Hosting Migration Checklist Generator

Moving a website to a new host is mostly about not losing traffic, email, or data during the switch. Answer a few questions and we build a personalized checklist you can copy, print, and tick off — tailored to your platform and DNS setup. Prefer to read it all first? See the full migration guide. Or browse all free tools.

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Six phases at a glance

Every safe migration follows the same six phases. The generator above tailors this list to your hosts and platform. For the reasoning behind each step, see the full migration guide.

1. Before you start

• Take a complete backup of files <em>and</em> database from the old host — download it locally, do not trust an in-place backup.
• Record current DNS records (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT/SPF/DKIM/DMARC) and their TTLs.
• Lower the DNS TTL on the records you will change to 300 seconds, at least 24 hours before cutover, so the switch propagates fast.
• List every domain and subdomain the site serves (apex, www, staging, mail).
• Note your current PHP / runtime version, extensions, and any cron jobs.

2. Set up the new host

• Create the account/server and match the runtime version (PHP, Node, etc.) to the old environment.
• Add the domain, provision an SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt is fine), and confirm HTTPS works on the new server's IP.
• Recreate databases, system users, and environment variables / secrets.
• Re-add cron jobs and any background workers.

3. Copy your site

• Transfer all files to the new host and import the database.
• Update configuration (DB credentials, paths, base URL) for the new environment.
• Fix file permissions and ownership.
• Keep the old site online and unchanged until the new one is verified.

4. Test before going live

• Preview the site on the new host before DNS
• Run a server diff
• Check cache headers
• Test checkout / login / search and anything that writes to the database.

5. DNS cutover

• Point the A/AAAA (and www CNAME) records at the new host's IP.
• Leave both servers running during propagation — visitors hit one or the other, never nothing.
• Watch propagation; with a low TTL most resolvers switch within minutes.
• Confirm HTTPS resolves with no certificate warnings on the live domain.

6. After cutover

• Verify the live site serves from the new IP (not a cached old one) and spot-check pages.
• Submit the live site to Google Search Console and request indexing if URLs changed.
• Monitor error logs and analytics for 48–72 hours.
• Only decommission the old host after a few days of clean traffic — and keep the backup.

Frequently asked questions