Migrate a website without downtime

Before you start

A successful migration is one your visitors don't notice. The principle never changes: copy, check on the new hosting without touching the domain name, then switch the DNS.

First note what your current site holds: the PHP version (or the language used), the database's type and size, scheduled tasks, the e-mail addresses on the domain, the certificates.

1. Lower your DNS records' time to live

A day or two before the switch, lower the TTL of the records pointing to your site (A, AAAA, the www CNAME) to 300 seconds. The address change will then spread within minutes on the day.

2. Copy the files and the database

• Files: over SFTP or rsync, keeping permissions and dates.
• Database: a full export (mysqldump or your current host's export tool), imported into a database created on the new hosting.
• Configuration: update the database credentials in your application's configuration file.

On cPanel hosting, the former host's full backup tool produces an archive our team can restore: open a support request saying where to fetch it.

3. Check without touching the DNS

On your computer, temporarily point the domain to the new address in the hosts file, then browse the site: pages, forms, admin area, payments in test mode. Remove the line once you're done.

4. Freeze changes, copy again, switch

Right before the switch, put the old site in maintenance (or read-only), copy the database and changed files once more, then change the DNS records to point to the new hosting.

5. After the switch

• Check the HTTPS certificate and the redirects (www, http to https).
• Watch the error logs for a few days.
• Keep the old hosting running for a week, until every visitor has moved to the new one, then raise the TTL again.

Need a hand?

Our team can run the migration with you. Describe your site in a quote request or to the support: we tell you what your offer includes and what is a paid service.