Migrating and Managing a WordPress website with Amazon Lightsail

Hosting WordPress on Amazon Lightsail is a cost-effective way to adopt the cloud and benefit from the security and scale of AWS.

Seahorse, a trusted AWS Partner, provides a simple seamless solution for migrating a WordPress site from an existing hosting provider (or localhost) to Amazon Lightsail. In addition, Seahorse provides a Management Console within WordPress to give users the ability to manage their Lightsail instance from their WP Dashboard.

In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of how to launch a clone of a WordPress
website on Amazon Lightsail using the Seahorse software on a free to use development
environment: Click here to get a Free use licence

Learning Objectives

Learn how to install and operate Seahorse’s software on your existing WordPress website
Understand the process involved in migrating your existing WordPress website to Amazon Lightsail
Discover the benefits of using Amazon Lightsail as a WordPress hosting service by
trying a demo of your WordPress website for free: Click here to get a Free use licence

About this Tutorial
Time	10-20 minutes
Cost	Free
Use Case	Compute
Products	Amazon Lightsail
Level	100
Last Updated	December 7, 2021

WordPress Certified by Bitnami and Automattic/6.2.2-13-r03 on Debian 10.13

WordPress: v.6.2.2. | PHP: v.8.2.9
Apache: v.2.4.57 | MariaDB: v.10.11.4

Step 1: Overview

In this tutorial you will complete the following steps:

Launch a clone of your WordPress Website on Amazon Lightsail. No AWS knowledge required
Simple and Intuitive process from within your WordPress Administration Dashboard
There are no charges for using WP on AWS Plugin or Amazon Lightsail for this tutorial.
Your existing Website will not be affected and will remain in it’s current location.

Overview
Sign in to the administration dashboard of your WordPress website
Install the WP on AWS Plugin to your existing WordPress Site
Get a Licence Key From The Service Provider
Validate Licence
Prepare the Website’s Database
Prepare the Website’s File System
Clone the Prepared File System
Launch your Website on Lightsail

If you already have the Plugin installed, you can skip to step ” Get Licence.“

Brought to you by Seahorse — an AWS partner

Step 2: Sign in to the administration dashboard of your WordPress website

Complete the following steps to sign in to the administration dashboard of your WordPress website.

If you are already signed-in, skip to step: Install Plugin.

2.1 — In a browser, navigate to your site: http://example.com/wp-login.php

(replace example.com with the URL of your WordPress website).

2.2 — Log into your instance.

In the Username or Email Address box, enter the relevant Administrator Username or Email.
Password box, enter the default Administrator Password.
Log In.

Step 3: Install the WP on AWS Plugin to your WordPress Site

Now you have logged-in to your WordPress Administration Dashboard, the required plugin can be installed.

3.1 — Download the Plugin zip file and upload it manually to your site. (Download WP on AWS Plugin here).

Navigate to Plugin tab on the admintrator sidebar menu
Select Add New
Select Upload Plugin
Select the downloaded zip file
Click Install Now

When the installation process is complete, click Activate to activate the plugin.

3.2 — Install via the WordPress Plugin Repository Search

Navigate to the Plugin tab on the admintrator sidebar menu
Select Add New
Type “wp migrate 2 aws” into the Search Plugins box
Scroll to the Correct Item
Click on Install Now

When the installation process is complete, click on Activate to activate the Plugin.

Step 4: Get a License Key From The Service Provider

A License Key is required to activate the installed Plugin.

4.1 — Request a license from the Service Provider: Seahorse

Step 5: Validate License

In this step, you will activate the License Key you received.

5.1 — Activate the License key you received from the service provider.

Navigate to the WP on AWS Plugin interface
Input the License Key received from the service provider and the corresponding email address when requesting the license key
Click on Register License
Valid License key is then confirmed.
Please click “Save IAM Credentials’ to proceed (IAM keys are prepopulated)

Step 6: Prepare the Website's Database

In this step, you prepare the Database.

6.1 — Create an automated clone of your website’s database. This clone will be used to import your website’s content to AWS.

In the WP on AWS Plugin interface, complete the following steps:

Navigate tot the Prepare Database Status section
Click on Prepare Database.
The database download will then be confirmed and the database status then updates.

Step 7: Prepare the Website's File System

In this step, you prepare the website’s file system.

7.1 — Create an automated clone of your website’s file system. This includes your themes, plugins, images, etc, and will be used to display your website’s content on AWS.

In the WP on AWS Plugin interface complete the following steps:

Navigate to the File-System Preparation Status section
Click on Prepare File System

The progress is indicated by the Progress bar. Progress duration varies depending on the size of your file and the server on which it is hosted.

When completed, the file system preparation status will be updated.

Step 8: Clone the Prepared File System

Now that your website has been prepared, a copy can be uploaded to AWS.

8.1 — Upload the clone of your website

This includes your database, themes, plugins and images etc and will be used to create your cloned website on AWS.

In the WP on AWS Plugin interface, complete the following steps:

Navigate to the Clone to AWS Status section
Click on Clone to AWS

When complete, the Clone to AWS status will be updated. Progress duration may vary depending on the size of your file system and the server on which it is hosted.

Step 9: Launch your website on Lightsail

After a copy of your Website has been cloned to AWS, it can now be launched.

9.1 — Run a test migration to view a clone of your WordPress site in AWS Lightsail.

In the WP on AWS Plugin interface, complete the following steps:

Navigate to the Launch a Clone of This Website on AWS section
Click on Launch AWS

When the initial request is complete the IP address of your cloned website will be displayed but the website is still being compiled.

9.2 — You will receive an email to the address associated with your licence which contains links to view your website.

All Done! This temporary site will remain active for review for 6 hours after launch.

Congratulations

You migrated your WordPress website to run on Amazon Lightsail using Seahorse!