How to migrate your website to UnderHost
Move your website, databases, and email to UnderHost with little or no downtime. This guide walks through the full process-and shows where our team can do th...
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Switching hosts shouldn't mean broken pages, lost email, or a day of downtime. With a little preparation, most websites move to UnderHost in under an hour of active work-and visitors never notice the difference. This guide covers both the free managed our team performs for you and the manual process if you prefer to do it yourself.
Most cPanel-to-cPanel migrations are free with an active hosting plan. Skip ahead to Free managed migration and let our NOC handle it.
Before you start
Gather a few things before you begin. Having these ready makes the move fast and reduces the risk of errors during the cutover.
- Access to your current host-cPanel login, or FTP/SFTP credentials and database access.
- Access to your domain registrar-so you can update nameservers or DNS records.
- Your UnderHost account-an active hosting plan and your new cPanel login from CustomerPanel.
- A recent backup-always migrate from a known-good copy of your site.
Keep your previous plan active until the is verified and DNS has fully propagated. Cancelling early is the most common cause of downtime and lost email.
Free managed migration
The easiest path is to let UnderHost move your site for you. Open a request from CustomerPanel and our team copies your files, databases, and email across, then helps you verify everything before you switch DNS.
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Open a request
In CustomerPanel, go to Support → Submit Ticket → Migration Request. Tell us your current host and provide cPanel (or FTP + database) access for your existing site.
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We copy everything across
Our NOC transfers your files, databases, email accounts, and cron jobs to your UnderHost account without touching your live site. Your current website keeps serving visitors the whole time.
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You preview and approve
We give you a temporary preview URL so you can confirm the site works on UnderHost before any DNS changes. Once you're happy, you (or we) update the nameservers.
Standard cPanel-to-cPanel transfers are free with an active plan. Large sites, custom stacks (e.g. non-cPanel VPS), or unusual configurations may need a paid managed -we'll always quote first.
Manual step by step
Prefer to do it yourself? Here's the full cPanel-to-cPanel process. The same principles apply to a VPS or dedicated server-only the tooling changes.
1. Back up your existing site
From your current cPanel, create a full backup, or download the website files and export each database. On shared hosting, use cPanel's backup feature. If your old hosting was on a VPS or dedicated server with SSH access, you can archive your web root:
# Archive the web root
cd /home/olduser
tar -czvf site-backup.tar.gz public_html/
# Export a MySQL database
mysqldump -u dbuser -p dbname > database.sql2. Upload files to UnderHost
Connect to your new account using cPanel's File Manager or FTP and upload your files into public_html. If you ordered a Cloud VPS or Dedicated Server, you can instead pull the archive directly over SSH and extract it:
tar -xzvf site-backup.tar.gz -C ~/public_html --strip-components=1
3. Recreate and import your database
In cPanel, open MySQL® Databases, create a new database and user, and assign the user with All Privileges. Then import your SQL dump from phpMyAdmin. If you ordered a Cloud VPS or Dedicated Server, you can instead import via SSH:
mysql -u newuser -p newdb < database.sql
Your application's config (e.g. wp-config.php, .env, or configuration.php) must point to the new database name, user, and password. This is the number one cause of "Error establishing a database connection" after a move.
4. Recreate email accounts
In cPanel, open Email Accounts and recreate each mailbox with the same address. If you need to preserve existing mail, our team can transfer mailboxes during a managed migration or you can migrate IMAP mail with a tool like imapsync.
5. Test before you switch
Before changing any DNS, preview your site on UnderHost. You can edit your local hosts file to resolve your domain to the new server IP, or use the temporary URL shown in cPanel. Click through key pages, submit a form, and send a test email.
The DNS cutover
Once you've verified the site works on UnderHost, point your domain to us. Update your nameservers at your registrar to the values shown in your welcome email:
| Record | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Nameserver 1 | NS | ns1.underhost.com |
| Nameserver 2 | NS | ns2.underhost.com |
| Website | A | Your server IP (from cPanel) |
| MX | mail.yourdomain.com |
A day before the cutover, lower your DNS records' TTL to 300 seconds. Changes then propagate in minutes instead of hours, shrinking the switchover window.
Propagation typically completes within 1–4 hours, though it can take up to 24–48 hours globally. See DNS propagation explained to check your progress.
After the migration
- Reissue SSL-install or re-issue a free Let's Encrypt certificate in cPanel once DNS resolves to UnderHost. See Fix SSL not working.
- Verify email-send and receive a test message in both directions, and confirm SPF/DKIM. See Why is my email going to spam?
- Set up backups-enable a backup schedule so your new site is protected from day one.
- Keep the old host for 7 days-only cancel once everything is confirmed working and propagation is complete.
After moving, rotate any passwords that were shared with your old host and review user accounts. A is a good moment to remove unused FTP users and stale admin logins.
Frequently asked questions
Want us to handle the move?
Open a free request and our NOC team will transfer your site, verify it on UnderHost, and help you with the DNS cutover.
