How do I upload my site to DreamHost?

The following is a quick overview of how to connect to your DreamHost web server and upload your website files. See the following article for more information:

• FTP overview and credentials

DreamHost offers a file manager in the panel. See the following article for more information:

• Using the website file manager in the panel

Your website may also use a database in addition to its website files. If you have a database, see the following articles for instructions on how to migrate it to DreamHost:

• How do I migrate my database to DreamHost?
• phpMyAdmin — How to import a database or table

Free migrations using the DreamHost Automated Migration Plugin

If you are migrating a WordPress site from another hosting company, DreamHost can help.

DreamHost has partnered with the makers of BlogVault to provide the DreamHost Automated Migration Plugin, a free WordPress plugin that allows you to quickly migrate your WordPress site to DreamHost. See the following article for more information:

• Using the DreamHost Automated Migration WordPress plugin

WordPress Migration Service

If you are having trouble migrating your website from another host, or just don't have the time, DreamHost currently offers a WordPress Migration Service that takes care of that for you. You can find more information in the DreamHost Website migration services article.

Remixer

DreamHost also offers a website builder called Remixer, which allows you to build a site without any coding experience or needing to use an FTP client to upload your site data. See the following article for further information:

• Getting started with Remixer

When your site is built and ready to go, you can then upload your files to DreamHost to place them on the web server in order to display your site.

This can be done by using an FTP client to upload your files:

• FTP Client — FileZilla , Cyberduck, CuteFTP, and so on, depending on your OS. Using a fully functioning FTP client such as these is the recommended way to connect to your web server.
• File Manager — Visit files.dreamhost.com to connect to your site using the panel's file manager. This is the FTP client option available within your DreamHost panel.

DreamHost recommends you use an FTP client to upload your files to DreamHost. You can download and use any FTP client of your choice (see the List of FTP clients article for more information).

The following is an example of how the Filezilla interface appears:

Use the following FTP account login values when prompted:

Host/Server Name

You can use either of the following:

SITE URL (without https://www)

For example, if your site is https://www.example.com then just use example.com to log in to your FTP client.

Server URL

The server URL is the name of your server followed by .dreamhost.com.

1. Navigate to the Manage Websites page.
2. Click the Manage button to open the Domain Settings page, which allows you to adjust various settings for your site.
   • If in Grid view, click the Manage button at the bottom of the website box.
   • If in List view, click the Manage button at the far right of your domain name.
3. Select the Hosting tab.

Your hosting plan and Machine (server) name is listed at the top. In this example, the server is named philip-livingston, so the server address would be philip-livingston.dreamhost.com.

Username / Login

This is the username used to log into your FTP account. You can find this information in the email DreamHost sent you when you signed up or created the FTP user account. You can also locate the username in the panel by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Manage Websites page.
2. Click the Manage button to open the Domain Settings page, which allows you to adjust various settings for your site.
   • If in Grid view, click the Manage button at the bottom of the website box.
   • If in List view, click the Manage button at the far right of your domain name.

   

3. Click Show Login Info under the Manage Files section to view the Username field.

Password

This is the password to log into your SFTP account only. Please note this is NOT the same password you use for your Panel. Allow up to 15 minutes for it to update in the system before it’s active.

See the following article for the latest information on how to reset your password:

• Change password (Website users)

Port

Check the SFTP Users & Files page to see if your user is an SFTP/SHELL user. Click the Login info button next to the username to view the type. SFTP and SHELL users (the default options) use port 22.

Once you've connected to the server, you are ready to upload your files. See the following article for information on where to upload your website files:

• Where do I upload my files once connected via FTP?

If you uploaded your site and everything looks like it transferred normally, but you only see a "Parent directory" on the page, then chances are you uploaded your files to the wrong folder, or you uploaded your files to the wrong FTP user account. Please check and retry.