How To Move A Local Project To A New Machine Without Losing Anything
A repeatable checklist for migrating development environments, credentials and local data safely.
Machine migrations go wrong in predictable ways. Work through this in order and nothing important gets left behind.
1. Inventory before you copy
List repositories, running services, local databases and anything holding credentials.
2. Export local state
pg_dump mydb > mydb.sql
tar -czf dotfiles.tar.gz ~/.config ~/.zshrc3. Move secrets deliberately
- Rotate anything you cannot account for.
- Never move keys through chat or email.
4. Verify, then wipe
Rebuild each project from a clean clone and run its test suite before erasing the old machine.
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