Moving between servers with the use of data.fs file in Linux

Suppose you need to move your instance between different servers or, for example, from a local laptop to a Quintagroup hosted server. To accomplish this task you should deal with data.fs file - a database file, containing the entire Zope site. All the content of the Plone site is stored in this data.fs file, normally located in Var directory.

To move a site from one server to another, you can simply move the data.fs file - as long as the Plone and Zope versions that you are using are the same. To move a website, you have to copy the data.fs file and the Products folder to ensure that all the products and customizations that were made on the website on the old server to be there on the new server. Keep in mind that Zope and Plone versions are supposed to coincide on both hosts, so that the process of moving the instance ends up successfully.

In Linux this task can be carried out with the help of KRUSADER program.

To start work with Krusader, you need to get SSH password. For that purpose log in to Quintagroup Plone hosting account in the way provided below:

Go to Quintagroup Control Panel and click on the folder Server:

And copy your personal SSH information:

Now that you have the necessary password, start your work with Krusader. Click on the New Net Connection icon of Krusader toolbar, or go to menubar, select Commands and then New Net Connection item from drop-down menu items:

new-connection

In a New Network Connection window, which appeared after you've press New Net Connection, enter the Host name, Username, and password, then click on the Connect button (username and password are taken from personal SSH information, similarly as here):

new-con-window

After you have been connected, Krusader right column will display you the content of your instance. Select the folder data1 in the right column:

data1

Open the folder Var:

var

After that you will see the list of files, one of which is data.fs, the one we need:

datafs

Copy this file to the corresponding Var folder at the server you are moving your instance to.

Important: When you backup Data.fs - please do it with repoze.py script. If you copy Data.fs with cp while Zope Instance is running you might get a broken database file.