In any web development workflow, it's a best practice to have three environments: production, staging, and development. A development environment is where you create and test your ideas privately. Once you're satisfied, you can move to the staging environment to test your changes in an environment that mirrors your live site. Finally, when everything works smoothly, you can push your changes to the production environment (your live website).
This guide will show you how to create a staging environment using Softaculous, with WordPress as an example. Staging is essential to ensure that any changes or updates made to your site do not cause issues in a live setting.
Pre-requirements
- Access to cPanel or another control panel with Softaculous installed
- Administrator login credentials
- An existing installation of WordPress (or another supported script) on your server
Steps to Create a Staging Environment in Softaculous
- Log in to cPanel
Access your cPanel by visiting https://example_domain.com:2083 and log in with your credentials.
- Open Softaculous End-user Panel
In the cPanel dashboard, click on the Softaculous icon or link to open the Softaculous End-user Panel.
- Go to All Installations Page
In the Softaculous panel, navigate to the All Installations page, where you will see a list of your current installations.
- Select the Installation for Staging
Find the installation (e.g., WordPress) for which you want to create a staging environment. Click on the Create Staging icon next to the installation.
- Fill in the Staging Installation Details
- Choose Domain: Select the domain where you want to set up the staging environment.
- Directory: Specify the directory for the staging site (e.g.,
staging). - Database Name: Enter a new database name for the staging site.
- Create the Staging Environment
After filling in the required details, click on the Create Staging button. The process may take some time, depending on the size of your installation, so please be patient.
Why Staging is Important
Creating a staging environment allows you to test updates, major changes, or new features in a safe, private space before deploying them to your live website. This minimizes the risk of errors or downtime. Staging is particularly useful for testing with version control systems such as GitHub or GitLab, which help manage version histories and facilitate collaboration.
Completion and Access
Once the staging environment is created, you can use it to test any updates or changes. The admin and user login details for the staging environment will be the same as those for the source (live) installation. You will also receive an email with the staging installation details if email notifications are enabled.
By following these steps, you can set up a staging environment using Softaculous to safely test your website changes before pushing them live. This ensures that your production site remains stable and error-free while you work on new features or updates.
