How to transfer a website to another host with minimal downtime?

[webman]

If I decide to move to another host, what are the right steps and tips to make sure that I have minimal downtime and don't screw up my website?

[kingofoverkill]

webman,

This is a great question and one that I'm sure every website owner will face at some point in time.

We have some helpful articles in the webhostingusers directory. Here are links to them and a few notes:

This is a comprehensive article:

http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/309/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/Web-Hosting-Website-Migration-Process---Moving-From-One-Web-Hosting-Company-to-Another (http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/309/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/Web-Hosting-Website-Migration-Process---Moving-From-One-Web-Hosting-Company-to-Another)

Here is another comprehensive article:

http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/498/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/How-To-Handle-A-Website-Migration-From-One-Web-Host-To-Another (http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/498/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/How-To-Handle-A-Website-Migration-From-One-Web-Host-To-Another)

This article reminds you to make sure the versions of Apache, PHP, etc. on the new host will work with your code.

http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/499/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/Changing-Web-Hosts---Moving-Your-Website (http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/499/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/Changing-Web-Hosts---Moving-Your-Website)

Here is a way to move files if you can't contact your old host and FTP is not available:

http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/366/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/Website-Migration-Using-Wget (http://www.webhostingusers.com/a/e80000/44/366/48/17/Tutorials/Web-Hosting/Website-Migration-Using-Wget)

It is also important to check for email at the old host while the new name server propagation is happening. You may have to use your old IP address to POP the email since the domain name will be pointing to the new host and new website.

For sites that use scheduled tasks like cron in linux, make sure you have copied all of the cron setup information so you can setup those tasks again on the new host. Similar work will need to be done for windows hosting accounts.

Some control panels, like cpanel make moving sites easier as they can copy website files, databases, email addresses, etc.

Some hosts will transfer your site for free, but you really, really need to test it to make sure it is running correctly.

I would keep my old host for 2-3 months just to make sure some file did not get moved or copied correctly, so that I can go back and get anything that was missed.

If you have a database-driven site, you can also minimize downtime after you have tested everything on the new site by pointing the old site DB to the new host IP. This way, changes on the old site are written to the new site DB. There may be more work to do here, though if you have image files, etc. that are not stored in the database, so think through this one carefully.

[cPanelDavidG]

If I decide to move to another host, what are the right steps and tips to make sure that I have minimal downtime and don't screw up my website?

Is your current host utilizing any control panel software? What about your destination hosting provider?

[rockarolla]

As long as I am concerned I would be worrying only about changing the DNS - and the Time To LIve. If you do something wrong there your site might not be visible and can lead to considerable frustration.

Where do you configure or change the DNS settings? Is this done by the hosting provider?

[webman]

Is your current host utilizing any control panel software? What about your destination hosting provider?

My current host is using cPanel. I haven't decided on my next host yet. Should I only consider new hosts that can provide cPanel to make the move easier or will other control panels read cPanel backups?