Creating the staging server after the production server

In this scenario, the staging server is created after the production server is running and contains data such as store information, orders and users. This scenario occurs when the decision to use a staging server is made after setting up and running the production server.
The following high-level steps describe how to create a staging server after the production server is running and contains data:
  1. Creating a staging server.

    To avoid complexity and performance issues, it is best to have two different machines for your staging and production machines.

  2. Synchronize the staging server with the production server
    1. Use the staging server utility stagingcopy to synchronize the staging server database with the production server database. The stagingcopy utility copies content data from the production database to the staging server database. It does not copy transactional data since, in general, transactional data does not have to be staged.
    2. Manually copy file assets such as such as static Web pages and image files from the production server file system to the staging server file system.
  3. Make changes to the staging server instead of the production server.
  4. Test your store to ensure it functions as you expect.
  5. Propagate the data from the staging server to the production server.
    • Propagate database data using the stagingprop utility.
    • Propagate files using a file transfer utility.
  6. For store changes, repeat steps 3, 4, and 5.