How to migrate from a Windows server with custom hosting to Plesk?

Question

How to migrate from a Windows server with custom hosting to Plesk?

Answer

Note: In case of migration from the following platforms, contact Plesk Professional Services :

- Hosting Controller v7
- MSPControl
- WebSitePanel
- XUnitConf

Note: Migrating from servers with custom hosting can only be done via the command line, and not via the Plesk interface.

If you have administrative access to the source server, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the destination Plesk server via RDP .
2. Make sure that Plesk Migrator is installed. If it is not, install it following the instructions here .
3. Prepare the hosting description file. Name the file
hosting-description.[yaml/json]
, depending on the chosen format, and place it in the
%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackend
directory. The file must contain the list of clients, subscriptions, addon domains, mailboxes, etc. to be transferred from the source server. You can find sample hosting description files here .
4. Prepare the migrator tool configuration file. Name the file
config.ini
and place it in the
%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackend
directory. The file must include the configuration and access information for the source server. Use the sample configuration file found here for reference.
5. Generate the migration list by running the following command:

   %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat generate-migration-list

   The resulting file will be named
migration-list
and will be placed in the
%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackend
directory. The migration list is a list of objects (customer and reseller accounts, service plans, domains, and so on) to be migrated.

6. Edit the migration list. You can remove the domains you do not want to migrate, assign domains you want to migrate to service plans, or re-assign them between customer accounts.
7. (Optional) Validate the hosting description file by running the following command:

   "%plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat" validate

   You can read more about hosting description file validation here .

8. Run the following command to begin the migration:

   %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat transfer-accounts

9. (Optional) Perform an additional content sync with the following command:

   %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat copy-content

   This makes sure that changes to hosting content that may have happened on the source server while the migration was running are mirrored on the destination server. If you want to re-sync only specific types of content, use the
plesk-migrator.bat copy-web-content
,
plesk-migrator.bat copy-mail-content
, or
plesk-migrator.bat copy-db-content
commands.

10. (Recommended) After the migration is finished, run the following command to check the operability of the migrated objects on the destination server:

    %plesk_dir%adminplibmodulespanel-migratorbackendplesk-migrator.bat test-all

If you do not have administrative access to the source server, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the destination Plesk server via RPD .
2. Make sure that Plesk Migrator is installed. If it is not, install it following the instructions here .
3. Manually copy the web and mail content data from the source server to the destination. For web content, copy the document root directories of the domains you want to migrate with all included subdirectories and files. The content can be placed anywhere on the destination server.
4. Create dumps of the databases belonging to the websites you want…