Knowledge Base

How to migrate from Windows Server with custom hosting to Plesk

Question

How to migrate from Windows Server with custom hosting to Plesk?

Answer

Migration from custom hosting is only possible using the command line, not the Plesk interface. The steps vary depending on whether administrative access is available. Please refer to the corresponding section below.

Note: To migrate from Hosting Controller v7, MSPControl, WebSitePanel, or XUnitConf, please contact Plesk Professional Services

With Administrative Access

Without Administrative Access

Log in to the target Plesk server using RDP
Install Plesk Migrator on the target server, if it isn't already
Prepare the hosting description file

This file contains the list of clients, subscriptions, add-on domains, mailboxes, etc., to be transferred from the source server.
- Name it hosting-description.yaml or hosting-description.json depending on the desired format
- Place it in %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackend
- Review the sample description files for reference
Prepare the migrator tool configuration file

This one has the configuration and access information from the source server.
- Name it config.ini
- Place it in %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackend
- Review the sample configuration file for reference
Generate the migration list

This is the list of objects (customers, resellers, service plans, domains, etc.) to be migrated.

%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat generate-migration-list

The resulting file will be named migration-list and placed in %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackend
Edit the migration list

Remove domains that should not be migrated, assign domains to service plans, or re-assign them between customers as needed. Once done, the hosting description file can be validated for errors:

%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat validate
Start the migration

%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat transfer-accounts

After this is complete, additional content that may have been added to the source server can be resynced:

%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat copy-content

To resync only certain content types, add the appropriate option to the Migrator tool:
- plesk-migrator.bat copy-web-content
- plesk-migrator.bat copy-mail-content
- plesk-migrator.bat copy-db-content
It's a good idea to verify that the migrated items are working on the target server. To do this, run:

%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat test-all

Log in to the target Plesk server using RDP
Install Plesk Migrator on the target server, if it isn't already
Manually copy web and mail data from the source server to the target server
- For web data, copy the document root directories of the domains being migrated along with all their subdirectories and files
- The content can be placed anywhere on the target server
Create dumps of the databases belonging to the sites to be migrated and manually copy them to the target server
Prepare the hosting description file

This file contains the list…