This article addresses moving services from another service provider (domain registrar or hosting provider). If you want to transfer services from another user within WEDOS, follow the instructions for Services – Move from Third-Party Account.

In this article, you will learn:

• How to migrate a(n):
  • Domain
  • Website
  • Email service
  • DNS
• Common issues
• Frequently asked questions

Domain and hosting are two different services. If you want to run a website, emails, or both with WEDOS, you can still have the domain registered with another company.

Before migrating the domain, make sure that we register the TLD. If we don’t, you cannot transfer the domain to us, but you can set up DNS and web hosting services for it.

If you want to have all services under one roof, transfer the domain to us according to the instructions Domains – transfer.

You can move almost any website to WEDOS for which you have access to source files (via FTP) and possibly databases. This also applies to most websites created in content management systems (e.g. WordPress).

You usually follow these steps to migrate a website:

1. Order hosting
2. Migrate files and databases
3. Pre-production check
4. Direct domain (DNS)

For most websites, you want to order a Webhosting service with a NoLimit plan. The service has the following basic features:

• HTTPS support
• New versions of PHP and MariaDB
• Unlimited space for web presentation files
• Sufficient performance for most modern content management systems
• 5 GB of email space expandable up to 0.5 TB.

If you need more performance for your web application, consider Webhosting with the Extra plan, or the WMS service with dedicated performance.

If your application requires special technology or operating system access in addition to performance, consider using VPS or Cloud. 

We do not provide support for moving websites to VPS/Cloud services.

You can move files and databases to the newly created Webhosting in the following ways:

• Basic automatic data migration, if your website either does not use a database or is created in the WordPress content management system. Follow the instructions Webhosting – Basic Data Migration Tool.
• Expert automatic data migration, if your website uses a database, or you want to have full control over the migration process. Follow the instructions Webhosting – Expert Data Migration Tool.
• CMS plugin, such as WordPress UpDraftPlus, or Duplicator. Follow the instructions for that plugin.
• Manually according to the instructions below.

If the automatic migration does not work, download the files and export the databases of the original web hosting service and upload them to the new one. The following manuals will help you:

• Webhosting – File Management
• Webhosting – Databases
• Webhosting – Export/Import Database in phpMyAdmin

After migrating the databases, update their information in the site configuration files.

With automatic migration, we provide a free domain on which you can check the functionality of the website.

If you don’t have such a domain, you can perform the check via:

• Internal Webhostingaddress. This looks like, for example, http://123456.w78.wedos.ws/ and you can find it in the Webhosting creation notification email, or in the service details in the customer administration panel. This address displays the contents of the www folder. It may not work properly with some frameworks and content management systems (WordPress).
• On the domain using the hosts file. In the hosts file of your operating system, you can assign a different IP address to the domain than it would retrieve from DNS. Edit this file according to the instructions of your operating system and assign the ne Webhosting IP address to the domain. You can find it in the Webhosting creation notification email, or in the service details in the customer administration panel.

If the site works as it should after the migration, you can direct the domain to it:

• Automatically: If both your domain and DNS are with WEDOS, you can direct DNS to the new Webhosting or Mailhosting automatically according to the instructions Domains – Direct DNS to Service. The system will overwrite the current records of type A, AAAA and MX.
• Manually: If you are using DNS WEDOS, follow the instructions DNS – Domain Records. Set up new records of the following types: A, AAAA, MX, and possibly CNAME.

You can move emails to the newly created hosting in the following ways:

• Automatic mailbox migration. Follow the guide Emails – Automatic Migration Tool.
• Manually using an email client of your choice.

Automatically Migrate Emails to:

If you need to create new mailboxes manually, follow the instructions Emails – Mailboxes.

Although changing DNS records usually takes up to 1 hour and changing DNS servers 6 – 48 hours, we recommend that you do it only after thoroughly checking the website’s functionality on the new hosting.

Changing DNS to WEDOS is not automatic even if you transfer your domain to us. To use our DNS, enter the following DNS servers:

ns.wedos.net
ns.wedos.cz
ns.wedos.eu
ns.wedos.com

or, for CZ domains, use the WEDOS NSSET.

Detailed instructions for setting up DNS servers (NSSET) for domains registered with WEDOS can be found in the article Domény – DNS Servers (NSSET).

If you have a domain, DNS and hosting services with us, you can direct DNS records with a few clicks according to the instructions Domains – Direct DNS to Service. If you want to set DNS records manually, follow the DNS – Domain Records guide.

After directing DNS to Webhosting, you can activate the HTTPS certificate. Detailed instructions can be found in the article Webhosting – Quick HTTPS Setup.

Common problems with migrating services from another provider include:

• Original web hosting FTP is unavailable
• “Webhosting is Active” message is displayed instead of the website

Issue: The original hosting does not have FTP available through which we would get the site files.

Solution: If FTP is only blocked, ask the provider’s support to restore access, or provide a backup of the files in question.

If the hosting provider doesn’t provide FTP access at all, the site probably can’t be moved.

Issue: I po nakopírování souborů na FTP se zobrazuje výchozí zelená stránka Webhosting je aktivní.

Cause: The page is cached in the browser, or there is an issue with the file structure.

Solution: First, press Ctrl+Shift+R to make sure the content isn’t cached in the browser.

If the problem persists, log in to FTP and make sure that the site meets one of the following conditions:

• The web is uploaded in the www folder and the original index.html is overwritten with your own index.html file, or deleted (if you’re using index.php).
• The website is uploaded to www/domains/domain.tld, where domain.tld is the name of the website domain, without the www. There is our default .htaccess file in the www folder.

Question: I’m not sure about the migration process, can you do it for me?
Answer: Yes, you can find more information on the Paid transfer from competing providers page. The service applies only to Webhosting and WMS, we do not perform migrations to VPS and other server hosting services.

Question: How do I know if WEDOS Webhosting is the right solution for my website?
Answer: All our hosting services have a 7-day trial period. If they don’t meet your expectations, you can terminate them according to this guide until then and get your money back.