Migrate a Website from HostingRaja

Which panel you are leaving, cPanel or Plesk

Moving a site off HostingRaja starts with a backup you own, taken from cPanel or Plesk. Copy the files and databases, recreate the mailboxes, test on the new IP, then change nameservers. Keep the HostingRaja plan paid for a week so the old copy is still there to roll back to.

HostingRaja sells Linux shared hosting on cPanel and Windows VPS on Plesk, and its own migration guide starts in Plesk under Tools & Settings. The login URL tells you which panel you have before you click anything.

A Windows VPS with MS SQL is the one case where the database is not MySQL. Then the export is a .bak from SQL Server Management Studio, not a .sql dump.

Take the backup before anyone gets a password

HostingRaja's transfer service asks for FTP or SSH details and the database credentials, and its own page says it is not liable for data loss caused by wrong credentials or network limits. Take your own copy first, then decide who does the move.

• Full account archive: contains the home directory and MySQL databases, and is the fastest restore.
• Mail: not inside that archive. Export or sync it separately, or the inboxes stay behind.
• DNS: screenshot the zone, and write down NS, A, MX and TXT values in a text file.
• Do not hand over a root password for a VPS. A temporary sudo user or a panel login is enough.

Their page also asks for up to a week for a transfer. A small site copies in an hour; the week is their queue, not the file size.

Move the files from cPanel or Plesk

The file move is the same idea in both panels: compress the website root, download the archive, upload it to WebJi, extract it, then fix ownership. Only the menu names and the folder name change.

1. cPanel: open Files, then File Manager, select the contents of public_html, and compress them into site.zip.
2. Plesk: open Files, go to httpdocs, select all, and use the archive command to make site.zip.
3. Download the archive, then upload it to the WebJi account home and extract it into public_html.
4. On a VPS with root access, skip the download: rsync -avz --progress /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ root@NEW-IP:/home/USER/public_html/
5. Set the owner to the account user, folders to 755 and files to 644. Files owned by root break uploads and plugin updates.

Check that .htaccess or the Plesk web.config file came across. Without it, permalinks and redirects fail while the home page still loads.

Move the databases and fix the configuration

Export, create, import, then point the application at the new database. On MySQL that is three commands or three screens; on MS SQL it is a backup and restore, followed by a connection-string edit.

1. Export MySQL from phpMyAdmin, or run mysqldump --single-transaction --routines --triggers -u USER -p DBNAME > DBNAME.sql
2. On WebJi open MySQL Databases, create the database and a user, and grant all privileges on it.
3. Import the .sql file, then compare the table count with the old server before you change any setting.
4. Edit wp-config.php, or the application config, with the new DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD and DB_HOST.
5. For MS SQL, restore the .bak into a new database in SSMS and update the connection string in web.config.

If the database user in Plesk was separate from the subscription user, recreate that split on WebJi. A single user with all privileges is simpler, but it changes who owns the tables.

Rebuild the mailboxes and cut MX last

Mail sits on the mail server, so it does not travel with the website files. Create the same addresses first, copy the old messages, and change MX only after an outside test message arrives.

1. cPanel: open Email Accounts and create each address, alias and forwarder. Plesk: open Mail, then Create Email Address.
2. On a Plesk server the same job from the shell: plesk bin mail --create you@example.com -passwd 'PASSWORD' -mailbox true
3. Copy the old mail in dry mode: imapsync --host1 mail.old --user1 you@domain --password1 OLD --host2 mail.webji --user2 you@domain --password2 NEW --automap --dry
4. Run it twice without --dry, compare folder counts, then send a test from an outside address and reply.
5. Change MX and add the new server to SPF in the same edit. Keep the old MX value written down.

You know mail moved when each folder shows the same message count on both servers and an outside sender reaches the new inbox.

Test the copy before nameservers change

Send one machine to the new server while the domain still resolves to HostingRaja. A hosts-file entry does it for the whole browser session, and curl does it for a single request.

• macOS or Linux: add 203.0.113.10 example.com www.example.com to /etc/hosts.
• Windows: the same line in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts, opened as administrator.
• No edit: curl -I --resolve example.com:443:203.0.113.10 https://example.com/

Check the home page, an inner permalink, an image, the stylesheet, a form submission and the admin login. You know it worked when all of them load over HTTPS with no mixed-content warning and the headers name the new server.

Remove the hosts entry afterwards, or your browser keeps showing you the new site after a failed cutover.

DNS cutover and the rollback list

Write the rollback values down before the change, not after. Three commands capture everything you need to put the domain back where it was.

1. Record the current answers: dig +short NS example.com, dig +short A example.com and dig +short MX example.com.
2. Lower the A record TTL to 300 seconds a day before the switch, so a mistake expires in minutes.
3. If the domain uses HostingRaja's DNS, you can edit just the A and MX records in their zone. If it uses their nameservers from another registrar, switch the nameservers to WebJi's.
4. Verify from two resolvers: dig +short example.com @1.1.1.1 and dig +short example.com @8.8.8.8.
5. Rollback is the three recorded values pasted back. Keep HostingRaja paid until a week of traffic and mail has passed, then cancel and download a final backup.

The nameserver guide covers registrars that are not HostingRaja. Cached answers live for the old TTL, so some visitors still reach the old server after the change.

What the move costs on both sides

HostingRaja moves sites in for free, using your credentials and its own queue, which its page puts at up to a week. WebJi® charges ₹700 one-time for a move onto WebJi, before 18% GST, for one domain with FTP files and up to five MySQL databases under 5 GB.

Shared hosting at ₹300 a month before GST matches a HostingRaja Linux account. A site that was on Plesk maps to Plesk hosting, from ₹360 a month before GST. The migration service page covers the paid move, and business email hosting takes the mailboxes if you want them off the web account. Free migration is subject to terms and approval.