Migrating WordPress from OVH to AnubizHost

Run wp core version and wp plugin list on the source to capture WordPress and plugin versions. Match these on the destination - a version mismatch during migration can cause plugin activation errors. Check the active theme and any custom mu-plugins in wp-content/mu-plugins.

Note the database name, user, and prefix from wp-config.php. Note the PHP version OVH is using (likely 8.1 or 8.2) and match it on the new host. Audit your wp-cron setup - cron jobs in the system crontab need to be re-created on the new host.

The clean export uses wp-cli:

wp db export --add-drop-table wp-export.sql
gzip wp-export.sql

For very large databases (10GB+), split per-table or use mysqldump --single-transaction --quick. Transfer the dump to the new host via scp or rsync over SSH - never expose MySQL on the public internet during migration.

Install LEMP or LAMP on the AnubizHost VPS: apt install nginx mariadb-server php8.2-fpm php8.2-mysql php8.2-gd php8.2-curl php8.2-xml. Create the database and user matching the source, then import the dump: wp db import wp-export.sql.

Rsync wp-content from source to destination - this contains uploads, plugins, themes, and any caching plugin storage:

rsync -avz --delete \
  /var/www/html/wp-content/ \
  root@NEW_IP:/var/www/html/wp-content/

Set ownership: chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html.

If your domain stays the same and only the IP changes, no search-replace is needed - just update the A record. If the staging URL was different (e.g. wp.new.example before cutover), run:

wp search-replace 'https://wp.new.example' 'https://yourdomain.com' --all-tables

This catches serialized data inside post_meta and option values that a raw SQL replace would corrupt. After DNS propagates, issue a fresh Let's Encrypt cert with certbot --nginx -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com.

WordPress sites attract DMCA complaints faster than almost any other CMS, particularly for affiliate, scraper, or reposting sites. OVH responds to abuse complaints quickly. AnubizHost hosts WordPress under Romanian or Icelandic jurisdiction where takedowns require a local court order. Related reading: WordPress offshore hosting, DMCA-ignored hosting, bulletproof hosting.