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How to duplicate an application

To help you re-use work and speed up your workflow, Divio offers two application duplication types: Fork and Mirror.

You might want to duplicate an application for a number of reasons, for example:

  • to explore radical changes or development that you don't want to do on the source application
  • to prepare the launch of site-wide development or content changes, without disturbing the source application
  • to create a completely new application based on the source application
  • to provide team members or clients with an exact copy of an application for training purposes

Select your duplication option​

To duplicate an application, select Duplicate from the application's Settings view.

You need to give the duplicate a name, and decide whether to duplicate the application to the same organisation or a different organisation.

Select the appropriate duplication action: Fork or one of the available Mirror options.

Duplication types​

Fork​

A fork is a form of duplication in which the new application will be an exact but independent copy of the source application. A fork will include the source application's code, database content, media, environment variables, and all branches, and retains the Git history in its codebase.

A fork is therefore useful when you want to undertake substantial new development, as it allows you to merge back changes from the duplicate into the source application using Git.

Mirror​

A mirror, unlike a fork, remains linked to the source application it is created from.

When creating a mirror, you can choose how environments receive container images from the source application.

Mirror (production image)​

All environments in the mirror deploy images from the production environment of the source application.

Mirror (matching environment image)​

Each mirror environment deploys images from the corresponding environment of the source application.

See Divio Mirrors deployment workflows for more information.

Select subscription options​

After creating the duplicate, you will need to select a suitable subscription.