# Exporting/importing with images **URL:** \ **Category:** Developer help\ **Created:** [December 9, 2019, 8:05am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706 "2019-12-09T08:05:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![omisnomis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@omisnomis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/omisnomis)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 8:05am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/1 "2019-12-09T08:05:20Z")
I’m currently evaluating the upgrade path to Ghost 3.0, and have tried the following - Doing the import/export from the labs section - zipping/unzipping the/var/www/ghost/contents directories as needed and doing a mysql dump/restore The import/export option works fine, but it doesn’t have the associated images. The custom backup route, gives me a load of errors that I didn’t bother to try and delve into. Then I tried zipping/unzipping just the images folder, with the import/export, but it’s not looking for the images in the right subdirectories. Is there a “standard” way of backing up everything? **Edit:** Because there are a lot of compatibility issues, with my current theme, I am installing V3 on a brand new server, under a different hostname ([https://new.codetips.co.uk/](https://new.codetips.co.uk/)) so I can work out all the kinks and then switch over. I’ve also noticed my Subscribers haven’t moved over. If there isn’t a way of moving everything over, I’m probably going to have to re-upload all the images and trawl the mysql database and export the subscribers. ---
**Author:** ![Kevin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/kevin/32/32_2.png) [@Kevin](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Kevin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/2 "2019-12-09T12:28:14Z")
> [@omisnomis](#): > > I’ve also noticed my Subscribers haven’t moved over. Subscribers do not exist in 3.0, it was a beta feature that has been replaced with members. > **[Setting up members](https://ghost.org/help/setup-members/)** > > Ghost's membership functionality allows you to build a loyal readership, offer exclusive content, and even generate recurring revenue through subscriptions. In essence, memberships transform your Ghost site from a content website with anonymous... If you haven’t upgraded directly from 2.x to 3.x then your subscribers won’t have been automatically converted to members. You can however export your subscribers as a CSV in the 2.x instance and then import that CSV in the members area in your 3.x instance. ---
**Author:** ![omisnomis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@omisnomis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/omisnomis)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/3 "2019-12-09T12:43:31Z")
Ah ok, thanks! Any idea on the images being moved over as well? ---
**Author:** ![omisnomis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@omisnomis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/omisnomis)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/4 "2019-12-10T13:02:24Z")
Or is it just not possible to do the export/import with images @Kevin? ---
**Author:** ![Kevin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/kevin/32/32_2.png) [@Kevin](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Kevin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/5 "2019-12-10T13:16:59Z")
Export does not currently export the images but you can include images in an import zip. Best bet is to download/copy the `content/images` folder directly from or on the server. ---
**Author:** ![omisnomis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@omisnomis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/omisnomis)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/6 "2019-12-10T15:14:30Z")
Ok thanks, I tried that but that didn’t work properly 🤔 I’ll have to do something crufty 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![omisnomis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@omisnomis](https://forum.ghost.org/u/omisnomis)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/exporting-importing-with-images/10706/7 "2019-12-16T17:11:04Z")
Just in case anybody comes across this question wanting to do the same - the best thing to do is clone your server, and upgrade to V3. Trying to migrate all the data to a brand new server is too much hard work