Transfer Docker installed Discourse to new DigitalOcean droplet

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Users discuss transferring a Docker-installed Discourse instance from one DigitalOcean droplet to another. sckott initially asks whether creating a droplet image and spinning up a new droplet from it is the best method, noting the need for backups—which require new droplets—and preserving existing data. zogstrip suggests using Discourse’s built-in backup/restore feature, though it requires rebuilding the instance from scratch, and agrees that transferring the droplet image is faster and easier. codinghorror recommends following DigitalOcean’s official snapshot migration guide, cautioning that snapshots may take up to 30 minutes due to large data volumes (~30+ GB). sckott confirms they’ll proceed with the snapshot method. Later, chi asks if the transfer was successful, to which sckott replies they haven’t tried yet but will soon. geoff777 shares personal experience successfully using snapshots to pause and resume projects by destroying droplets and later spinning up new ones from saved snapshots—confirming the method works well. chi thanks geoff777 and plans to try it. Overall, the community consensus favors using DigitalOcean snapshots for migration, balancing speed, data safety, and cost-efficiency.

1

I have a Discourse installation installed on DO via docker. What’s best practice for moving the installation to a new droplet? I’d assume just create an image from the droplet, kill the droplet, spin up new droplet from the saved image. Or is there a better way to do it?

My use case is: I want to have backups of my droplet, which means i need a new droplet as they can only be toggled on with new droplets, and not on existing droplets AFAIK. Also, I want to make sure I don’t lose any data acquired so far from the Discouse installation.

2

You could use our backup/restore feature but that would require you to rebuild a new discourse instance from scratch. If you can “transfer” the image from one droplet to another, it’ll be easier/faster :wink:

3

@zogstrip Thanks! Good to know about backup/restore feature.

I’ll go with image to new droplet then.

4

Yeah I would follow the Digital Ocean procedure for moving the droplet:

Start by taking a snapshot, but be aware this can take a while, up to 30 minutes, as it has to copy all 30+ gb of data on the droplet around.

5

Thanks for the help :wink:

6

@sckott were you able to successful transfer the discourse installation to another installation using snapshots? I’m planning to do the same thing. Thanks :slight_smile:

7

I have not tried it yet. But I will try very soon. Will let you know

8

I did this a lot when working on ‘fun’ projects once or twice a month.
Instead of paying for the full month.
Take a snapshot and destroy.
Then in a week or two or three … spin up a new droplet from the snapshot.
It works well.

9

Cool Thanks @geoff777
I’ll try it out then :slight_smile: