Use search-replace in WP-CLI

The WP-CLI search-replace command can be used to replace strings in a selection of database tables. This is useful for updating post content and options, especially when changing URLs for sites on a WordPress multisite.

--dry-run

Always run a search-replace command first with the --dry-run option. This will allow you to see the results of the command and, if necessary, verify that they are the expected results prior to making changes in the database.

Adding the  --dry-run option to the end of the command will make it easier to remove it when running the final command.

--report-changed-only

By including the --report-changed-only option in a search-replace command, only the fields and tables affected by the command will be reported. This keeps the reporting output shorter which can be more readable in some cases. The --report-changed-only option is useful and compatible to run with the --dry-run option.

Single-site install, entire site

Add --all-tables or --all-tables-with-prefix to a command:

wp search-replace oldstring newstring --all-tables --dry-run 

The difference between flags

• --all-tables-with-prefix: Enable replacement on any tables that match the table prefix (even if not registered on $wpdb).
• --all-tables: Enable replacement on all tables in the database, regardless of the prefix or --url flag. This overrides --network, --url and --all-tables-with-prefix.

The differences between these two flags primarily apply to sites on a WordPress multisite.

The  --all-tables and --all-tables-with-prefix flags will be ignored if a table is specified in the command (e.g., wp_comments, wp_commentmeta).

Single-install and targeting specific table(s)

Same as above, but with table name(s):

wp search-replace oldstring newstring wp_comments --all-tables --dry-run
wp search-replace oldstring newstring wp_comments wp_commentmeta --all-tables --dry-run

Multisite, all sites

wp search-replace oldstring newstring --all-tables --dry-run

Multisite, only root site (ID 1)

This one is a bit trickier since we need to use --all-tables or --all-tables-with-prefix, and site ID 1 tables are not prefixed with wp_1_. We can’t target the main site very easily and instead, have to manually specify the tables to hit.

Just ID 1 tables:

wp search-replace oldstring newstring wp_a8c_cron_control_jobs wp_commentmeta wp_comments wp_links wp_options wp_postmeta wp_posts wp_term_taxonomy wp_termmeta wp_terms --all-tables --dry-run

Also the network tables (be sure to pick and choose as/if needed):

wp search-replace oldstring newstring wp_a8c_cron_control_jobs wp_blog_versions wp_blogmeta wp_blogs wp_commentmeta wp_comments wp_links wp_options wp_postmeta wp_posts wp_registration_log wp_signups wp_site wp_sitemeta wp_term_taxonomy wp_termmeta wp_terms wp_usermeta wp_users --all-tables --dry-run

Multisite, child site (not ID 1)

Use --all-tables-with-prefix without a --url flag:

wp search-replace oldstring newstring --all-tables-with-prefix wp_3_* --dry-run 

Note: The wildcard table selection (e.g. wp_3_*) is what is needed to restrict, if you choose not to specify --url (or else the prefix ends up being just wp_ because it’s the main site and ends up being affecting the entire database).

Alternatively, you may specify the URL instead of site prefix:

wp search-replace oldstring newstring --all-tables-with-prefix --url=domain.go-vip.net --dry-run

If specifying --url, you still must use --all-tables-with-prefix. Remember, --all-tables-with-prefix doesn’t take an argument, it determines automatically from context, which is determined by the --url.

This will run on all tables that belong to the specific sub-site. Once this is run, the last remaining instance of the oldstring from the wp_blogs table must also be replaced. See the next section for the exact command.

Multisite, specific table(s)

Updating a network table (--url will be ignored due to --all-tables):

wp search-replace oldstring newstring wp_blogs --all-tables --dry-run

Note: As mentioned earlier, if you’re using --all-tables-with-prefix on a subsite (using --url), this will not work because you’ll be restricted to wp_<id>_* prefix.

Using a wildcard to get all comments tables:

wp search-replace oldstring newstring wp_*comments --all-tables --dry-run

You won’t need the --network flag, just use --all-tables* instead. In fact, the --network flag doesn’t even work without the --all-tables* flag.

Beware of overlapping URLs or partial strings

Before proceeding with running the commands on multiple blogs inside the multisite, make sure there are no overlapping URLs which would cause some issues during the search replace on shared tables. For instance, if the multisite is a directory multisite, you have to process the blogs with directory in the URL first.

For example, on a multisite that has a root site (Site ID 1: oldexample.com) and a subsite (Site ID 2: oldexample.com/blog2), doing wp search-replace oldexample.com newexample.com wp_blogs will not only override the URL for blog ID 1, but also for Site ID 2, since the oldexample.com is a part of its URL.

It would be better to do the search-replace first for Site ID 2:

wp search-replace "oldexample.com/blog2" "newexample.com/blog2" --all-tables --dry-run

Then Site ID 1:

wp search-replace "oldexample.com" "newexample.com" --all-tables --dry-run

Similarly, if two directory multisite’s blogs have overlapping slugs, eg: /ham and /hamburger, you should make sure to process the /hamburger blog first, as replacing /ham first would also replaced the /hamburger due to the overlap on the beginning of the slug.

Finally, if changing example.com to www.example.com, this string would also change existing instances of www.example.com to www.www.example.com, and emails to @www.example.com. Instead, target your search at //example.com

Elementor

If the site’s theme is Elementor, then some data may be stored in a serialized fashion that won’t be hit by WP-CLI’s search-replace command. Fortunately, Elementor provides its own search-replace utility that is effective in these situations. It’s found at /wp-admin/admin.php?page=elementor-tools#tab-replace_url, and a tutorial for using it can be found here.

Note that Elementor’s search-replace accepts only full URLs, so searching for multiple variations (http vs https, www vs non-www, et al) is required.

Other plugin-related issues

You may also encounter issues with plugins that store data in JSON format (known examples include Gravity Forms and Advanced Custom Fields).

A typical URL search-replace will not work here so you’ll need to do an additional search-replace for the JSON encoded URLs:

wp search-replace "https:\/\/old.site.com\/subfolder\/" "https:\/\/new.site.com\/" --all-tables --report-changed-only --dry-run

Clearing the cache

At the end of a successful search-replace command, you will be reminded to flush the cache. This is an important step and is required prior to checking your results:

wp cache flush

On multisite, you may need to pass either --network or --url flags depending on where you made changes (everywhere or child site, respectively):

wp cache flush --url=http://example.com

If a command produces unintended results, request VIP Support to restore one of the hourly backups for the affected site.