Create a staging copy of a website on a subdomain in Plesk (non‑WordPress)

Staging is a separate copy of your website used for testing updates and changes. Even if your website is not WordPress, you can still create a staging copy on GARMTECH hosting by using a subdomain such as stage.yourdomain.tld.

Before you start

• Decide the staging hostname (common options: stage, dev, test).
• If the site uses a database, make sure you know where the database credentials are stored (for example, config.php, .env, settings.php).

Step 1 — Create a subdomain in Plesk

1. Log in to Plesk (open from My.GARMTECH).
2. Go to Websites & Domains.
3. Click Add Subdomain.
4. Enter the subdomain name (for example, stage).
5. Keep the suggested document root or set a clear path such as /stage.
6. Click OK to create it.

Step 2 — Copy website files to the staging document root

You can copy files using:

• Plesk File Manager (fast for small/medium sites)
• FTP‑SSL (recommended for large sites)

Typical approach:

1. Open the production document root (usually httpdocs).
2. Create an archive (ZIP) of your website files.
3. Upload the archive to the staging document root (for example, /stage).
4. Extract the archive in the staging folder.

Step 3 — Clone the database (if your site uses one)

1. In Plesk, go to Databases.
2. Create a new database for staging (for example, yourdb_stage) and a database user.
3. Export the production database in phpMyAdmin (Export → Quick/Custom).
4. Import the dump into the staging database (phpMyAdmin → Import).

Step 4 — Update configuration for staging

• Update database credentials in your site config file (new DB name/user/password).
• If the site contains absolute URLs, update the base URL to the staging domain (many frameworks store it in config or database).

Step 5 — Protect the staging site

Staging should not be publicly accessible or indexed by search engines.

• Add password protection in Plesk (for example, “Password-Protected Directories”).
• Optionally restrict by IP if you have a fixed IP.
• Add a robots.txt to disallow indexing, for example:
  

  User-agent: *
  Disallow: /

Step 6 — Enable SSL for the subdomain

Issue/extend a Let’s Encrypt certificate in Plesk and include the staging subdomain so you can test via HTTPS.

Tips

• Use staging for updates first, then apply the same change on production.
• Keep staging data separate (highlight it visually so it is not confused with production).