Migrating a cPanel Website

Follow the describe steps in the article and migrate a cPanel Website to a new cPanel Server. Read the article today!

Step 1: Backup the site

1. Login to cPanel on the server where the existing website resides.
2. Click "Backup Wizard" under the "Files" section.
3. This will provide you options to Backup or Restore. Click "Backup".
4. On the next screen click "Full Backup".
5. Leave the destination as Home Directory and ensure the email address is correct.
6. You will receive an email informing you that the backup is complete. 

Step 2: Download the Backup 
 
1. Login to cPanel on the server where the existing site resides.
2. Click "Backups" under the "Files" section.
3. Click "Download or Generate a Full Web Site Backup button"
4. Any avilable backups should be displayed. Download the backup you just made.

Step 3: Restore your backup to the new cPanel server
 
1. Upload the backup file you generated to the /home directory on your new VPS. The best way to do this is with a program that supports SFTP such as Filezilla. We have another knowledgebase article on uploading files with SFTP if this proves a challenge.
2. Login to WHM as the root user.
3. Click "Restore a Full Backup/cpmove file."
4. Enter the username of the backup that you wish to restore and click "Restore".
5. cPanel will now import your website.

Step 4: Testing

1. View all the pages and web applications to ensure things are working as they should. If any scripts are broken you may need to check the configuration files for those scripts to ensure they match with the new environment. PHP issues may need to be solved by making changes to the php.ini file, or using the CGI version of PHP.