Moving your website to us

An existing website can move without downtime: you build it here and test it first, and switch the domain only afterwards. Until you change DNS, visitors keep seeing the old host.

1. Bring over the files and the database

• Upload the site's files into the web/ folder over SFTP.
• Create a database and load the old database's backup into it.
• Update the application's settings (for WordPress, wp-config.php) with the new database name, user, password and host. You find these on the site's Databases tab.

From a cPanel or DirectAdmin backup

If your site shows a Move in tab, you can bring over a full panel backup in one go:

1. Make a full backup in the old panel. In cPanel: Backup → Download a Full Account Backup; in DirectAdmin: Create Backup.
2. Upload it over SFTP into the site's private/ folder. That folder is not visible on the web.
3. On the Move in tab, enter the backup's path and click Analyse. Nothing changes yet: it shows what would come over.
4. Choose which folder becomes the website and which databases to bring, then start with Move in. Before it starts we back up the current state.

Mailboxes and mail are not brought over this way, and the domains have to be added and verified on the Domains tab.

2. Check it on the preview address

The site's Domains tab shows the preview address. On it, the site already runs here, on the same server that will serve it after the switch. Look it over carefully.

A WordPress builds its links from the name the request arrived on, so it can look different on the preview address. The portal's Domains tab gives you a command that fetches the site from us as though the request had come in on your own domain, so you can test before switching.

3. Switch the domain

1. Lower the TTL first at your current DNS provider, for example to 300 seconds, and wait for the old TTL to run out. With a high TTL, some visitors are served by the old host for hours.
2. Verify the domain if you have not done so yet.
3. Change the A record to the address the portal gives you.

4. The certificate is issued on its own

As soon as the domain points to us, its certificate is issued automatically. There is nothing to do.

If you are moving the domain's zone to us as well, read Nameservers and your DNS zone.