Copy a user directly in database from another database (from production to dev-site)

Question

related to this post for Drupal 6 (Adding a new user directly in database), I wanted to ask for help for my problem:

I have a drupal 7 site which is already online ("in use/production"). Users can register there.

To get an up to date dev-enviroment, I download the files (uploaded files, modules and so on) via ftp from my production server to my dev server. The DB is migrated by "backup and create"-module (export on production server, import on dev-server and vice versa).

As I develop the features in my dev instances, new users register on my production site. If I now import my new backup of the dev-server to production site, the new users registered are lost because the db has been overwritten by the backup.

How can I copy these new user accounts directly to the dev database? what database tables are involved in Drupal 7?

THX in advance phil

Answer 1

Databases shouldn't be copied upstream, they should only be copied downstream, for the exact reason you are seeing.

This is a bit of a problem in Drupal 7.

If you need to move content up from dev -> production, like new nodes or you want to move configuration, then the best way to do it is either manually, or to set up something like the migrate module to migrate your content.

Answer 2

I'd suggest you take a look at the Deploy module. It allows you to copy and stage content across Drupal sites in a clean way and is designed for use cases like yours. It has support for moving user accounts as well.

NOTE: Always remember to take a backup of either sites before doing any DB surgery :)