Importing Websites

Hi,
I have had a quic search round the forums.. but can`t see much of this.. is it possible to import from cpanel, or import site backups?

 

No, you have to do this manually. This link might be of interest: http://www.howtoforge.com/using-wget-with-ftp-to-download-move-web-sites-recursively

 

ah.. hmm, thats not great.. 200+ accounts to move.. 1 at a time...

secondary question.. apache 2 or nginx?

 

Hello OP

Few random things for you, mostly not ISPConfig specific but migration in general..

- Do you have complete access to the source server? Are the sites flat-file based or sql-based, eg CMS system or similar? A mixture?

- You may be able to tar or gzip the web contents on the original server, unpack to temporary folder on destination server, chmod as appropriate then move into right place.

- If using some kind of CMS, check to see if its got a backup/restore database function inside it - you may get good results using first the ISPConfig APS installer to deploy the CMS framework (if available) then restoring portal contents accordingly.

- Perhaps create yourself some kind of a checklist for the domains - discover if any require particular PEAR or PHP modules that may not be on the server by default? Or any particular libraries that need installing. Last thing you want is to move a site and discover you've lost functionality because of XYZ library missing.

- You will also have to think about dns entries - if you have to change addresses for A records eg. www.yourdomain.com or MX records for email.
Its as well a few days before you start moving anything to reduce TTL values to quite low, perhaps 600 seconds so when you make your dns changes you can guarantee uniform within a short period and no stale caches.

- Perhaps think about email for each site as well. What are you running on old and will it be same as new? Maildir format or mbox? Will you have to convert? Will mail clients have to be changed for any new settings?

- regarding apache or nginx thats only something you can decide based upon site requirements. nginx is known to have a smaller memory footprint and in certain circumstances outperform apache.
Perhaps http://www.wikivs.com/wiki/Apache_vs_nginx may give you an insight?

- You may find a dummy domain useful to point to new ISPConfig server in order test and check a migration strategy from old to new and highlight areas you need to address.

Good luck with your migration to ISPConfig - it will be worth it.

HTH

 

Thanks for that info Monkfish...


websites are a mixture of flat file, html & various CMS`s (wordpress etc)
So whilst some of them will be straight forward, some wont....getting backups of all sites will also be easy.
Ive already tried a couple of test imports using wget, but that didn't work too well, files weren't put in correct place, So I`ll need to read up a bit on that.
Then when I manually ftp`d file to correct location, I couldn't really test site, cpanel gives you a temporary url xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/~username where you can check site, but I couldnt do that with ispconfig (Ive probably missed something)

Ive already set TTL low on DNS, so that bit is done.

ISPConfig, does look to be the best of the free panels.. even better than some of the paid ones, but it doesn't make it easy to move established setups into it. Not a complaint, just an observation
I`ll persevere for now & continue with my testing & evaluation.

 

Hello SaltireH,

Code:

I couldn't really test site

Depending on network configuration you may be able to override the site by placing an entry in a local hosts file on your desktop to point to new ip address instead of old.

If using linux use /etc/hosts and set "order hosts,bind" in /etc/host.conf.
If using windows place an entry in c:\windows\system32\etc\drivers\hosts"

That should allow you to point to new site and do some testing.

one for the developers? I think there may already be a request in there for some sort of migration module from, eg. a cpanel backup. Have a look in the ispconfig roadmap or bugtracker see if there is a feature request - if not why not request it?

 

Code:

Code:

I couldn't really test site

Depending on network configuration you may be able to override the site by placing an entry in a local hosts file on your desktop to point to new ip address instead of old.

If using linux use /etc/hosts and set "order hosts,bind" in /etc/host.conf.
If using windows place an entry in c:\windows\system32\etc\drivers\hosts"

That should allow you to point to new site and do some testing.

yeh, seen that would get to be a pain testing multiple sites

Code:

move established setups into it
one for the developers? I think there may already be a request in there for some sort of migration module from, eg. a cpanel backup. Have a look in the ispconfig roadmap or bugtracker see if there is a feature request - if not why not request it? 

Didnt see anything in the bugtack/roadmap, but I`ll do a request

 

Don't think it *would* be a pain other than building an initial hosts file?

You will still have to create the site, etc in ispconfig on the new server, whether manually or through the remote API.

Will definitely give you a chance to test as appropriate before making live dns changes. Just thinking, thats all.

 

well sorta would be a pain, if I wanted to test all sites as I transfered..

 

Ye gods man, why would you NOT want to test each site to ensure everything works to spec... without errors... no 404's... no database errors... no library errors... no permissions errors...

Or, put it another way, I appreciate that moving sites/hosts/platforms happens within the industry, but why would you choose to potentially insult paying customers by moving their site and breaking it through insufficient testing?

Even if they're your own sites, come on, surely a bit of due diligence is required?

 

I didnt say I wasnt going to check each site.... I said I didnt fancy making 200+ changes to my hosts file...as it turns out, it is a moot pont, as there is a facility to make aliases.

 

Sorry, just how long does it take to make an entry like

Code:

xx.xx.xx.xx www.site1.com www.site2.com www.site3.com www.site4.com... www.site200.com

etc, in a hosts file?

I am willing to bet you don't have 200 new dedicated ip addresses and that most of them will be pointing to same address or there will be very few addresses in total. Not exactly taxing!

I hope you don't come across hardcoded links in your sites - your aliases won't be useful then.

Good luck with your migration.

 

hmm, you really seem to be getting your knickers in a twist because I dont want to faff around with my host file.

 

Not really fella, I just feel sorry for your customers.

 

wow... you really do have a bee in your bonnet, thats one helluva leap...looking for an alternative to editing hosts file = bad customer service

 

Looking for something like this myself.

Surprised nothing exists so far. I guess some one needs to make it.