Common Migration Scenarios

GreenGeeks offers two types of migrations, depending on the source access and the scope of the migration requested.

cPanel Migration

cPanel to cPanel migrations are from another network running the cPanel backend.  

In these scenarios, GreenGeeks can use the cPanel Backup tools to migrate a 1:1 copy of the existing cPanel account, including files, domains, DNS records, email accounts, forwarders, auto-responders, databases, cron jobs, SSL certs & more.

Note that cPanel to cPanel migration requires the cPanel Backup Tool to be available on the source account. Additionally, your GreenGeeks cPanel Username and(or) the Primary Domain will be adjusted to match the original cPanel source account. 

Manual Migration

All migrations, except for 1:1 cPanel migrations, are considered Manual Migrations and may incur a migration fee.

For manual website migrations, the GreenGeeks Migration Team must copy the data via FTP, rsync(SSH), or tar archive, then manually configure the website(s) and(or) email accounts.

For email accounts, GreenGeeks needs the original IMAP server address and the login information for each email account. GreenGeeks will take this information & re-create the email accounts using the same passwords(when possible), then copy all existing email content from the IMAP source server.

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Typical Migration Scenarios

cPanel Migration

Required information:  Source server cPanel access URL & cPanel credentials.

For source servers running cPanel/WHM, GreenGeeks can perform a 1:1 Migration of all existing data

• 1:1 migration includes files, databases, email accounts, SSL certs, DNS records & everything else in cPanel. 
• Requires the cPanel Backup tool to be available. 

Manual Migration

Non-cPanel control panel

Required information:  Previous provider’s Control Panel URL & login credentials.

Alternative control panels like Plesk, Webmin, DirectAdmin, or hosts with their custom panel like FatCow/iWeb/GoDaddy

• We can migrate the files via FTP/SSH or Archive.
• MySQL DBs can typically export from the source Control Panel or PHPMyAdmin interface. 
• Email Accounts can migrate via IMAP.
  • Email migration requires an IMAP server address and email login credentials for all accounts.
• Auto-responders, email forwarders, and custom DNS/MX records will not be copied as part of the migration and must be re-configured post-migration. 

No control panel

Required information:  FTP/SFTP/SSH server information & login credentials, or a tar archive of the website’s files & database from the previous provider.

• We can migrate the files via FTP/SFTP, SSH(rsync), or tar archive.
• GreenGeeks can upload a PHP MySQL manager, like Adminer, to dump any source databases.
• Email Accounts can migrate via IMAP.
  • Email migration requires an IMAP server address and email login credentials for all accounts.
• Auto-responders, email forwarders, and custom DNS/MX records will not be copied as part of the migration and must be re-configured post-migration. 

WordPress [wp-admin access only]

Required information: Administrator-level wp-admin login, with the ability to install new plugins.

• Without access to the file system, we may be able to use wp-admin to migrate the website.
• The user account must have the permissions to install new plugins.
• GreenGeeks can use a backup plugin like Updraft Plus, Duplicator, or All-in-One WP Migration to generate a copy of your site.
• WordPress.com migrations are more restricted and only include Posts, Pages & Media data; refer to WordPress.com specific details.

Website Builder-Based Sites

Required information:  Site-builder login URL & credentials.

GreenGeeks cannot complete the migrations of all site-builder-based sites, as the website builder platform is part of the source system.

• Export/Download static HTML site only.
  • A full-function migration is NOT possible. 
    • JavaScript-based functions & contact forms may not work once migrated.
    • The editor function is built-in on the previous hosting provider & cannot be copied.
• Some site builders provide a built-in limited export function to generate a static HTML copy of the site as it looks right now. 
• If there is no export option, GreenGeeks can attempt to download a static HTML copy of the site using our tools.
  • Although the site may look the same to the visitors, you won’t be able to make further changes to the site without manually editing the HTML files.
• See Provider Specific Notes below for specifics.

In this situation, GreenGeeks recommends developing a new site based on WordPress, a universally supported platform. 

The WordPress platform gives you total control over your website data and allows you to avoid vendor lock-in.

After the partial migration, you can develop a new site on a sub-domain with WordPress. Once ready to push the new site live, we can replace the site-builder-based site.

Email-only Migrations

GreenGeeks allows 10GB for email per hosting service; services with more than 10GB of email will need to purge archived messages post-migration.

cPanel to cPanel 

Required information: Source account cPanel login credentials.

cPanel to cPanel email migration includes both full cPanel to cPanel migrations & manual migrations from a cPanel environment. 

• All email accounts(~/mail/) get copied 1:1.
• Existing email passwords can be reused(~/etc/).
• Auto-responders, email forwarders, and custom DNS/MX records will not be copied as part of the migration and must be re-configured post-migration. 

3rd Party Mail Server(MX) – IMAP

Required information:  IMAP server address + username & password for each account.

For IMAP email migrations, GreenGeeks cannot copy the email accounts directly.  

GreenGeeks will re-create the email accounts within your GreenGeeks hosting plan and then sync the contents using the IMAP protocol, one message at a time.

Auto-responders, email forwarders, and custom DNS/MX records will not be copied as part of the migration and must be re-configured post-migration. 

Common IMAP Email Providers

• • GoDaddy
  • Google Apps (Gmail)
  • Outlook365
  • Zoho
  • Yahoo/AOL/Verizon

3rd Party Mail Server(MX) – POP3

Required Information:   Not Supported.

• The POP3 protocol is NOT SUPPORTED.    
  • Access using the IMAP protocol is necessary for a standalone email migration. 

With a POP3 account, messages get stored in your local email client, not the server, so an email migration may not be necessary as there are several ways to back up the email in your Email Client.  

3rd Party Mail Server(MX) – Exchange

Required information:  IMAP server support enabled, exchange server address + username & password for each account.

• The Exchange protocol is not supported.
  • Access using the IMAP protocol is necessary for a standalone email migration. 
    • Exchange servers can typically provide IMAP access in addition to the Exchange protocol, but this may need to be Enabled first. 

Common Exchange Providers

• Outlook365
• GoDaddy
• 1&1
• Dreamhost

Mailing Lists

Required information: cPanel Migration

GreenGeeks supports MailMan-based mailing lists on our hosting plans.

Mailing Lists are only migrated during complete 1:1 cPanel migrations; we cannot copy mailing lists during a partial or manual migration.

Provider-specific notes

cPanel Providers

Example providers: BlueHost, GoDaddy(cPanel), Host Monster, InMotion, Hostinger, A Small Orange, A2 Hosting, and others.

Migration Type: cPanel

Required Information: Source server cPanel access URL & cPanel credentials.

Special Notes: None

HostGator

Migration Type: cPanel

Required Information:  Source server cPanel access URL & cPanel credentials.

Special Notes: cPanel accounts are limited to 10GB before backups are disabled. 

Source accounts larger than 10GB can still be migrated, either by removing some content to get under the 10GB limit or by reaching out to the HostGator support team to generate the backup for you.

Custom Control Panels

Example providers: FatCow, 1&1, GoDaddy(Linux),  iPage, Pantheon, WP Engine, Vulr, Digital Ocean, AWS, Azure, etc.

Migration Type: Manual Copy

Required Information:    FTP or SSH login details; alternatively provide access the providers control panel where an FTP account can be created.

Special Notes: These providers give FTP access to the files and MySQL access to the database. Email accounts require separate IMAP email migration.

WordPress.com

Migration Type: Manual

Required Information:   WordPress.com login credentials.

Special Notes: We can ONLY export Posts, Pages, and media items using WordPress XML export.

It’s impossible to export Themes or Plugins from WordPress.com, and the look & feel of the website needs to be re-configured once the content import is complete.

You can usually find a theme similar to the one you were using on the free WordPress.org repository, but WordPress almost makes some of the WordPress.com themes available via the SVN repository – https://wpcom-themes.svn.automattic.com/

WordPress.org [Self-Hosted WordPress]

GreenGeeks can make a 1:1 copy of self-hosted WordPress sites, using backend FTP access or a WordPress plugin.

Migration Type: Manual

Required Information:  wp-admin login credentials; admin user must have administrator-level access & the ability to install new WordPress plugins.

Special Notes: Only WordPress-related content is moved and does not include any email accounts or files/folders not associated with WordPress.

If you do not have backend FTP access for the migration, GreenGeeks needs a wp-admin account with administrator-level access to install the necessary migration plugin.

Wix

Migration Type: Manual Copy (Site must be downloaded via HTTrack )

Required Information:  None; static copy of the HTML will be generated.

Special notes: Aside from a static HTML copy of the Wix site, you can generate an XML export of the “Blog Posts”.

The XML blog export data can be imported to WordPress, and you can use the “Auto Upload Images” plugin to automatically grab the remote images.  

This will not be a full copy of your Wix site, only the blog content.

GoDaddy (Site Builder)

Migration Type: Manual Copy (Site must be downloaded via HTTrack )

Required Information:  None; static copy of the HTML will be generated.

Special notes: Contact forms will not work post-migration, along with other JS components.

Weebly

Migration Type: Manual Copy (We can export the full site via ZIP )

Required Information: Access to the Weebly panel, or a published version of the site in archive form.

Special notes: Although we can download a copy of the existing site, we cannot move the Weebly backend configuration from one Weebly Partner to another.

Since we cannot copy the backend, if you have a Weebly site with another provider, GreenGeeks can copy the site as it appears now but further edits will not be possible without editing the HTML files manually.

Squarespace

Migration Type: Manual Copy (Site must be downloaded via HTTrack )

Required Information:  Squarespace login(for WP import).

Special notes: We can export much of the content to WordPress via XML. This will not fully reproduce the site but will copy some of their content into a new WP site. See the guide for more info.

Blogger

Migration Type: Manual Copy

Required Information:  Blogger login credentials.

Special Notes: Most content can be imported to WordPress via XML using a special WordPress plugin.   

This process will not fully reproduce the site but will copy some of its content into a new WP site.   

See this external guide for more info.