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Website Migration: Moving Your Site to Salama Hosting

Migrating your website from another hosting provider to Salama Hosting is a straightforward process. Whether you're switching for better performance, pricing, support, or features, this guide walks you through every step to ensure a smooth, zero-downtime transition.

Free Migration Assistance

Salama Hosting offers free website migration for all new customers. Our technical team will handle the entire process for you — just submit a migration request and we'll take care of the rest.

To request free migration:

  1. Log in to your client portal.
  2. Submit a support ticket under Technical Support.
  3. Include:
    • Your current hosting provider's name
    • cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin login URL and credentials (or FTP credentials)
    • List of domains/websites to migrate
    • Any special requirements (e.g., specific database configurations)

Our team will schedule the migration, perform the transfer, and notify you once everything is ready for testing.

Before You Migrate: Preparation Checklist

Before starting the migration, take these essential preparatory steps:

1. Inventory Your Current Setup

Document everything about your current hosting:

  • [ ] List of all websites/domains hosted
  • [ ] Databases and their names
  • [ ] Email accounts and important messages
  • [ ] SSL certificates
  • [ ] Cron jobs or scheduled tasks
  • [ ] Custom server configurations (.htaccess rules, PHP settings)
  • [ ] Third-party integrations (CDN, payment gateways, APIs)

2. Create a Full Backup

Before migrating, create a complete backup at your current host:

  • [ ] All website files (public_html / www directory)
  • [ ] All MySQL/PostgreSQL databases
  • [ ] Email accounts and messages (if needed)
  • [ ] DNS zone files (screenshot or export your current DNS records)

3. Check Your Current DNS Records

Record your existing DNS settings — you'll need to recreate them after migration:

  • A records
  • CNAME records
  • MX records (critical for email continuity)
  • TXT records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

4. Purchase Your Salama Hosting Plan

Ensure your hosting account at Salama Hosting is active and ready before beginning the migration.

5. Note Your Salama Hosting Server Details

From your Salama Hosting welcome email, note:

  • Server IP address
  • Nameservers (ns1.salamahosting.com, ns2.salamahosting.com)
  • Control panel login URL and credentials

Migration Methods

The fastest method if both your old and new hosting use cPanel.

Using cPanel Full Backup

At your old host:

  1. Log in to cPanel.
  2. Go to Files → Backup or Backup Wizard.
  3. Click Download a Full Account Backup.
  4. Wait for the backup to generate, then download the .tar.gz file.

At Salama Hosting:

  1. Open a support ticket and attach or share the backup file.
  2. Our team will restore it on your new account.
  3. Alternatively, if you have WHM access, use the Transfer Tool to pull directly.

Using cPanel Migration Tool (Provider-Assisted)

Contact Salama Hosting support with your old cPanel credentials, and our team can use the built-in migration tool to transfer everything directly — including files, databases, email, and settings.

Method 2: Manual Migration via FTP + Database

For any hosting-to-hosting migration (works regardless of control panel).

Step 1: Download Files

From your old host:

  1. Connect to your old hosting via FTP (FileZilla or similar client).
  2. Navigate to the public_html (or www, htdocs) directory.
  3. Download all files and folders to your local computer.

Step 2: Export Databases

From your old host:

  1. Log in to phpMyAdmin (or equivalent).
  2. Select your database.
  3. Click Export → Quick → SQL format → Go.
  4. Save the .sql file to your computer.

Step 3: Upload Files to Salama Hosting

  1. Connect to your new Salama Hosting account via FTP.
  2. Upload all website files to the public_html directory.

Step 4: Import Databases

  1. Log in to phpMyAdmin at Salama Hosting.
  2. Create a new database with the same name (via cPanel → MySQL Databases).
  3. Create a database user and assign it to the database.
  4. Select the new database in phpMyAdmin.
  5. Click Import and upload your .sql file.

Step 5: Update Configuration Files

If your website uses a CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc.), update the database connection settings:

WordPress (wp-config.php):

define('DB_NAME', 'your_new_database_name');
define('DB_USER', 'your_new_database_user');
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'your_new_database_password');
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');

Joomla (configuration.php):

public $db = 'your_new_database_name';
public $user = 'your_new_database_user';
public $password = 'your_new_database_password';
public $host = 'localhost';

Method 3: WordPress Plugin Migration

For WordPress sites, migration plugins make the process simple:

Using All-in-One WP Migration

  1. Install All-in-One WP Migration plugin on your old WordPress site.
  2. Go to All-in-One WP Migration → Export.
  3. Export as File and download the .wpress archive.
  4. Install a fresh WordPress on your Salama Hosting account.
  5. Install All-in-One WP Migration on the new site.
  6. Go to All-in-One WP Migration → Import and upload the file.

Using Duplicator

  1. Install Duplicator plugin on your old WordPress site.
  2. Create a new package (this bundles files + database).
  3. Download the installer.php and archive.zip files.
  4. Upload both files to your Salama Hosting public_html via FTP.
  5. Visit yourdomain.com/installer.php and follow the wizard.

Method 4: Email Migration

Email accounts and messages require special attention:

Migrating Email Accounts

  1. Recreate all email accounts in your new control panel with the same addresses and passwords.
  2. IMAP sync method: Configure both old and new mail servers in an email client (Outlook, Thunderbird). Drag messages from the old account to the new one.
  3. ImapSync tool: For bulk migration, ask Salama Hosting support to use server-side tools to copy your email data.

Tip: Don't update MX records until email accounts are created and optionally synced at the new host.

Switching DNS (Going Live)

After everything is uploaded, tested, and working at Salama Hosting, it's time to switch your domain:

At your domain registrar, update your nameservers to:

ns1.salamahosting.com
ns2.salamahosting.com

This transfers all DNS management to Salama Hosting.

Option B: Update A Record Only

If you want to keep DNS management at your current registrar, update only the A record:

@    A    [Your Salama Hosting Server IP]
www  A    [Your Salama Hosting Server IP]

Also update MX records if your email is hosted with Salama Hosting.

DNS Propagation

After updating DNS, propagation takes 1–48 hours (typically 2–6 hours). During this time:

  • Some visitors will see your old site, others will see the new one.
  • Do not delete your old hosting account until propagation is complete (wait at least 72 hours).

Post-Migration Checklist

After migration, verify everything works correctly:

  • [ ] Website loads correctly on all pages
  • [ ] All images, CSS, and JavaScript files load properly
  • [ ] Forms, shopping carts, and interactive features work
  • [ ] Database-driven content displays correctly
  • [ ] Email accounts are set up and receiving messages
  • [ ] SSL certificate is active (HTTPS works)
  • [ ] Redirects and .htaccess rules function properly
  • [ ] Cron jobs are recreated
  • [ ] DNS records are correctly configured
  • [ ] Website performance is satisfactory
  • [ ] Contact forms send emails to the correct addresses

Minimizing Downtime During Migration

To achieve near-zero downtime:

  1. Lower DNS TTL to 300 (5 minutes) at least 24 hours before the switch.
  2. Complete all file and database transfers before changing DNS.
  3. Test using the server IP or a temporary URL before switching DNS.
  4. Keep your old hosting active for at least 72 hours after DNS change.
  5. Switch DNS during low-traffic hours (late night or early morning).
  6. Freeze content changes — avoid updating your old site during migration.

Common Migration Issues

"Error establishing a database connection" after migration

  • Database credentials in your config file don't match the new database. Update wp-config.php or equivalent.
  • Database wasn't imported correctly. Re-import via phpMyAdmin.

Images or CSS not loading

  • File permissions may need updating. Set directories to 755 and files to 644.
  • Hardcoded URLs in the database (WordPress). Use the Better Search Replace plugin to update old URLs.

Email not working after migration

  • MX records may not be updated yet. Verify DNS settings.
  • Email accounts need to be recreated at the new host.

SSL certificate errors

  • Request a new SSL certificate at Salama Hosting (Run AutoSSL in cPanel).
  • SSL certificates from your old host cannot be transferred — new ones must be issued.

Mixed content warnings (HTTP/HTTPS)

  • Some URLs in your content still reference http://. Update them to https://.
  • In WordPress, use a plugin like Really Simple SSL to fix this automatically.

Need Help?

Website migration can be complex. Let our team handle it for you:

Remember: Migration assistance is free for all Salama Hosting customers.