Migrate a site to WordPress.com using SSH

This guide will show you how to securely share access to your site using SSH, so that you can migrate your site from your current host to WordPress.com.

Secure Shell (SSH) is a secure way for us to connect to your current host and copy your site safely. We use it to transfer a copy of your site’s content, media, plugins, themes, and database over an encrypted connection. Your existing site will stay online and unchanged during the migration, so visitors won’t notice any disruption until you’re ready to update your domain name to the newly-migrated site.

To find the SSH details for your site, take the following steps:

1. Go to your hosting provider’s website and log in to your control panel or dashboard. This may be called cPanel, Hosting Dashboard, Account Manager, or something similar.
2. Locate your SSH or SFTP connection details, which may be in a section called Server Information, SSH Access, or Advanced Settings.
3. Copy the “server address”, “hostname”, or “IP address” provided by your host and paste it into the “server address” field on WordPress.com:

4. For the Port field, this is usually 22 unless your host specifies a different one.
5. Click the “Verify server address” button.

In a few moments, we’ll validate if the details are correct for what we need to migrate a copy of your site to WordPress.com. If the details cannot be validated, please double check your host’s documentation or contact them for support in obtaining the correct details.

Next, you’ll need to share your SSH details to grant WordPress.com secure access to your site to begin the migration. There are two methods to do so:

• Username and password
• SSH key

1. In the “Share SSH access” section on WordPress.com, choose the username and password authentication method.
2. Back in your hosting account where you found your server details, look for your SSH username. This may be your hosting account name, your domain name, or root or admin.
3. Enter your username into the SSH username field on WordPress.com:

4. Copy your password from your host and paste it into the SSH password field on WordPress.com. If you don’t have an SSH password try the SSH key method (next section) instead or contact your host for assistance.
5. Click the Continue button.

1. In the “Share SSH access” section on WordPress.com, choose the SSH key authentication method.
2. Click the copy icon in the top right to copy the full text of the public key to your computer’s clipboard:

3. In your host’s account, look for a section named something like SSH Access, Security, SSH Keys, or Advanced Settings in your hosting or control panel.
4. Find the option to Import Key, Add SSH Key, or Manage Keys and add a new key. If you can’t find where to add the key, contact your host’s support or check their documentation.
5. When adding the new key, a host may typically ask for:
   • Name: This can be the default name your host provides, or a name such as “WordPress.com Migration” so you can recognize it later.
   • Public key: Paste in the new key from WordPress.com here. Ensure you do not add any other comments, spaces, or extra text while pasting. The key must begin with the key type, for example, ssh-rsa.
   • Private key: Leave this blank, as you do not need to import a private key.
6. Once you have added the key from WordPress.com to your site with your host, return to WordPress.com and click the Continue button.