Can’t import a Drupal site in Windows

This problem often occurs because one of the default settings of WAMP is too low. You’ll see the issue if you go to the MySQL-controlling phpMyAdmin screen (probably at http://localhost/phpMyAdmin) and click “Import”: The maximum file size allowed is 2,048K. That’s only 2MB, and the databases for most Drupal sites are much larger than that. (The example site for Drupal Essential Training gets as big as 5MB.)

To change this limit:

  1. Click the WAMP icon in your system tray.
  2. Select “PHP”. In the side menu, select “php.ini” to open a file containing PHP’s configuration options.
  3. Search for the line, “upload_max_filesize = 2M”.
  4. Change it to “upload_max_filesize = 64M” (or whatever you like). You can get by with as little as 32M, but I recommend at least 64M, particularly for Drupal 7.
  5. Save the file and restart WAMP. (Better yet, restart your computer entirely to be sure. I’m frankly not sure whether it makes a difference.)
  6. Now go back to that “Import” screen in phpMyAdmin: You should notice that the limit has changed.

Thanks to L.H. for pointing this out!

2 replies on “Can’t import a Drupal site in Windows”

Drupal 7 Visual Quickstart Guide
On page 17, “Installing Drupal”, instruction 1 specifies that you have “the Apache setting pointing at your Drupal folder”. Which setting is this? When I point Firefox at http://localhost, I get a WAMPServer page, not one for installing Drupal. Thanks in advance for your help.

See Page 11
Hi, Jim. It looks like you skipped a step on Page 11. Specifically, you have to change the DocumentRoot setting in Apache. I’ve copied and pasted the relevant text below.

Good luck!

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To configure WAMP for Drupal on a Windows computer:

1. Click the WAMP icon in the system tray, then choose Apache > httpd.conf The httpd.conf file opens in Notepad.

2. Edit the line that begins with DocumentRoot to reflect where you put your Drupal files. This is the DocumentRoot, which by default is c:/wamp/bin/apache/apache-version-number. I recommend that you change that to somewhere you’re sure your backup software will see it. The My Documents folder is a good choice.

3. By default, WAMP’s PHP settings limit file uploads to be no larger than a paltry 2 MB, which will cause problems when you try to run Drupal. Change it by clicking the WAMP icon in the system tray, then choosing PHP > php.ini. In the file that opens in Notepad, change the upload_max_filesize line to a larger number; I recommend at least 64 MB.

—END SECTION—

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