Below are the recommended best practices for migrating a PHP site (e.g.,
www.domain.com) to CloudPanel smoothly and safely:
🔸
Step 1: Create a PHP Site on CloudPanel- Use your live domain (e.g., www.domain.com) when creating your PHP site. This ensures correct Nginx redirection from non-www to www, or vice versa.
- CloudPanel automatically adds a subdomain (www1.domain.com) as a pre-live domain for testing.
🔸 Step 2: Configure DNS for Testing
- Create an A record for your testing subdomain: CODE_BLOCK_0
- Enable Basic Authentication in CloudPanel to prevent search engines from indexing your test site.
🔸 Step 3: Migrate Your Website Content
- Files:
Copy your website files from the old server to your CloudPanel site directory via FTP or SFTP. - Database:
On the old server, export your database using:
CODE_BLOCK_1 - Upload dump.sql to CloudPanel and import it:
CODE_BLOCK_2 - Update your site's configuration files to reflect the new database credentials and set the base URL to your test subdomain:
CODE_BLOCK_3
🔸 Step 4: Testing Your Migrated Site
- Thoroughly test your site at: CODE_BLOCK_4
- Verify functionality, performance, and database integrity.
🔸 Step 5: Live Switch with Minimal Downtime
- On your old server, display a maintenance page to prevent visitor access during migration.
- Re-export any updated content (e.g., media files) and database from your old server:
CODE_BLOCK_5 - Import this fresh database dump into CloudPanel again:
CODE_BLOCK_6
🔸 Step 6: Final Testing Using Host File
Before changing your DNS publicly, test the migrated site locally by modifying your
hosts file:
Windows:- Open text editor as Administrator.
- Edit file:CODE_BLOCK_7
- Add entry:CODE_BLOCK_8
- Save and test your site in a browser at:CODE_BLOCK_9
Linux/Mac:- Edit hosts file:CODE_BLOCK_10
- Add entry:CODE_BLOCK_11
- Save changes and test your website at:CODE_BLOCK_12
🔸 Step 7: Update DNS Records (Go Live)
- Change your DNS A records for domain.com and www.domain.com to point to your CloudPanel server IP.
- Disable Basic Authentication to allow public access.
- Remove the temporary hosts file entry created earlier.
This structured approach ensures a seamless, safe, and minimal-downtime migration to CloudPanel.
