Cloning a website is not an easy task and requires some knowledge of FTP, sFTP, or SSH. From there, you will need to backup all files, any databases, copy those files, move them to the new server, import the database into a new server, change over your WordPress configuration file information, update the database to reflect any of those changes, update WordPress settings to match the old website, checking to ensure everything was copied over, and so on and so forth. You get the point that this is a painfully tedious process for any user and can be very time-consuming, especially where there are multiple websites involved.

We are introducing a Clone Web Application feature in RunCloud to clone your website (web application) easily.

Cloning A Website (Web Application) in RunCloud

This feature allows you to clone a web application within the same server or clone it to a different server within your RunCloud account.

And we support cloning both custom PHP web applications and WordPress web applications. It means you can clone an existing web application within your RunCloud account.

You can find “Clone Web App” in the menu under Tools menu within your RunCloud web application.

Cloning A Web Application To A Different Server

For the advanced, cloning a web application to the same server might involve some Linux commands and an import of the database, but to move it to a completely different server entirely might take some time and knowledge. We make it easier for you.

If you clone a WordPress web application or PHP application (for example Laravel) that has a database, you don’t want to forget to clone the database in the process. Missing a table from the database or an important file can cause errors and prevent a website from functioning.

After you have clicked the Clone Web App button, you will be taken into a screen that will allow you to set which server you would like to clone to, the port to use, the web application owner, and the settings for the database. Once you have entered in all of this information, click Clone Webapp to Server button to start the process.

While cloning is not an instant process, RunCloud takes care of the entire process making your life easy with just a few button clicks. When cloning a web application to a different server, an exact copy of your web application will be transferred using the same configurations. The whole process takes just a few moments to clone all of your files, the database, and WordPress settings.

You can even monitor the progress by clicking on the Notification icon at the top right.

Done! Now your web application has been cloned to a different server within your RunCloud account.

If you want to switch your live website to this cloned web app, you need to continue with by changing your A records in your DNS management service. Do not forget to check your domain name settings and also re-deploy Let’s Encrypt SSL/TLS in your cloned web app if you want to secure it with HTTPS.

Cloning A Web Application Within The Same Server

Cloning a web application within the same server is useful, for example, if you want to create a different project from an existing web app, without starting from scratch.

If you use WordPress and you want to clone your web app for development purposes, do not use this feature, as it is better to use One-Click WordPress Staging that will give you additional features to sync/merge between your production and staging website.

However, if you want to create an entirely new website that is similar, but might contain different content, such as a website branching off another, you might consider using this feature.

Another use case might be if you are teaching a classroom of students and setting up a server, and you want all of the students to use the same website setup, then you could clone the website multiple times to the same server.

When cloning web applications within the same server, it is highly advised to make sure to use a different name for both web application and database name. Upon finalizing the setup, click “Clone this webapp” button to begin the process.

Cloning a web application within the same server is usually faster compared to cloning to a different server. You can monitor the progress by clicking the Notification icon at the top right. It will give you the details of RunCloud cloning your web application.

Done! Now you have cloned your website within the same server.

Summary

Clone Web Application feature is very useful to clone/duplicate your existing web application quickly, within the same server or to a different server within your RunCloud account.

Pro and Business plan users can enjoy the full functionality of this feature. For Basic plan users, this feature is available to try until 1st June 2020, and you are only able to clone web applications within the same server.

When it comes to our users, we know RunCloud is important to you, and you rely on its services. We are always listening to what your pains are, and we want to solve them and make your life easier.

The web app cloning feature has been a largely requested feature, receiving 218 upvotes that we knew would be useful to you. Never ever hesitate to suggest new features that you want to see, and we will make it happen.