Before you transfer your website from a provider to another you have to check several aspects concerning the migration of all data and the configuration of the domain moving from the old records to the new ones. Your website has to be perfectly copied on the new hosting with no errors or missing files, tables or database (sometimes the dump can be interrupted and it could copy just a part of the tables) and their dimensions have to be coherent with the original ones. After this check you can move forward to the DNS zones configuration.
Before the transfer, you have to download a full copy of the website, via FTP for example, and then make a dump of the database (a copy of all files in text format with the file extension .sql). This first step will help you to collect all the most recent data in local, with no modification on the old hosting that will keep on working as usual.
We suggest you to invite all visitors and collaborators not to modify any website's content during the transfer process, because none of the changes processed during the transfer will be considered.
To copy all the files from the old hosting in local, you can choose one of the following procedures, depending on the supported technology:
- Connecting via FTP to the old provider and copy the website's folder (the root or the folder related to the website's name) in local (download procedure).
- Making a backup and creating a Zip copy of the website's folder, using file manager and then downloading it on your laptop;
- Using the shell remote SSH (if available) and using the scp command.
To copy all the files from local on the new hosting, you can choose one of the following procedures:
- Connecting via FTP to the old provider and copy the website's folder (the root or the folder related to the website's name) in remote (upload procedure).
- If you have a Zip file containing the whole website, copying it via FTP first and then unzipping it using cPanel's file manager;
- Using the shell remote SSH.
We remind you that to access FTP you need a client program, such as FileZilla for example, and to use file manager you have to enter cPanel using the browser and clicking on the related icon. Otherwise, to access SSH you have to open a window of the terminal (Mac or Linux) or using PuTTy (Windows).
You will also have to check that the permissions (CHMOD) setting is adequate to your website functioning.
As you end this check procedure, you will be able to transfer your website from a provider to another with no downtime or disservices.
