If you have an incomplete backup or have any trouble creating a site from a backup, you can use the manual process described below.
Creating a Backup
One of the easiest ways to import a site is to create a downloadable backup. If the site you want to import is hosted with Kinsta, visit the Backups page of your chosen site (WordPress Sites > sitename > Backups) and head over to the Download tab to create a downloadable backup. This may take a while if you have a large site, but once the download is ready, you’ll get a message in MyKinsta and an email with a download link.
Once the backup is downloaded, extract it on your local computer.
Creating a Site in DevKinsta
Create a site in DevKinsta (see our site creation guide) as usual. Once created, you’ll see the site path, which you can click to open.
Importing Your Content
Once you open the site path, you’ll see a standard WordPress directory structure. Delete the wp-content folder and then move the wp-content folder from your extracted backup in its place. This will ensure that the themes, plugins, and media from the imported site are in place.
Importing Your Database
In DevKinsta, click the Database manager button to open your local database. Make sure the correct database is selected in the top left in Adminer (the database manager). In the main screen that shows the table list, click the checkbox on the left in the top row of the table list. This will select all tables.
Click the Drop button and confirm to delete all database tables from your local site’s database. Next, click the Import button in the sidebar, and in the File upload section, select the mysql-database-backup.sql (or similar) file from your downloaded backup and click Execute. This will import your database.
Search and Replace
Since the database is from a hosted site, there will be a lot of references to your site’s URL within the database. To ensure this doesn’t cause any issues, you’ll need to run a search and replace to update those URLs in your database.
You can do so with any of the following tools:
For more info about using WP-CLI and how to search and replace URLs, check out these guides: