How to move one cPanel server to another

In this tutorial I will explain a simple and straightforward method for migrating your cPanel accounts from one server to another. This is a great tool if your moving servers or are a reseller moving to another server.

The following are the requirements:

1. cPanel on both servers
2. WHM access on the new server (one that the accounts are being moved to)
3. root access on the new server

Note: The server you are transferring the accounts from is known as the “old server” and the server you are transferring the accounts to are known as the “new server”.

Let’s get started now.

1. Log into the WHM on your new server and create a new account called “restore”, or something you would remember. Remember to save the FTP address, username and account password because, we will need these things later.
2. Log into the cPanel account you are wanting to transfer on the old server.
3. Click on Backup icon on the main cPanel screen followed by Generate/Download a Full Backup on the page you just loaded.
4. Once there, select the backup destination to be “Remote FTP Server”.
5. Enter your email address for verification, followed by all of the FTP account information for the account you created earlier called “restore”.
   • Remote Server: new server’s address
   • Remote User: restore
   • Remote Password: restore’s password
   • Port: 21
6. Then, click “Generate Backup”. This may take some time to backup the files, depending on how large the account is. You should receive an email provided in the above info once it is complete.

Once the above has completed backing up and remote uploading via FTP to your new server, we will need to log into your new server using SSH.

1. Download Putty if you haven’t already, it’s a great FREE SSH program for Windows.
2. Log into SSH on your new server making sure to connect to the correct IP and Port (default port is 22).
3. Type the following in order, one command per line:
   • cd /home/restore/public_html
   • ls

After running the list command above (ls), you should see the tar file of the account on the old server. This means that you have successfully sent the backup file via FTP to your new server.

Now we will need to move the tar file to your new server’s /home directory, which you will execute with the following command in SSH:

mv tar_file_name /home

1. Now, log into WHM on your new server and navigate to “Backup >> Restore a Full Backup/cpmove file”
2. Once here, you should see the old account’s username under “Possible cpmove archives found:”. If you do not, log back into SSH and be sure that the account’s tar file has been moved into /home.
3. Type in the account name in the text field in WHM, which is proceeded by “Enter the username for the account you wish to restore:”.
4. Click “Restore”.

You are now done! Repeat this process for additional accounts.

Originally posted on June 9, 2015 @ 3:58 am