Moving an existing site to 8Deploy

We will move your site for you, free. You do not have to do any of this yourself. Open the chat on our website, or email support@8deploy.com with the domain and where it is hosted now, and we will do the move: we build the site here, test it, and only switch your domain over once it is already working. There is no charge and no catch. It is simply the fastest way for both of us to find out whether your site runs well here.

The rest of this article is for people who would rather do it themselves.

The rule for a clean migration is simple: build the site here first, test it here, and only then point the domain at us. Done in that order, your visitors see nothing.

What you will need from your old host

• A copy of your website files
• A copy of your database, if the site uses one (WordPress, Laravel, WooCommerce all do)
• Your existing DNS records, especially your MX records if your email is elsewhere

The steps

1. Add the site in your 8Deploy panel with the same domain name it will eventually use.
2. Upload your files into the site's web directory.
3. Create a database in your panel and import your database dump into it.
4. Update the site's configuration so it connects to the new database. On WordPress that is wp-config.php. On Laravel it is the environment file.
5. Test using the preview address shown in your panel. Click through the site. Log into the admin. Place a test order if it is a shop.
6. Recreate your email, either by creating mailboxes here or by making sure your existing MX records will be preserved.
7. Point your domain at us. See Pointing your domain at 8Deploy.
8. Wait for the certificate. It is issued automatically once DNS resolves to us.
9. Cancel the old host, but not for a week or two. There is no rush, and it is cheap insurance.

Avoid changes during the switch

Between the moment you copy the database and the moment DNS finishes changing over, anything written on the old site (a new order, a new comment, a new blog post) will not be on the new one. For a busy site, do the final database copy right before you change DNS, and put the old site into a read-only or maintenance state for that short window.

Want us to do it?

Email support@8deploy.com with your current host's details and what the site is. We will tell you what we need and take it from there.

After the move

• Check your forms actually send.
• Check any scheduled jobs or cron tasks are set up here too.
• Clear the page cache once, so nothing from the build-out phase is served.