Migrating From Another Host

The general migration playbook: prepare, move data and DNS, verify, and cut over with minimal downtime. The exact steps depend on what control panel your old host uses.

Migration Overview

Every migration has the same four phases regardless of which host you are leaving:

1. Order your new hosting plan at Ultra Web Hosting. You will get cPanel access and a temporary URL or server hostname to test with.
2. Move your data (files, databases, mailboxes) to your new account.
3. Test the site at the temporary URL or by editing your local hosts file. Confirm everything works before changing DNS.
4. Cut over DNS to point your domain at Ultra Web Hosting. See the DNS Cutover Checklist.

Doing the test step before the cutover is the difference between a smooth migration and an outage. Do not skip it.

From cPanel (Easiest)

If your current host uses cPanel, your old host can generate a Full Account Backup you can restore on our side.

Option A: Ask us to pull the account

1. Sign up for a hosting plan at Ultra Web Hosting.
2. Open a support ticket in Technical with the old host's cPanel URL, username, and password.
3. We pull the backup and restore it. You will get a confirmation when it is ready to test.
4. Test the site using the steps in Testing Before Cutover below.
5. When you are ready, cut over DNS.

Option B: Move it yourself

1. Log into your old cPanel.
2. Open Files → Backup.
3. Under Full Backup, click Download a Full Account Backup. Choose Home Directory as the destination and click Generate Backup.
4. Wait for the email notification, then download the .tar.gz file from your home directory via File Manager or FTP.
5. Open a support ticket, attach (or link to) the backup file, and ask us to restore it on your new account. Restores from a full cPanel backup must be done by our team because they include account-level data outside the home directory.

From Plesk or DirectAdmin

Most Plesk and DirectAdmin installs include a backup export that we can convert to a cPanel restore. The simplest path is to let us do this for you.

1. Sign up for a hosting plan.
2. Open a support ticket with your old host's panel URL, username, and password, and specify which control panel (Plesk or DirectAdmin).
3. We export, convert, and import on your new account.

If you would rather export the backup yourself and send it to us:

• Plesk — Subscriptions → your domain → Backup Manager → Back Up. Choose Full backup, including configuration, mail, and databases.
• DirectAdmin — User Level → Create/Restore Backups → tick all categories → Create Backup.

From a Non-Control-Panel Host (VPS, WP Engine, Squarespace, Wix, etc.)

If your old host has no control-panel export, the migration is component-by-component:

• Website files — download via SFTP, SSH, or the platform's export feature. Upload to our File Manager under public_html/.
• Databases — export each MySQL database as a .sql file (phpMyAdmin: Export → Quick → SQL). Import on our side via cPanel's phpMyAdmin or MySQL Databases tool.
• Email — see the Email Migration guide.
• WordPress specifically — the WordPress Migration guide covers this with less manual work.

Testing Before Cutover

Before changing DNS, confirm your site actually works on our servers. Two ways:

Method 1: Temporary URL (cPanel preview)

From your new cPanel, you can preview the site at a URL that bypasses DNS. The exact URL is shown in cPanel's General Information sidebar (it will look something like http://srv.ultrawebhosting.com/~yourcpaneluser/).

This works for static HTML sites. WordPress and other database-driven apps will render broken because they reference the real domain internally; for those, use Method 2.

Method 2: Edit your local hosts file

This trick makes your computer (only) treat your domain as if DNS already pointed at us, while the rest of the world still sees the old host.

1. Find your new server's IP address. It is shown in your welcome email or in cPanel under General Information → Shared IP Address.
2. Edit the hosts file as Administrator (Windows: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) or root (Mac/Linux: /etc/hosts).
3. Add a line: 1.2.3.4 yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com (replacing with the actual IP and domain).
4. Save the file. In your browser, clear DNS cache and visit your domain. You are now seeing the new server.
5. When done testing, remove the line from your hosts file.

Pre-Cutover Checklist

Before flipping DNS, verify each of these on the new server:

• Home page loads correctly at the temporary URL or hosts-edited domain.
• Important inner pages load (admin login, checkout, contact form, etc.).
• Database-driven content shows current data (not stale or empty).
• SSL certificate is issued. AutoSSL runs automatically once DNS is pointed at us; if you want to install one manually before cutover, see SSL Certificates.
• Email accounts exist on the new server with the right passwords. (See Creating Email Accounts.)
• Existing mail history has been copied over if you need it. (See Email Migration.)
• Cron jobs from the old host have been recreated on the new one if any exist.

Cutover

When everything looks good on the new server, follow the DNS Cutover Checklist to switch DNS. Plan it for a low-traffic window in case anything needs adjustment.

After Cutover

• Keep the old hosting active for at least a few days. DNS propagation can take 24 to 48 hours, and a small percentage of visitors may still resolve to the old server during that window.
• Watch the old server's mail logs to catch any mail still being delivered there. Forward it manually if needed.
• After about a week, when no traffic is hitting the old host, cancel the old service.

Related

• WordPress Migration — the simplest plugin-based path for WordPress sites.
• Email Migration — bring mailbox history along.
• DNS Cutover Checklist — the safe way to flip DNS.
• Backups & Restore — for backups once you are settled in.