This article explains how to connect to your HOSTDOG hosting via SSH and run Drush commands to manage your Drupal site. It covers the most common operations — clearing cache, running database updates, importing and exporting configuration, managing modules, and creating database backups — plus a complete reference table of useful Drush commands. [VERIFY: Confirm Drush version available on shared hosting — likely Drush 12 or 13 for Drupal 10/11]

Connecting via SSH

Drush is available via SSH on all HOSTDOG hosting plans. To use it, you need to connect to your hosting account via SSH. If you haven't done this before, see how to connect via SSH.

Once connected, navigate to your Drupal root directory (the directory containing index.php or web/index.php):

cd ~/public_html

Confirm Drush is available and check the version:

drush --version
Tip: If your Drupal project uses Composer, Drush is likely installed as a project dependency in vendor/bin/drush. In this case, use vendor/bin/drush instead of just drush, or add vendor/bin to your PATH.

Essential Drush commands

The commands below cover the operations you'll use most frequently when maintaining a Drupal site.

Cache:
Clear all caches

The most-used Drush command. Run this after any configuration change, module update, or code deployment:

drush cr

cr is the alias for cache:rebuild. It rebuilds the Drupal service container and clears all caches — equivalent to visiting Administration → Performance → Clear all caches.

Database updates:
Run pending database updates

After updating modules or Drupal core, run database updates to apply any schema changes:

drush updb -y

The -y flag automatically confirms all update operations. Without it, Drush will prompt you to confirm each update. Always run drush cr after drush updb.

Configuration:
Import and export configuration

Drupal 8+ uses a configuration management system. Export your site's configuration to YAML files (for deployment or version control):

drush cex -y

Import configuration from YAML files (e.g., after pulling changes from version control):

drush cim -y
Note: drush cim will overwrite your active configuration with the files in your config/sync directory. Always review changes before importing on a production site.
Modules:
Enable and disable modules

Enable a module (after installing it via Composer):

drush en module_name -y

Uninstall a module:

drush pmu module_name -y

List all installed modules with their status:

drush pm:list --status=enabled
Database backup:
Create a database dump

Export your Drupal database to a file — use before updates, migrations, or any major change:

drush sql-dump --result-file=~/drupal-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

With compression:

drush sql-dump --gzip --result-file=~/drupal-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz

See how to create and restore Drupal backups for the full backup and restore workflow.

Drush command reference

Command Alias What it does
drush cache:rebuild drush cr Rebuild service container and clear all caches
drush updatedb drush updb Run pending database updates after module/core update
drush config:export drush cex Export active configuration to YAML files
drush config:import drush cim Import configuration from YAML files into active database
drush pm:enable module drush en module Enable a module
drush pm:uninstall module drush pmu module Uninstall a module
drush pm:list drush pml List all modules with status, version, and type
drush sql:dump drush sql-dump Export the database to a SQL file
drush sql:cli drush sql-cli Open a MySQL shell for the Drupal database
drush core:status drush status Show Drupal version, paths, and database connection info
drush watchdog:show drush ws Show recent Drupal log messages
drush user:login drush uli Generate a one-time admin login link
drush deploy — Run deploy sequence: updatedb, cim, cr (Drupal 9.1+)

Troubleshooting

"command not found: drush" after connecting via SSH

If Drush is installed as a Composer dependency, it lives at vendor/bin/drush inside your project directory. Try running ./vendor/bin/drush --version from your Drupal root. You can also add vendor/bin to your PATH in ~/.bashrc to use drush directly: export PATH="$HOME/public_html/vendor/bin:$PATH"

Drush must be run from inside a Drupal directory. Check your current directory with pwd and navigate to your Drupal root with cd ~/public_html. If your Drupal is in a subdirectory (e.g., web/), run Drush from the project root that contains composer.json, not from inside web/.

This usually means Drupal cannot connect to the database. Check that the database credentials in sites/default/settings.php are correct and that the database service is running. You can test the database connection with drush status, which shows the database status directly.

Related articles

Need Help? If you're having trouble running Drush on your HOSTDOG hosting, our team is here 24/7. Navigate to the HOSTDOG homepage and click the Log in button to open a support ticket and we'll assist you promptly.
Tags: HOSTDOG Drupal Drush Tutorial