Move a Website From Shared Hosting to a VPS

What moves off shared hosting, and what stays?

The move copies the site onto a server you administer. Files, the database, and cron jobs you recreate go with the site. The shared account does not. The domain name stays at the registrar unless you also want a new name.

• Site files, usually from public_html or the folder the panel calls the document root.
• The database and the database user named in the site config.
• Mailboxes only when you copy them or you later point MX at the VPS.
• Not a move of the website to a new domain. That changes the address and needs redirects from the old name.

Leave the shared account, its panel, and its mail running until the VPS copy has passed the checks below. Cancelling first is how the site disappears during DNS.

When should the site leave shared hosting?

Move when the shared plan is the limit you have already hit. A quiet brochure does not need a server of its own. If pages are slow because of a large image or a plugin, fix that on the current plan first.

• Repeated 508 or 503 errors while the site is busy.
• CPU or entry-process caps the host will not raise on that plan.
• A task that needs root, a custom service, or a PHP version the shared plan does not offer.

The VPS still needs a person who can update the operating system. Buying the server does not remove that work.

What has to exist on the VPS before the copy?

Order the VPS and write down its IPv4 address before you touch DNS. The disk has to hold the files, the database, and one spare copy of the backup. Note the PHP version and the database engine the site uses today.

A WebJi® VPS is a virtual machine with root access. cPanel or Plesk is optional. With a panel, you can restore a full account. On a plain Linux install, install a web server and a database server, and create a site user, before any files arrive.

Match the stack to the site. WordPress needs PHP and MySQL or MariaDB. A static site needs only the web root. Load a test page by the VPS IP before you call the server ready.

If you would rather not run the copy, email support@webji.services with the backup or the shared login. An approved move onto this VPS has no extra migration charge. It is subject to terms, and it is not instant. Keep the shared plan until you have opened the copy.

How do you copy the site onto the VPS?

Use one path. A partial upload on top of a full-account restore leaves two configs, and the site will load the wrong database.

Stop when the VPS shows the home page and a login. Until then, do not change DNS and do not cancel the shared plan.

1. On the shared plan, create a full account backup if the panel offers one. If it does not, download the site files and export the database. A public-folder zip with no database is an incomplete copy.
2. Set the DNS TTL to 300 seconds at least a day ahead. That shortens cache time. It does not move the site.
3. If the VPS has cPanel, restore the full backup there. When both sides are cPanel, use the same account restore as a cPanel to cPanel migration, with this VPS as the destination rather than another shared plan.
4. If the VPS has no panel, upload the files by SFTP into the web root. Create an empty database, import the dump, and edit the site config so the host, name, user, and password match. On WordPress that file is wp-config.php.
5. Open the VPS by its IP, or add that IP to your computer's hosts file for the domain. The public website still shows the shared copy, so it is the wrong test.
6. Click the home page, one inner page, a form or a checkout, and an admin login. A database error here is a config mismatch, not a DNS fault.

How do you check the copy before DNS changes?

The test passes when your computer alone loads the VPS copy. Add one hosts-file line: the VPS IP, a space, then the domain. Save, flush the local DNS cache, and reload.

Put a temporary word in the VPS footer and confirm you see it. Remove that word after the test. If the public site changed, you edited the shared copy by mistake.

An IP address often has no certificate yet, so a browser warning on the IP test is expected. A blank page or a database error is not. Fix that before DNS.

How do you point DNS at the VPS?

When the hosts-file test passes, update DNS. Do not cancel the shared plan in the same step. Visitors can keep the old answer for up to 48 hours.

If DNS stays at the current provider, change the A record for the bare domain and for www to the VPS IP. Change MX in that same edit only when mail is moving too. If the VPS host will publish DNS, change nameservers at the registrar. On a WebJi® account the pair is often ns1.webji.in and ns2.webji.in. Type the hostnames from the welcome email.

A nameserver change is not a new domain and not a registrar transfer. The shared plan has to keep answering until lookups show the VPS.

What should you check before you cancel the shared plan?

Cancel the shared plan only after a public lookup shows the VPS IP or the new nameservers, and someone who is not on your hosts file can open the site.

• Home page, one inner page, and a form or a test order, on the public URL.
• The certificate lock on that URL, issued for this domain on the VPS.
• One cron job that has written a new log line since the switch.
• Mail: an outside message on the VPS, or MX still on the shared host if you left mail there.

Issue or install the certificate after the domain points at the VPS, then reload the public URL. On a panel, open Cron Jobs and confirm each old job is listed. On a plain VPS, add the same command to the server scheduler and run it once.

If a page fails, fix it on the VPS or put the old DNS back. Do not delete the shared account while some visitors still reach it.