Migration

The Migration & Transfer Manager moves subscriptions to this server. You can move them from another StackRegent server or from Plesk for Windows. This server connects to the old one over HTTPS and copies the subscriptions directly. The old server backs up one subscription at a time, this server downloads it and restores it, and so on. The old server is not changed.

A migration moves customers, resellers and service plans, domains and website files, databases with their users, mail accounts with their messages, FTP accounts and scheduled tasks.

Go to Tools & Settings › Migration & Transfer Manager (under Tools & Resources).

Step 1: Prepare the old server#

If the old server runs StackRegent:

1. On the old server, go to Tools & Settings › Remote API (REST) and click Create key.
2. You can enter this server's IP address under Allowed from, so only this server can use the key.
3. Copy the key. It is shown only once.

If the old server runs Plesk for Windows, use one of these. Neither changes anything in Plesk.

• Migration agent (command line). Copy stackregent.exe from the bin folder of the StackRegent package to the Plesk server. Then run this in an administrator command prompt:

  stackregent.exe migration-agent --allow NEW-SERVER-IP

It prints the address (Old server: https://…:9445) and the API key to enter here. Keep the window open during the migration, and press Ctrl+C to stop it. Other options: --port (default 9445) and --key, which keeps the same key across restarts.

• StackRegent Migrator extension. Install the extension in Plesk and open its StackRegent Migrator page. Enter the New server IP address and the Port (default 9445; the port is opened in the Windows firewall while the agent runs), then click Start. The page shows the address and API key. Click Stop the agent when you are done.

The agent uses a self-signed certificate. It prints the certificate's SHA-256 fingerprint so you can compare it.

Step 2: Connect to the old server#

1. In Migration & Transfer Manager, click Connect to a Server.
2. Enter the Old server address, for example https://old.example.com:9443. For Plesk, enter the address the agent printed.
3. Paste the API key.
4. If the old server's panel uses a self-signed certificate (the Plesk agent always does), tick Accept an untrusted certificate.
5. Click Connect.

The server is added to the Move from another server list, and its page opens.

Step 3: Review the checks#

The page Migrate from server shows:

• On the old server: the number of subscriptions, customers, resellers and service plans there, and how many have been moved so far.
• Subscriptions: each subscription's customer and plan, what it uses (PHP versions, ASP.NET, MySQL and SQL Server databases, mailboxes), its size, and the result of the checks.

Each subscription is compared with this server:

A warning above the list appears when the subscriptions need more space than the websites drive has free. Click Read Again to load the old server's list again.

Step 4: Migrate#

1. Tick the subscriptions to move. Use the search box, Select failed or Select moved to select them quickly.
2. Click Migrate N.
3. Under Content, choose Website files, Databases and Mail messages. Configuration always moves: domains, PHP and ASP.NET settings, database and mail accounts, FTP accounts and scheduled tasks.
4. Under Accounts, you can tick Also every service plan, reseller and customer, including those without these subscriptions. With this ticked, you can also start without selecting any subscription, to move only the accounts.
5. Click Start.

The page updates by itself. Each subscription's State goes through Waiting, Backing up, Copying and Restoring, and ends as Moved or Failed with a message. Click Follow the task for the full log. Transfers can be resumed, and the next subscription is backed up while the current one is restored. Customers keep their passwords. For Plesk, the agent reads the passwords that Plesk encrypted, so accounts keep them too.

Step 5: Check the websites and switch DNS#

1. Test each website before you change DNS. For example, add a hosts-file entry on your computer that points the domain at this server. You can also use Website Preview (see Websites and domains).
2. Shortly before you switch DNS, select the subscriptions with Select moved and migrate them again. This copies the latest files, databases and mail.
3. Change the domains' DNS records, or the name servers, to this server.
4. When everything has moved, click Disconnect. This server forgets the old server and its API key. Subscriptions already moved stay here.

Moving from a Plesk backup file#

If the servers cannot reach each other, use a backup file instead:

1. In Plesk, open Tools & Settings › Backup Manager (or a subscription's Backup Manager). Back up with everything selected. Set a backup password if you want Plesk to include the passwords in a readable form.
2. Download the backup: backup_info_….xml.zip from Plesk for Windows, or a .tar file from Plesk for Linux.
3. Here, click Add a Plesk Backup and upload it. For files over 2 GB, copy them to this server first and add them by path.
4. Click Restore in Plesk backups on this server, pick the subscriptions and follow the task.

Accounts whose passwords could not be read get new ones. The restore task lists them. Receive Link creates a one-time link that another server can send a backup file to.

Troubleshooting#

• Connect fails with a certificate error: tick Accept an untrusted certificate, or give the old panel a trusted certificate.
• Connect fails with no answer from a Plesk server: check that the agent is running, the port is open, and --allow (or New server IP address) matches this server's address.
• A subscription failed: read its message and the task log, fix the cause, then use Select failed and migrate again.

Related#

• Backups
• API and command line