# Migrate from Ploi to fortrabbit

Source: https://www.fortrabbit.com/migrate/from-ploi
Published: 2026-10-31
Updated: 2026-10-31


## Migrate from Ploi with a coding agent

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other coding agents can run this migration. Paste this prompt into the agent, in the project folder:



```txt
Read https://www.fortrabbit.com/agents.md and set up fortrabbit. Then move this site from Ploi to fortrabbit, following https://www.fortrabbit.com/raw/migrate/from-ploi.md
```

Sign-in happens in the browser, see [agent setup](/agents). The agent needs SSH access to the Ploi server to read the settings, dump the database and copy the uploads. The steps below are what the agent follows, and what to do by hand without one. The agent changes nothing on the old host: a person deletes the old setup once the site runs on fortrabbit.

## Ploi settings and where they go

| On Ploi | On fortrabbit |
| -- | -- |
| Site code on the server | Git repository, deployed by the [GitHub integration](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/deployment/github-app) |
| `.env` of the site | [Environment variables](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/settings/env-vars) in the dashboard |
| Deploy script of the site | [Build commands](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/deployment/build-commands) and [post-deploy commands](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/deployment/post-deploy-commands) |
| Server → Cron jobs | [Cron jobs](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/jobs/crons) |
| Site → Queue, server → Daemons | [Workers](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/jobs/workers) |
| MySQL on the server | MySQL component |
| Uploads in the site directory | Storage component, files copied with rsync |

## 1. Create the app

Create an app in the dashboard with the software template matching the framework. Its default domain works with HTTPS right away, so the whole move can be tested before DNS changes. Lower the TTL of the domain's DNS records now, see [migrate to fortrabbit](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/dev/how-to/migrate-to-fortrabbit).

## 2. Copy the settings off Ploi

Log in with `ssh ploi@<server-ip>`. Ploi allows key-based SSH only, and root login is off.

- Pull the `.env` with the Ploi CLI, `ploi env:pull`, or `cat .env` in the site directory. Copy every value except `DB_*`, `APP_URL`, `REDIS_*`, `QUEUE_CONNECTION`, `CACHE_STORE` (or `CACHE_DRIVER`) and `SESSION_DRIVER` into the environment variables of the fortrabbit environment.
- Open the deploy script of the site. Lines like `composer install` and `npm run build` go into the build commands, `php artisan migrate --force` and cache commands into the post-deploy commands.
- Open the cron jobs of the server. Ploi writes them to `/etc/crontab`, which also holds jobs of other sites on the same server. Each entry of this site becomes one cron job.
- Open the queue workers of the site and the daemons of the server. Each process of this site becomes a worker.

fortrabbit has no Redis. A Laravel app sets the queue, cache and session drivers to `database` or `file`, see [Laravel queues and scheduler](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/guides/laravel/queues-scheduler).

## 3. Deploy the code

Connect the GitHub repository Ploi deploys from to the environment and push. The first deployment runs the build commands.

## 4. Move the database

Dump the database over SSH with the credentials from the `.env`:



```shell
mysqldump -u <user> -p <database> > dump.sql
```

A recent Ploi database backup on S3 or another target works too. Import the dump into the MySQL component as described under [MySQL export and import](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/mysql/export-import).

## 5. Copy the uploads

Find the upload folder of the framework, such as `storage/app/public` for Laravel or `public/assets` for Statamic. Pull it to the local machine with rsync, then push it to the environment, see [rsync](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/dev/how-to/rsync). Files on S3 stay where they are: keep the bucket credentials in the environment variables.

## 6. Switch the DNS

Test the app on its default domain, add the custom domain to the environment and point the records at the domain provider to fortrabbit, see [external domain setup](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/domains/external-domain-setup).

## What stays on the Ploi server

- Custom Nginx rules. fortrabbit runs Apache, so rewrites move into [.htaccess](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/dev/htaccess/redirects).
- Root-level software, system packages and daemons outside the app. fortrabbit has no root shell, see [limits](https://docs.fortrabbit.com/platform/concepts/limits).
- Mail sent with PHP `mail()`. Use SMTP or a transactional mail provider.

Once the site runs on fortrabbit, delete the site in Ploi. Delete the server at the cloud provider when no other site runs on it.

---

- [Migrate to fortrabbit](/dev/how-to/migrate-to-fortrabbit)
- [Ploi alternative](/alternatives/ploi)