MAMP PRO (macOS) Documentation

Remote

Connect to a remote hosting server using MAMP PRO 5. This will allow you to upload a site from a local machine to a remote server, download a remote site to a local machine or migrate a site to a new hosting server. Additionally you can edit files on a remote server without downloading them first.

Requirements

Before you start, here are the requirements that your remote host account needs:

• Apache or Nginx with mod_rewrite module (Apache 2.2 or higher)
• MySQL 5.6 or higher
• PHP 5.4.2 or higher
• PHP extensions required: MySQLi, cURL
• Working WordPress 4.9.4 or higher
• User has rights to read & write files when connected via (S)FTP

You must also set your PHP settings on your host provider to the following minimum requirements:

• upload_max_filesize 40M
• post_max_size 128M
• max_execution_time 120 (This needs to be increased if your server is slow and cannot import data.)
• memory_limit 128M
• max_input_vars 2000

These settings most likely can be changed using cPanel, under the “PHP versions and settings”. If your host provider does not use cPanel, please contact them and ask them how to change these PHP settings on the host server.

You can also use your own php.ini file to confirm your PHP settings.

What information do you need from your host provider?

Static Sites

If you have a static site, i.e. your site does not use a database, you will need the following information:

• Transfer Protocol Type (FTP, FTP with implicit SSL, FTP with TLS/SSL, or SFTP)
• Transfer Protocol Port (e.g., the FTP standard port for most providers is 21)
• Server Address
• Remote Document Root Path (Where the files of your site will be located)
• Server Access User name
• Server Access Password
• Public URL Address (Live link where people will access your site)

WordPress and sites using databases

If you have a WordPress site or a site using a database, you will need the following additional information:

• Database Access User name
• Database Access Password
• Database Name
• Database Host Address

We are only actively supporting WordPress sites, but your non WordPress site may work. Please make backups before you move your site to a remote host.

The remote feature does not support WordPress multisite.

Connecting

With your selected host highlighted, open the “Remote” tab: Provide your remote server credentials for this specific host. You most likely received an email from your hosting provider with the following credential information.

• Protocol and port
  The file transfer protocol type and its port connect to your with a remote server (most host providers use FTP on port 21)

• Server & Public URL
  The website ftp address (usually ftp://yourdomain.com if your Public URL is http://yourdomain.com)

• Path
  Your remote server document root (most of the providers have resolved your domain name from a folder called “public_html” or “htdocs”)

• User Name & Password
  The user name and the unique password (usually provided by your hosting provider) for access to your remote server files.

• DB User Name & Password
  The user name and the unique password to access your remote server database (sometimes it’s the same as your FTP credentials)

• DB Name
  The database name of your website

• DB Host
  The website database address (sometimes the same as the FTP server address)

When you have finished filling in your credentials save your MAMP PRO settings. You can then check your credentials using the “Check URLs and credentials” button. If your credentials are verified you will receive a notification.

If you fail to connect to your remote server you check our troubleshooting and FAQ sections for information on diagnosing the problem.

• Remote troubleshooting section
• Remote FAQ

Copy values

To save time, use the dropdown button to fill in your remote tab with values from a previous host.

Uploading & Downloading

Before you start transferring your site, make sure you have a backup of both your remote host files and your remote database file (prior every import transfer, a snapshot is made automatically in order to save the last state of your local site and if something goes wrong you can always recover the snapshot of that host). Once you have made your backups, you are now ready to start your transfer.

The transferring process involves making changes directly to the database and some configuration files. At this time, only the WordPress content management system has been fully verified for uploading and downloading to a remote server. Other content managements systems, such as Drupal and Joomla, or dynamic websites have not been tested; however you can proceed at your own risk. After the transfer is complete you should see your site live.

More detailed examples on uploading and transfering your site can be found in the How-To section.

• Remote How-to

Remote Editing

You can open the MAMP PRO Editor, select the remote tab on the left bottom corner, and you will be accessing your remote files directly. This allows you to edit, create, delete and adjust files; such as typos, or check how your live site looks instantaneously.

Tested Host Providers

The following is a list of the host providers that have been tested using various versions of Apache, PHP and MySQL: