The Migration Team at CyberSite.net's Liquid Web Data Center in Lansing, Michigan, is dedicated to providing you with an efficient and as uneventful a migration as possible. Whether you are migrating from a current Liquid Web server (internal migration) or from another host (external migration), it is important that we work together to ensure an effective transfer of information. The Migration Team handles migrations for Linux servers. The Windows Team handles migrations for Windows servers. While the process is similar, the Windows Team requires different information. Windows migrations generally take 1-3 weeks to complete, but can take longer depending on the amount of data to be migrated and the effectiveness of the testing phase of the migration.

Most migrations generally take two to seven days, however, individual results may vary depending on the size and type of migration being completed. Any potential delays are minimized by maintaining communication with you frequently to ensure we receive the data we need in order to complete the process.

Migrations begin with completing our migration form, follow the easy steps in our Requesting a Migration article. Once the form is completed, a Migration Specialist will contact you to schedule the migration. To request a Windows server migration, please open a Support Ticket with the Windows Team indicating that you are requesting a migration.

STEP 1: INFORMATION COLLECTION
Liquid Web will:
Respond to your Migration Request via email and review the form for all pertinent information. Completing the form is extremely important so that we have all the information needed. Some of the information we will need is:
• Source server hostname and IP address
• Destination server hostname and IP address
• Domain being transferred
• DNS information and if you are able to modify DNS records
For External Migrations, we will need additional information, such as:
• SSH username and password
• cPanel username and password

What we need from you:
Complete the Migration Form completely and inform us of any special instructions before the migration begins. In addition, please complete the following updates on your source server prior to the migration process. Common updates are:
• WordPress - install the most recent version
• Update Plugins - delete any unused
• Notify us of any third-party software installed that we may need to help with later
Please verify that your site is compatible with PHP version 5.3 (5.5 if you have EasyApache 4) as it is the lowest version of PHP supported by cPanel.

STEP 2: DATA MOVE
Liquid Web will:
During this step, the Migration Specialist will begin the Initial Sync. The Initial Sync is where we access your source server and compare software versions, pull data from the server and restore your sites on the destination server. The end goal is for your site to work the same way on the destination server as it did on the source server. If your site shows errors on the source server prior to Initial Sync, the same errors will appear on the destination server.

What we need from you:
Please refrain from adding any new sites or changing functionality on current sites during this time. This will minimize the occurrence of any errors during the migration process.

STEP 3: VALIDATION
Liquid Web will:
We will log into your site on the destination server and make sure that we are able to access all of your information. We want to make sure that your site is functions the same way in the new environment as it did on the source server.

What we need from you:
During this step, we do all the work. This process gets the site ready for testing, where we ask that you test your site in the new environment. As soon as validation is over, we will notify you that we are ready for you to start testing.

STEP 4: TESTING
Liquid Web will:
We will review any errors you send us during your testing process and fix any issues. We will also assist with installing and configuring Third-Party Software such as MongoDB or NodeJS, if needed. Third-Party Software installation and configuration falls under our Beyond Scope Support policy.

What we need from you:
NOTE: This is the part of the process which can cause the most delays - please keep an eye on your email for the notification for you to begin testing?. The only person who knows how a website should work is the owner. This is where we need you to complete a detailed testing of the site and report back to us if anything is not working. It is important that you check all pages, forms, links, and back-end access. Don’t panic if you see errors - these occur when there are differences in the server environment and completely normal during the migration process. If you encounter errors, send us examples in your Migration Ticket so that a specialist can investigate and help resolve the issue. For more information on testing, see our article Testing Best Practices for Migrations.

STEP 5: DNS UPDATE
Liquid Web will:
If you are registered with Liquid Web, our Migration Specialist will update the DNS on the new server so that you can update the IP on the Name Server. Note: There is the potential of a 20 - 50 minute downtime during the DNS propagation at the end of the migration process. In many cases, downtime can be minimized by lowering TTL values, but each migration is unique and may carry with it additional downtime to address issues as they arise.

What we need from you:
If you are coming from an external host, you will need to update the DNS. Please review the DNS Update Information for external hosts if you are not sure how to update your DNS. We will notify you when it is time to make these changes and work with you through this process to keep you update on any issues to minimize downtime as best we can.

Some migrations have the ability to complete a Final Sync. This is where we do one more transfer of data to make sure that any updates are included in the migration and that all files are up to date. Please discuss with your Migrations Specialist to see if your migration qualifies for a Final Sync of your data from the source server to the destination server.