Migrate a server to a VPS

Two ways to do it

• Reinstall and copy: you order a VPS, install the same software, then copy your data. It's the cleanest path, and a chance to start again from an up-to-date system.
• Import the disk: your current server's disk image is imported as it is into a virtual machine with us. Useful when the server is hard to rebuild.

Reinstall and copy

1. Order a VPS at least as large (CPU, memory, disk), with the same system or a newer release.
2. Install the same services: web server, database, language, scheduled tasks.
3. Copy the data with rsync over SSH, and export then import the databases.
4. Carry the configuration over: virtual hosts, certificates, environment variables, firewall rules.
5. Test by pointing your domain to the new address in your computer's hosts file.
6. Stop writes on the old server, make one last copy, then switch the DNS.

Import your server's disk

Importing a disk image is done by our team, on request. Before you open the request:

1. Check the format: a qcow2, raw, vmdk or vhdx image of a whole disk, system included.
2. Prepare the system: install the QEMU guest agent and make sure the virtio drivers (disk and network) are there; on Windows, install the VirtIO drivers before the export. Without them the machine may not boot or may have no network.
3. Note the network configuration: the IP address will change. Find where the old one is written (network configuration, application, licences).
4. Make the image available: at a download address we can reach, with its SHA-256 checksum.
5. Open a support request with the image's size, the system, the resources wanted and the switch date you'd like.

Our team confirms what is feasible, the fitting offer and the delay. After the import you find the machine in your client area; check it through the web console before switching the DNS.

After the migration

• Change the passwords and SSH keys that existed on the old server.
• Check the new machine's backups are running.
• Keep the old server powered off but available for a few days before terminating it.