This is something I have wanted to write about for quite some time. Part of my process involves three environments: local, staging, and production. Most of the sites I build are straightforward single-site setups with a few custom touches. At work, however, I manage several WordPress multisite networks.
If you need a primer, start with the WordPress multisite documentation. For this walkthrough, assume you are taking over an existing multisite with one main site and two subsites, and your local domain is http://demo.local.
Modifying Tables
After importing your database locally, update values in these tables:
wp_[site-id]_optionswp_blogswp_optionswp_sitewp_sitemeta
wp_[site-id]_options
You will likely have several of these tables, one per site ID in the Network admin. Update the siteurl and home values to http://demo.local.
wp_blogs
Change each row in the domain column to demo.local.
wp_options
Like wp_blogs, update the siteurl and home values to http://demo.local.
wp_site
Like wp_blogs, update each row in the domain column to demo.local.
wp_sitemeta
Finally, there is one more value that can cause issues. In wp_sitemeta, find the siteurl entry and set it to http://demo.local.
That is it. Clear your local browser cache, then log in to the WordPress admin as usual.
David M. Auble
Indianapolis-based solution architect. I build, secure, and rescue web applications — and write about the tools that make it easier. Get in touch →
