Skip to content

COMMANDS.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
486 lines (320 loc) · 12.2 KB

COMMANDS.md

File metadata and controls

486 lines (320 loc) · 12.2 KB

Command Reference

Complete reference for all Movepress commands.

movepress push

Push files and/or database from a source environment to a destination environment.

Syntax

movepress push <source> <destination> [options]

Arguments

  • source - Source environment name (e.g., "local")
  • destination - Destination environment name (e.g., "production")

Options

Sync Options:

  • --db - Sync database only
  • --files - Sync files (uploads, caches, etc.), excluding git-tracked files by default
  • --include-git-tracked - Include git-tracked files during file syncs

Safety Options:

  • --dry-run - Preview changes without executing them
  • --no-backup - Skip database backup before import (not recommended)
  • --delete - Delete destination files that don't exist on the source when syncing files (destructive)

Output Options:

  • -v, --verbose - Show detailed output including rsync/database commands

Note: Tracked files (themes, plugins, WordPress core) should be deployed via Git. For file syncs, Movepress auto-excludes git-tracked files from the local repo; if Git isn’t available, it falls back to excluding common code patterns. Use --include-git-tracked to override and include everything not covered by your movefile excludes. See git-setup command below.

Examples

# Push database and files to production
movepress push local production --db --files

# Push database only
movepress push local staging --db

# Push only files (uploads, etc.)
movepress push local production --files

# Preview changes without executing
movepress push local production --db --files --dry-run

# Push with verbose output
movepress push local production --files -v

Notes

  • If no flags are specified, both --db and --files are synced by default
  • Database operations automatically perform search-replace for URLs
  • File syncs use a staged workflow: Files are first copied to a temporary directory via silent rsync with excludes written to a temporary --exclude-from file (avoids argument-length issues), URL replacements are applied to the staged files, then you see a preview with counts before confirming the final transfer. Temp dirs and exclude files are cleaned up automatically.
  • The preview shows directories and file counts based on the staged files. The wp-content/uploads/ directory is collapsed to a single entry with a total file count for readability.
  • Search-replace happens during staging for both push and pull operations, before the final sync, so the preview reflects the final content
  • WordPress core paths are always excluded for safety (wp-admin/, wp-includes/, wp-content/plugins/, wp-content/mu-plugins/, wp-content/themes/, index.php, wp-*.php, license.txt, readme.html, wp-config-sample.php)
  • A backup is created before database import unless --no-backup is used, and the backup path is shown after creation
  • File syncs are non-destructive by default. Use --delete to remove destination files that don't exist on the source.
  • You'll be prompted to confirm destructive operations (--delete or --no-backup) and all file syncs (after seeing the preview)
  • For tracked files (themes, plugins), use git push <environment> <branch> after running git-setup

movepress pull

Pull files and/or database from a source environment to a destination environment.

Syntax

movepress pull <source> <destination> [options]

Arguments

  • source - Source environment name (e.g., "production")
  • destination - Destination environment name (e.g., "local")

Options

Same options as push command (see above).

Examples

# Pull database and uploads from production
movepress pull production local --db --files

# Pull database only
movepress pull staging local --db

# Pull only files (uploads, etc.)
movepress pull production local --files

# Preview changes without executing
movepress pull production local --db --files --dry-run

Notes

  • Works exactly like push but in reverse direction
  • Uses the same staged workflow: Remote files are downloaded to a temporary directory via silent rsync with a temporary --exclude-from file, URLs are updated, you see a preview, then confirm before files are copied to the local destination
  • Same safety features, backup logging, confirmation prompts, and preview as push
  • Search-replace runs on staged files before you confirm the sync; previews come from the staged files
  • Remember to use git pull or git fetch for tracked code files

movepress git-setup

Set up Git-based deployment for a remote environment. This is a one-time setup command that configures a bare Git repository on the remote server with automatic deployment hooks.

Syntax

movepress git-setup <environment>

Arguments

  • environment - Remote environment name (e.g., "staging", "production")

What it does

  1. Creates a bare Git repository on the remote server
  2. Installs a post-receive hook that automatically deploys code to your WordPress directory
  3. Adds a Git remote to your local repository

Examples

# Set up Git deployment for production
movepress git-setup production

# Set up Git deployment for staging
movepress git-setup staging

After setup

Once configured, deploy code changes using standard Git commands:

# Deploy to production
git push production master

# Deploy specific branch to staging
git push staging develop

Notes

  • Only works with remote environments (requires SSH configuration)
  • The Git repository path defaults to /var/repos/{site-name}.git but can be customized in movefile.yml under git.repo_path
  • This command is idempotent - safe to run multiple times
  • Requires Git to be installed on both local and remote systems

movepress init

Initialize a new Movepress configuration by creating template files.

Syntax

movepress init

What it creates

  • movefile.yml - Main configuration file with example environments
  • .env - Environment variables file for sensitive credentials

Example

# Initialize configuration in current directory
movepress init

# Edit the generated files
vim movefile.yml
vim .env

Notes

  • Won't overwrite existing files
  • Creates example configuration with local and production environments
  • Includes comments explaining each option

movepress status

Show system tools availability and configured environments.

Syntax

movepress status [environment]

Arguments

  • environment (optional) - Show detailed information for specific environment

Examples

# Show all environments and tool availability
movepress status

# Show detailed information for production environment
movepress status production

Output

Displays:

  • System tools availability (rsync, mysql, mysqldump)
  • List of configured environments
  • Environment details (when specific environment is provided)

movepress validate

Validate your movefile.yml configuration file.

Syntax

movepress validate

What it checks

  • YAML syntax errors
  • Required fields for each environment
  • Database configuration completeness
  • SSH configuration (for remote environments)
  • URL format validation
  • Path accessibility

Example

# Validate configuration
movepress validate

Output

  • Lists all validation errors with specific details
  • Warnings for potential issues
  • Success message if no problems found

movepress ssh

Test SSH connectivity to a remote environment.

Syntax

movepress ssh <environment>

Arguments

  • environment - Environment name to test (must be a remote environment)

Example

# Test SSH connection to production
movepress ssh production

# Test SSH connection to staging
movepress ssh staging

Output

Displays:

  • SSH configuration details (host, user, port, key)
  • Connection test result
  • Troubleshooting tips if connection fails

Notes

  • Only works for remote environments with SSH configuration
  • Local environments will show an error
  • Helps diagnose SSH issues before attempting sync operations

movepress backup

Create a database backup for an environment.

Syntax

movepress backup < environment > [--output= < directory > ]

Arguments

  • environment - Environment name to backup

Options

  • --output or -o - Directory where backup should be saved (overrides backup_path from config)

Examples

# Backup local database (uses backup_path from movefile.yml or <wordpress_path>/backups)
movepress backup local

# Backup production database (via SSH)
movepress backup production

# Save backup to specific directory
movepress backup production --output=/backups/critical

Output

  • Shows backup file location
  • Displays file size after creation (local environments only)
  • Confirms successful backup

Notes

  • Works for both local and remote (SSH) environments
  • Backups are created in the format: backup_{database_name}_YYYY-MM-DD_HH-mm-ss.sql.gz
  • You'll be prompted to confirm before creating the backup
  • Backup location priority: --output flag > backup_path in config > <wordpress_path>/backups > system temp directory
  • Configure default backup location in movefile.yml: 
    production:
    backup_path: /var/backups/movepress

movepress post-files

Run the file-level search/replace manually. Normally Movepress invokes this automatically after syncing files, but you can execute it yourself (locally or remotely) for ad-hoc replacements.

Syntax

movepress post-files <old-url> <new-url> [--path=<subdir>]

Behaviour

  • Should be executed from your WordPress root (Movepress scans the current working directory by default)
  • Scans the working directory by default; --path lets you target a subdirectory such as wp-content/uploads
  • Only processes known text extensions and skips files that appear binary

Example

# Update theme files remotely (requires movepress installed on the server)
ssh deploy@example.com 'cd /var/www/html && movepress post-files https://example.com https://staging.example.com --path=wp-content/themes/mytheme'

Notes

  • Remote manual runs require the Movepress PHAR installed on the server (default /usr/local/bin/movepress)
  • Manual runs are optional; push/pull already call this command locally when --files is used
  • Untracked file syncs require at least one local endpoint so replacements happen on the machine running Movepress. For remote→remote replacements, run post-files manually on the destination after syncing via other tooling.

Global Options

These options work with all commands:

  • -h, --help - Display help for the command
  • -V, --version - Display Movepress version
  • -q, --quiet - Suppress output messages
  • -v, --verbose - Increase verbosity of messages
  • -n, --no-interaction - Do not ask any interactive question
  • --ansi - Force ANSI output
  • --no-ansi - Disable ANSI output

Examples

# Show version
movepress --version

# Get help for push command
movepress push --help

# Run without any prompts
movepress push local production --db --no-interaction

Global Options

These options work with all commands:

  • -h, --help - Display help for the command
  • -V, --version - Display Movepress version
  • -q, --quiet - Suppress output messages
  • -v, --verbose - Increase verbosity of messages
  • -n, --no-interaction - Do not ask any interactive question
  • --ansi - Force ANSI output
  • --no-ansi - Disable ANSI output

Examples

# Show version
movepress --version

# Get help for push command
movepress push --help

# Run without any prompts
movepress push local production --db --no-interaction

Exit Codes

Movepress uses standard exit codes:

  • 0 - Success
  • 1 - General error
  • 2 - Validation error (configuration issues)

Environment Variables

You can use environment variables in your movefile.yml:

production:
    database:
        user: ${DB_USER}
        password: ${DB_PASSWORD}
        port: ${DB_PORT}

Define them in your .env file:

DB_USER=production_user
DB_PASSWORD=secret123
DB_PORT=3306

See Also