Domain, hosting, email transfer checklist needed

[lchrzan]

Does anyone have a checklist or flowchart of things to do when transferring web hosting and the accompanying email accounts? Maybe a domain transfer checklist too.

Recently I've had many customers how are moving their hosting services or domain names. (I consult with small and medium-sized businesses.) Most of them don't understand about domain registrations and web hosting and how their email boxes are set up. Most don't have internal IT support to help them. Typically they are using POP email accounts and nobody knows how they were set up.

Working with them individually, I can usually coax the information out of them bit by bit, using emails and phone messages to gather domain name registration info, web hosting account info, email boxes. It takes a lot of time in small increments.

It gets particularly interesting when you have to change their POP email accounts, as the potential for downtime and lost emails exists. And even with directions that have screenshots and good instructions, it is very difficult to help someone set up a POP email account without being there in person.

Anybody have a checklist of things that need to be done and information that needs to be gathered to make this transition as smooth as possible? Or know where to get such a checklist online?

[incrediblehelp]

Have you checked with the new host? They usually provide these types of tutorials.

[lchrzan]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Have you checked with the new host? They usually provide these types of tutorials.

Thanks for this suggestion. I guess part of the problem is that there are so many different ways that domain registrars and hosts handle these things.

I'm looking for something that is agnostic to the particular host or registrar. For example, here's one that I found that contains a listing of some action items but more of the data that needs to be gathered.

So after this, there would be all the other things like backup and transfer files, test on new server, etc.

And then there's all the the stuff on emails, creating new POP accounts, getting all the email off the old server, etc....

I guess I'll have to take a shot a this myself.

[speed]

For domain transfers have a look at Transferring Domains To Your Account - Help Center—Knowledge Base and FAQ

For hosting you need:

• FTP access to the current site.
• List of databases with their user names and passwords.
• List of POP3/IMAP accounts, passwords are a bonus.
• List of forwarded email addresses.
• List of parked and addon domains and where they point to within the site.
• Any special hosting requirements e.g. some pecl module installed in to PHP5.

Note: If you are going cPanel to cPanel then the new host can usually pull a copy of the site over for you or restore from backups and thus you only need cPanel access on the old host.

To actually move the site without downtime and minimal overlap:

• Bring the TTL for the DNS down to a low number.
• Wait for the existing DNS records to expire.
• Close forums etc on the old host.
• Create the accounts on the new server, copying over the files and databases. Note: If going cPanel to cPanel then it can copy the mail accounts, databases and so on for you just ask the new host.
• Update the DNS records with the IPs of the new host.
• Open forums etc on new host.
• Update the name server records to be those of the new host.
• Connect to the old host by IP and download any emails that slipped in.

Downtime should be zero, the only issue is visitors/emails may continue going to the old server where an ISP decides to cache DNS information for an extended period.

If the old host is not cooperative then you need to create DNS records at the new host but point the IPs to the old host and then update the nameservers. This has zero downtime but now gives you/the new host the control to move the site with minimal issue.