Migrating Strapi Content Between Environments

Introduction

Migrating content ensures consistency across development, staging, and production. This guide covers export/import using database tools and Strapi plugins.

Prerequisites

Access to source and target Strapi databases
Strapi content-manager and content-type-builder plugins

Step 1: Database Dump and Restore

PostgreSQL Example

Export:

pg_dump -U user -h src_host -d strapi_db -F c -b -v -f strapi.dump

Import:

pg_restore -U user -h dest_host -d strapi_db -v strapi.dump

MongoDB Example

Export:

mongodump --uri="mongodb://user:pass@src_host/strapi" --archive=strapi.archive

Import:

mongorestore --uri="mongodb://user:pass@dest_host/strapi" --archive=strapi.archive --drop

Step 2: Strapi Import/Export Plugin

Install:

npm install strapi-plugin-import-export-entries

In Strapi admin, navigate to Import/Export:

Export: select content types and download JSON.
Import: upload JSON to target.

Step 3: Handling Media Files

Sync ./public/uploads directory via rsync:

rsync -avz ./public/uploads/ user@dest_host:/path/to/strapi/public/uploads/

Step 4: Environment Variables

Ensure matching environment configs in .env:

DATABASE_URL
JWT_SECRET
ADMIN_JWT_SECRET

Step 5: Restart Strapi

After import, restart Strapi:

pm run build && pm2 restart strapi

Summary

Combine database dumps, Import/Export plugin, and media sync for full migration of Strapi content and assets across environments.