Can’t move domain to an existing subscription: The target path already exists

Symptoms

• Unable to move a domain to an existing subscription from example.com > Move domain because the subscription is not listed

• Trying to merge the domain on the command line fails

  # plesk bin subscription --merge example.com -webspace-name example2.com
  The target path /var/www/vhosts/example2.com/example.com already exists.

• Moving the domain via CLI returns this error

  # plesk bin site --move example.com -webspace-name example2.com
  Step failed 'applyValidate'. The target path for www_root /var/www/vhosts/example2.com/example.com already exists.

Cause

The directory already exists at the target subscription

Resolution

1. Connect to the server via SSH

2. Rename (or remove if not needed) the directory from the error:

   # mv /var/www/vhosts/example2.com/example.com{,.bak}

3. Move/merge the domain