Synchronising Drupal website from Mac to Windows Server??

[nigelivy]

Hi,

I've just installed Drupal on my Windows 2008 Server, and have started to develop a website. I can figure out how to connect to my website and develop it from my Mac.

What is the best way to develop and test the website locally on my Mac, and then sync up to the live server?

Thanks,

Nigel

[splitpea]

Honestly, Drupal is a real pain to sync because so much of the configuration and customization is in the database instead of the files. The files are easy -- use FTP to do it manually, or Subversion to automate synchronization of all changes. For the database, well, it's a perennial topic of discussion and frustration on the Drupal forums -- if you do a search there you'll see some of the suggested solutions, none of which is perfect.

[nigelivy]

Thanks for the response splitpea. That's quite disappointing!

[elitesouth]

Wouldn't you be relying more on the database instead of the files? I would think so.


Move the database over
Install Drupal
Point it to the db
then bring everything else over and see how that goes.


Good luck!

[nigelivy]

Sorry, I didn't clarify - I am hosting the website on my server. I want to be able to work on the website on my Mac. Would I be able to work on the MySQL database (which is stored on the server) from my Mac as long as I have an internet connection?

[splitpea]

Most of the database changes are made using a browser in the Drupal admin interface. You can't use the same database for Drupal instances on two different computers (esp Mac vs Win) because they'll have different hostnames and file paths, unless you're changing your HOSTS file (or netinfo) all the time and setting up a boatload of symlinks.

Besides which, it sort of negates the purpose of developing locally and then rolling out to the production server since if you're using the same DB for both any changes you make to the local version will also immediately take effect on the live version. You might as well just work on the live site directly.

As far as theming and stuff, though, that can be done locally and then rolled out remotely using SVN or FTP.

I usually do initial development locally or on a staging domain, and then do an all-at-once rollout where I copy the files and database to the production server and make the few specific changes to the DB and production files. That's fairly simple.

It's the ongoing development and maintenance that's a real pain in the rear to sync. And even more so if you take user-driven input (e.g. blog comments).

[nigelivy]

Thanks for that splitpea. So just to clarify, if I hosted the site on my Windows server using WAMP and Drupal, I would be able to log onto the site remotely from my Mac and make changes to the live site?

[splitpea]

Yeah, isn't that half the point of a CMS?