Migrating Your Clients to Liberation

Summary: This article explains the two ways to move your clients' cPanel accounts to your Liberation reseller VPS (a free migration by our team or a do-it-yourself transfer in WHM), plus a DNS cutover checklist.

Option 1: Free migration by our team (recommended)

We migrate accounts from other cPanel hosts for free, up to your plan's account limit, with no per-site fees.

How to request a migration

1. Make sure your reseller VPS is set up. At a minimum, you should be able to log in to WHM. Setting up your private nameservers first is also a good idea.
2. Open a support ticket and include:
   • The name of your current host
   • The type of access you have there: root WHM, reseller WHM, or individual cPanel logins
   • The login URL and credentials for that access
   • A list of the domains or cPanel usernames to move
   • Who manages DNS for each domain (your current host, a registrar, Cloudflare, or somewhere else)
   • Any preferred cutover dates, or times to avoid
3. We'll confirm the plan, copy the accounts, and let you know when they're ready to test.

Keep credentials private. Only share passwords inside your support ticket, which is private. Never post them in public forums, social media, or chat groups. After the migration is finished, change any passwords you shared.

Migrated accounts count toward your account limit. If you have more accounts than your plan allows, tell us in the ticket and we can talk about upgrading first.

Option 2: Do it yourself

If you have root access at the old host: Transfer Tool

1. In WHM, go to Transfers » Transfer Tool.
2. Enter the source server's address and SSH port.
3. Enter the source login. You'll need root, or a user that can switch to root with su or sudo.
4. Click Scan Remote Server, select the accounts to copy, and start the transfer.
5. Watch the progress screen, and review any warnings when it finishes.

Transfer Tool needs the two servers to be able to reach each other. For details, see cPanel's Transfer Tool documentation.

If you only have reseller or cPanel access: backup and restore

1. At the old host, log in to each client's cPanel and create a full account backup. In most versions this is under Files » Backup » Download a Full Account Backup.
2. Download the backup file. Its name starts with backup- and ends with .tar.gz.
3. On your Liberation server, go to WHM » Transfers » Transfer or Restore a cPanel Account, upload the file, and restore it.

If anything fails partway through, stop and open a ticket. We're happy to take over.

DNS cutover checklist

Copying files is only half the job. The site isn't live on your server until DNS points to it.

1. Lower the TTL early. 24 to 48 hours before cutover, lower the TTL on the domain's A records at the current DNS provider (to 300 seconds, for example) so the change spreads faster.
2. Test before you switch. Use your computer's hosts file to preview the site on your new server before anyone else sees it. See Client Site Shows the Wrong Site or Default Page After Migration for steps.
3. Check the email records. Make sure the MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correct in the new DNS zone. If the client uses Liberation Email, keep the MX records pointing there, and set Email Routing for the account to Remote Mail Exchanger.
4. Switch DNS. Either change the domain's nameservers to your private nameservers, or update the A records for the root domain and www to your server's IP.
5. Remove old AAAA records. If the old host had IPv6 (AAAA) records, delete them. Otherwise, some visitors will keep reaching the old server.
6. Confirm SSL. Once DNS resolves to your server, AutoSSL issues a certificate. You can run it manually from WHM under SSL/TLS » Manage AutoSSL.
7. Keep the old hosting for a few days. Don't cancel the old account until the site, forms, and any scheduled tasks are confirmed working on your server.

After the move

• Update CMS plugins and PHP versions if the old host was running outdated software.
• Run an Imunify360 malware scan on newly migrated accounts.
• Tell your client about any new login address for their cPanel.

Still stuck? Open a ticket

Our U.S.-based support team is available 24/7. Open a support ticket from the Liberation Client Area and include the domains involved and where you are in the checklist. Tickets are private, so they are the safe place to share server details. Never post passwords in public forums or chats.