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Services - Move from Another Provider

You can find a simplified version of this guide in the article Getting Started – Switching from a Competitor.

This article addresses the transfer of services from another service provider (domain registrar or hosting provider). If you want to transfer services from another user within VEDOS, follow the instructions in Services – Transfer from Another VEDOS Account.

In this article, you will learn:

Transferring a Domain to VEDOS

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

Before transferring a domain, make sure that we offer the given extension in our offer ⧉. If we do not offer your extension, you cannot transfer the domain to us, but you can still set up DNS and websitehosting services for it.

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

View domain price list
Transfer a domain to WEDOS

Transferring a Website to VEDOS

You can transfer almost any website to VEDOS, provided you have access to the source files (via FTP) and, if applicable, to the databases. This also applies to most websites built with content management systems (e.g. WordPress).

A standard website transfer takes place in the following steps:

  1. Ordering hosting or another service
  2. Migration of files and databases
  3. Pre-production check
  4. Domain directing (DNS)

Ordering Hosting

For most websites, we recommend ordering the Webhosting with the NoLimit plan ⧉ service. The service has these basic features:

  • Support for secure HTTPS access
  • New versions of PHP and MariaDB database
  • Unlimited space for website files
  • Sufficient performance for most modern content management systems
  • 5 GB of email space expandable up to 0.5 TB.
Order NoLimit webhosting

If your web application requires higher performance, consider Webhosting with the Extra plan ⧉, or the WMS ⧉ service with dedicated performance.

If your application requires special technologies or access to the operating system in addition to performance, consider using VPS ⧉. 

We do not provide support for moving websites to server services.

Migration of Files and Databases to Webhosting

You can transfer files and databases to the newly created webhosting in the following ways:

  • Automatic migration of files and data in basic mode, if your website does not use databases or is built in the WordPress content management system. Follow the instructions in Webhosting – Automatic Data Migration.
  • Automatic migration of files and data in expert mode, if your website uses databases or you want full control over the migration process. Follow the instructions in Webhosting – Expert Automatic Data Migration.
  • By a content management system plugin, such as the WordPress UpDraftPlus ⧉ or Duplicator ⧉. Follow the instructions for the given plugin.
  • Manually according to the instructions below.
Automatically migrate a website to VEDOS

If the automatic migration does not work properly, download the files and export the databases from the original hosting and upload them to the new webhosting. The following guides will help you:

After migrating the databases, update their details in the website configuration files.

Pre-production Check

During automatic migration, we provide a free domain on which you can check whether the website works correctly. 

If you do not have such a domain, you can perform the check:

  • Via the webhosting internal address. It has a format such as http://123456.w78.wedos.ws/ and can be found in the webhosting setup email or in the service detail in the customer administration. It 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 operating system's hosts file, you can assign the domain a different address than it would load from DNS. Edit this file according to your operating system's instructions and assign the domain the IP address of the new webhosting, which you will find in the webhosting setup email or in the service detail in the customer administration. 
Open webhosting detail
Internal website address and IPv4 in webhosting detail (editorially modified)
Internal website address and IPv4 in webhosting detail (editorially modified)

Domain Directing (DNS)

If the website works as expected after the transfer, you can direct the domain to it:

Direct domain automatically
Manage WEDOS DNS records

If you do not have the domain or DNS with VEDOS, set the Webhosting DNS records with your provider.

Transferring Emails to VEDOS

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

Automatically migrate emails to:

Webhosting
Hosting WP
Mailhosting

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

Transferring DNS to WEDOS

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

Transferring DNS to WEDOS is not automatic, even if you transfer the domain to us. If you want to use our DNS, enter the DNS servers

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

or, for CZ domain extensions, use the NSSET named WEDOS.

You can find detailed instructions for setting DNS servers (NSSET) for domains registered with WEDOS in the article Domains – DNS Servers (NSSET).

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

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

Common problems with transferring services from another provider include:

Original Hosting FTP Unavailable

Problem: The original hosting does not have FTP available, so we cannot obtain the website files through it.

Solution: If FTP is only blocked, ask the provider's support to restore access or provide a backup.

If the provider does not offer FTP access at all, the website probably cannot be transferred.

Webhosting is Active

Problem: Even after copying the files to FTP, the green Webhosting is active page is displayed.

Cause: The page is cached in the browser, or there is a problem with the directory and file structure.

Solution: First, press Ctrl+Shift+R to make sure this content is not just cached in the browser.

If the problem persists, log in to FTP and check that the website meets one of these conditions:

  • The website is uploaded in the www folder and the original index.html file has been overwritten by your website's index.html file or deleted (if you have index.php).
  • The website is uploaded in the www/domains/domena.tld folder, where domena.tld is the domain name on which it should work, without www. The www folder contains the default .htaccess file.

Migrated Website Does Not Work Properly

Problem: Errors appear on the migrated website, or it is broken.

Solution: Search for the problem and its solution in the article Webhosting – Website Not Working After Migration.

Frequently Asked Questions

I don't know how to handle the migration process. Can you do it for me?

Yes, more information can be found with the product Paid Transfer from a Competitor ⧉. The service applies only to Webhosting and WMS; we do not perform migrations for VPS and other server hosting services.

How do I find out whether WEDOS Webhosting is the right solution for my website?

All our hosting services have a 7-day trial period. If they do not meet your expectations, you can terminate them according to these instructions and get your money back by then.

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