Restore with a standalone installer
Upload the archive and installer.php: the installer creates the database, rewrites URLs safely inside serialized data and rebuilds the site, with nothing to install on the target host.
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WordPress Plugin · PHP · Security
SL Migrations
A WordPress backup, restore and migration plugin. It packages an entire site with a standalone installer, runs on a schedule, ships archives to Local, FTP, SFTP or NAS storage, and restores on a new host without WP-CLI.
Running on 40+ sites
- Role
- Design, development, operations
- Platform
- WordPress, PHP, MySQL
- Version
- 1.8.10 (18 Oct 2026)
- Storage
- Local, FTP, SFTP, NAS
6
restore modes, from Recovery Point to Two-Part for large sites
40+
sites running the same build
AES-256
archive encryption, download links expire in 1 hour
Highlights
Recovery Point
Mark a backup as an emergency recovery point and roll back to a known-good state in one action.
Archives never exposed
Since 1.8.9 archives download only through the admin with an HMAC-signed token that expires after one hour; direct paths to the backup folder are blocked at the web server.
Schedules and encryption
Schedules via WP-Cron or system cron, rotation by retention count and optional AES encryption of archives.
Self-owned, license-free
One identical build for every site, updated from the phatdev.net server, with a changelog and docs for each release.
Screenshots
Click an image to enlarge, use the arrow keys to browse.
On this page
The problem
Manual WordPress backups and moves (mysqldump, archiving files, rewriting URLs in the database) are slow and error-prone, especially when serialized data is corrupted by naive string replacement. Commercial plugins license per site.
The solution
SL Migrations wraps the whole workflow in one plugin: package, store, restore and migrate, with a single build shared by every managed site.
Packaging
Code and database are compressed into one archive with several engines (ZipArchive, DupArchive, Shell Zip), junk filtering, optional AES encryption and hash-based integrity checks.
Restore
Six modes: Recovery Point, Import Install, Overwrite, Classic, Database-only and Two-Part for very large sites. The installer runs standalone, no WP-CLI needed.
Storage and scheduling
WP-Cron or system cron, archives shipped to Local, FTP, SFTP or NAS, with configurable retention.
Security
Archives download only from the admin through an expiring HMAC-signed token; the backup folder is blocked from direct access at the web server.
Compared to popular solutions
| Feature | SL Migrations | Duplicator Pro | UpdraftPlus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-site backup (files + DB) | |||
| Restore with standalone installer.php | |||
| Recovery Point | |||
| Restore modes | 6 | ~3 | ~2 |
| AES encryption | Paid tier | ||
| FTP / SFTP / NAS targets | |||
| License | In-house, unlimited sites | Paid per site | Freemium |
License
GPL version 2 or laterGPL-2.0-or-later
Free software: anyone may use, change and share it, as long as shared copies keep this license and include the source code.
- SL Migrations 1.8.10
GPL-2.0-or-laterDeclared in the code: plugins/sl-migrations/sl-migrations.php (License: GPLv2 or later)
The screenshots on this page were taken by me from the running version of the project.
See the License and credits page →
Third-party libraries and resources (18)
Swipe sideways to see all columns.
| Name | License | Version | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cron-expressionNamespace renamed; the version is not stated in the files. | MIT | - | Library | github.com/mtdowling/cron-expression |
| Formstone | GPL-3.0 | 1.4.16-1 | Library | github.com/formstone/formstone |
| Handlebars | MIT | 4.7.8 | Library | handlebarsjs.com |
| jQuery UI (giao diện, CSS) | MIT | 1.11.2 | Library | jqueryui.com |
| js-cookie | MIT | 3.0.0-rc.0 | Library | github.com/js-cookie/js-cookie |
| JsonSerialize (andreamk) | MIT | - | Library | github.com/andreamk/JsonSerialize |
| jsTree | MIT | 3.3.7 | Library | jstree.com |
| Parsley.js | MIT | 2.9.2 | Library | parsleyjs.org |
| Password Strength Meter for jQueryUsed in the installer. Newer upstream releases moved to MIT; the copy bundled here still declares GPL-3.0. | GPL-3.0 | - | Library | github.com/elboletaire/password-strength-... |
| pcryptBlowfish encryption code; the files ship only the GPL v2 text and do not say "or later". | GPL-2.0 | - | Library | - |
| phpseclib1.x line with a renamed namespace, used for SFTP. The version is not stated in the files. | MIT | - | Library | github.com/phpseclib/phpseclib |
| Popper (@popperjs/core) | MIT | 2.6.0 | Library | popper.js.org |
| Requests (WordPress/Requests) | ISC | 2.0.9 | Library | github.com/WordPress/Requests |
| Select2 | MIT | 4.0.13 | Library | select2.org |
| Tippy.js | MIT | 6.3.7 | Library | atomiks.github.io/tippyjs |
| wp-config-transformer (WP-CLI)A modified fork kept inside the plugin. | MIT | - | Library | github.com/wp-cli/wp-config-transformer |
| Font Awesome Free | CC-BY-4.0 AND OFL-1.1 AND MIT | 6.4.2 | Icon | fontawesome.com/license/free |
| Logo dịch vụ lưu trữ (AWS, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Backblaze, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, DreamHost, Vultr, Wasabi, Google Cloud)Shown only to identify the storage services the plugin connects to. | Trademarks of their respective owners | - | Image | - |
Credit: Font Awesome Free by @fontawesome, https://fontawesome.com. Icons: CC BY 4.0, fonts: SIL OFL 1.1, code: MIT. Copyright Fonticons, Inc.
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