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Running Commands

This guide covers the commands available via SSH on your staging environment.

Interactive Mode​

Connect without a command to enter an interactive shell:

ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com

You'll get a wp-shell> prompt where you can run multiple commands without reconnecting:

WordPress Restricted Shell
Type 'help' for available commands, 'exit' to quit.

wp-shell> wp plugin list
wp-shell> composer show
wp-shell> exit

Single Command Mode​

Run a single command and exit:

ssh {slug}-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'command here'

Replace {slug} with your site's slug.

File Operations​

Listing Files​

# List files in WordPress root
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'ls -la'

# List plugins
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'ls -la wp-content/plugins/'

# List themes
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'ls -la wp-content/themes/'

Viewing Files​

# View a file
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'cat wp-config.php'

# View with line numbers
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'cat -n wp-content/themes/mytheme/functions.php'

WP-CLI​

WP-CLI is the command-line interface for WordPress.

Plugin Management​

# List all plugins
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp plugin list'

# Install a plugin
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp plugin install woocommerce'

# Activate a plugin
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp plugin activate woocommerce'

# Update all plugins
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp plugin update --all'

# Deactivate and delete a plugin
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp plugin deactivate hello && wp plugin delete hello'

Theme Management​

# List themes
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp theme list'

# Activate a theme
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp theme activate flavor'

Database Operations​

# Export database to local file
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp db export -' > backup.sql

# Search and replace (useful for domain changes)
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp search-replace "old-domain.com" "new-domain.com" --dry-run'

# Run the replacement (remove --dry-run)
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp search-replace "old-domain.com" "new-domain.com"'

User Management​

# List users
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp user list'

# Create a user
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp user create bob bob@example.com --role=editor'

# Reset a password
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp user update admin --user_pass=newpassword'

Cache Management​

# Flush object cache
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp cache flush'

# Flush rewrite rules
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp rewrite flush'

WooCommerce Commands​

# List orders
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp wc shop_order list --user=1'

# Update stock
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'wp wc product update 123 --stock_quantity=50 --user=1'
WP-CLI Documentation

For the full list of WP-CLI commands, see the WP-CLI Command Reference.

Composer​

Manage PHP dependencies with Composer.

# Install dependencies
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'composer install'

# Update dependencies
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'composer update'

# Require a new package
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'composer require vendor/package'

# Show installed packages
ssh mysite-staging@ssh.myscalablesite.com 'composer show'
Composer on Production

Composer changes on staging need to be deployed to production via the normal deployment process. Running composer install on staging doesn't affect production.