Staging & Cloning

Softaculous lets you create staging copies and clones of your installations so you can test changes, updates, and redesigns without affecting your live site.

Staging vs. Cloning

Both features create a copy of your application, but they serve different purposes:

• Staging creates a temporary copy linked to the original installation. Once you are happy with your changes, you can push the staging site back to the live site with one click. Best for testing updates, plugin changes, or design tweaks.
• Cloning creates an independent, permanent copy of your installation on a different domain or directory. The clone has no connection to the original. Best for creating a new site based on an existing one, or migrating content to a different domain.

Creating a Staging Site

1. Log into cPanel and open Softaculous Apps Installer.
2. Go to All Installations and find the application you want to stage.
3. Click the Staging button (the copy icon with an arrow) next to the installation.
4. Configure the staging destination:
   • Choose Domain: Select where to create the staging copy. You can use the same domain with a different directory, or a subdomain.
   • In Directory: Enter a directory name like staging to create the copy at yourdomain.com/staging.
5. Optionally customize the database name for the staging copy.
6. Click Create Staging.

Softaculous will copy all files and the database to the staging location. When complete, you will see a link to the staging site.

Working with Your Staging Site

Once the staging site is created:

• Access it at the URL you specified (e.g., yourdomain.com/staging).
• Log in with the same admin credentials as your live site.
• Make your changes freely — install plugins, update themes, modify settings, test new content. Nothing will affect your live site.

Pushing Staging to Live

When you are satisfied with the changes on your staging site, you can push them to your live site:

1. Go to All Installations in Softaculous.
2. Find your staging installation — it will be labeled as a staging copy.
3. Click the Push to Live button.
4. Review the push settings. You can choose to push:
   • Files only — copies only the file changes.
   • Database only — copies only the database changes.
   • Both — copies everything (recommended for most cases).
5. Softaculous will show you a summary of what will be overwritten. Review this carefully.
6. Click Push to Live to apply the changes.

Cloning an Installation

Cloning creates a completely independent copy of your application:

1. Go to All Installations in Softaculous.
2. Click the Clone button (two overlapping pages icon) next to the installation.
3. Configure the clone destination:
   • Choose Domain: Select the domain for the clone. This can be a different domain, subdomain, or the same domain with a different directory.
   • In Directory: Set the directory path for the clone, or leave blank to install at the domain root.
4. Optionally customize the database name for the cloned copy.
5. Click Clone Installation.

The clone will be created as a separate, independent installation. It will appear in your All Installations list as a regular installation with no link to the original.

Common Use Cases

Testing a Major WordPress Update

1. Create a staging copy of your WordPress site.
2. On the staging copy, apply the WordPress update.
3. Test all pages, plugins, and functionality on the staging site.
4. If everything works, push the staging copy to live. If not, simply delete the staging copy and your live site remains untouched.

Redesigning Your Website

1. Create a staging copy.
2. Install and customize a new theme on the staging site.
3. Adjust menus, widgets, and page layouts to work with the new design.
4. When the redesign is complete, push to live for an instant switchover.

Migrating to a New Domain

1. Add the new domain to your hosting account as an addon domain.
2. Clone the installation from the old domain to the new domain.
3. The clone will automatically update internal URLs to match the new domain.
4. Test the clone on the new domain, then remove the old installation when ready.