line

Import the database dump made from the *mysqldump* command using the following command.

```
mysql drup338 < /home/growblop/public_html/drup177_cloning.sql
```

#### Import the Database Dump Using *drush*

If you used *drush* to make the database backup, import it with the following command.

```
cd /home/growblop/staging.growblop.com/
drush sql:query --file=/home/growblop/drup177.drushcloning.sql
```

## Conclusion

You have now cloned your live production Drupal site to another staging domain. You can visit the newly cloned Drupal site on your browser by following this tutorial. In addition, some great [Drupal tips](https://www.liquidweb.com/blog/three-great-drupal-tips-tricks-for-beginners/) will significantly benefit your Drupal site.

Liquid Web offers [dedicated server](https://www.liquidweb.com/products/dedicated/) options perfect for your next Drupal website. [Contact](https://www.liquidweb.com/contact-us/) our sales team to discuss your needs and get started.