Migrating cPanel to cPanel servers

[cgimickalo]

Hello,

we are in the process of transferring from old server to a new server. Both are WHM/Cpanels. We've run into issues on the new server with DNS and NS IP's not configured properly or causing issues to transfer the accounts over properly. We have 8 accounts to transfer. I'm at point where these issues are a bit of my area of expertise and looking for Server Management Service that could assist us to handle this task. The new server is basically all setup right now and ready to transfer the accounts but at a stand still till the issues with the DNS and NS IP's is fixed.

Please email me at -removed email- or PM me here if you are able to assist us.

Thank you,
Mike

 

[Infopro]

I've removed the email address from your post. You really shouldn't be sharing an email in public like that, it'll be picked up by spammers.

Also, the cPanel AppCat has listings for SysAdmin services. That's probably a better way to go than to ask strangers on a public forum for help.
cPanel App Catalog

 

[cgimickalo]

Yes I apologize for the posting, it's been a couple of long days. thank you for the link.

Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

Hello

Also, feel free to let us know of the specific DNS issues you are encountering and we can help to troubleshoot the issue.

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

Ok basically what the issues are is when we setup the new server, through the initial WHM setup we assigned the DNS (domain.nameserver) domain.domain.net, with a new IP, which is the same on the source (old server) then assigned the same nameservers: ns.domain.net & ns2.domain.net this is also the same as the old server.

The new server's DNS has a new IP assigned to it along with the new server's nameservers, they have new IP assigned to them.

Then I got this email notice shortly afterwards:
--------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: Do not ignore this email.
The hostname (domain.domain.net) resolves to
75.125.xx.xx. It should resolve to 184.173.xx.xx. Please be sure
that the contents of /etc/hosts are configured correctly, and also
that there is a correct 'A' entry for the domain in the zone file.
Some or all of these problems can be caused by /etc/resolv.conf
being setup incorrectly. Please check that file if you believe
everything else is correct.
You may be able to automatically correct this problem by using the
'Add an A entry for your hostname' option under 'Dns Functions' in
your Web Host Manager.
-------------------------------------------

So this is where are problem is. We wanted to use the same DNS and nameservers that is used on the old server on the new server. But apparently this won't work when we transfer the accounts to the new server.

Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated.


Thanks,
Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

The important entries on the cPanel server are the "A" records that you have added for your name servers. Thus, as long as you have registered these name servers to the matching IP addresses at the domain registrar, and added the "A" records on the destination server, then no further DNS configuration is required.

The hostname warning message you received will occur of the hostname resolves to the source server. Once you update the name servers, it should begin resolving to the destination server IP address.

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

Here is what we currently have on both servers for DNS & nameservers:

old server (source):
Hostname: domain.domain.net - 75.125.xx.xx
Nameservers:
ns1.domain.net - 75.125.xx.xx
ns2.domain.net - 75.125.xx.xx
ns3.domain.net - 75.125.xx.xx

new server:
Hostname: domain.domain.net - 184.173.xx.xx
Nameservers:
ns.domain.net - 75.126.xx.xx
ns2.domain.net - 75.126.xx.xx

When you say "added the "A" records" your referring the 2 nameservers on the new servers? They do have the "A" records in the zone files. Here is what the 2 nameserver zones file look like on the new server:

ns2.domain.net

; cPanel first:11.38.2.6 (update_time):1379450858 11.38.2.6: Cpanel::ZoneFile::VERSION:1.3 hostname:domain.domain.net latest:11.38.2.6
; Zone file for ns2.domain.net
$TTL 14400
@      86400	IN      SOA     ns1.domain.net. mickalo.domain.net. (
		2013091701	; serial, todays date+todays
		86400		; refresh, seconds
		7200		; retry, seconds
		3600000		; expire, seconds
		86400 )		; minimum, seconds

ns2.domain.net. 86400 IN NS ns1.domain.net.
ns2.domain.net. 86400 IN NS ns2.domain.net.


ns2.domain.net. IN A 75.126.xx.xx

localhost.ns2.domain.net. IN A 127.0.0.1

ns2.domain.net. IN MX 0 ns2.domain.net.

mail IN CNAME ns2.domain.net.
www IN CNAME ns2.domain.net.
ftp IN CNAME ns2.domain.net.

And ns1.domain.net

; cPanel first:11.38.2.6 (update_time):1379450857 11.38.2.6: Cpanel::ZoneFile::VERSION:1.3 hostname:domain.domain.net latest:11.38.2.6
; Zone file for ns1.domain.net
$TTL 14400
@      86400	IN      SOA     ns1.domain.net. mickalo.domain.net. (
		2013091701	; serial, todays date+todays
		86400		; refresh, seconds
		7200		; retry, seconds
		3600000		; expire, seconds
		86400 )		; minimum, seconds

ns1.domain.net. 86400 IN NS ns1.domain.net.
ns1.domain.net. 86400 IN NS ns2.domain.net.


ns1.domain.net. IN A 75.126.xx.xx

localhost.ns1.domain.net. IN A 127.0.0.1

ns1.domain.net. IN MX 0 ns1.domain.net.

mail IN CNAME ns1.domain.net.
www IN CNAME ns1.domain.net.
ftp IN CNAME ns1.domain.net.

And is the DNS(domain.hostname) zone file:

; cPanel first:11.38.2.6 (update_time):1379450856 11.38.2.6: Cpanel::ZoneFile::VERSION:1.3 hostname:domain.domain.net latest:11.38.2.6
; Zone file for domain.domain.net
$TTL 14400
@      86400	IN      SOA     ns1.domain.net. mickalo.domain.net. (
		2013091701	; serial, todays date+todays
		86400		; refresh, seconds
		7200		; retry, seconds
		3600000		; expire, seconds
		86400 )		; minimum, seconds

domain.domain.net. 86400 IN NS ns1.domain.net.
domain.domain.net. 86400 IN NS ns2.domain.net.


domain.domain.net. IN A 184.173.68.122

localhost.domain.domain.net. IN A 127.0.0.1

domain.domain.net. IN MX 0 domain.domain.net.

mail IN CNAME domain.domain.net.
www IN CNAME domain.domain.net.
ftp IN CNAME domain.domain.net.

Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

Have you updated the name server IP addresses at the domain registrar?

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

Have you updated the name server IP addresses at the domain registrar?

Thank you.

Do you mean like GoDaddy or similar registrar?

I assume this is what you mean correct? There is no where to actual assign an IP address for each nameserver. I have 3 domains with GoDaddy and none of them allow any IP address to be entered along the nameserver: ns1, ns2 .... etc. All that is entered is the actual nameserver: ns.domain.net, ns2.domain.net

All our accounts use the same nameservers right now for our old server.

Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

You can find instructions on registering a name server with your domain registrar at:

How to Register Private Nameservers

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

OK I found what your referring to in my GoDaddy account for the domain.net domain, I just need to update the 3 Host Names nameservers IP's with the new server's nameserver IP's

Then nothing needs to be changed on the new servers DNS (hostname.domain) correct ?

Mike

 

[cgimickalo]

One other thing I wanted to ask about transferring our 8 accounts. 2 of the accounts have SSL certs assigned to them. Will the SSL certs also be transfer with those 2 accounts also?? I realize once they transfer over I will need to change each of the IP addresses. The other 6 accounts will use the server's main IP.

Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

OK I found what your referring to in my GoDaddy account for the domain.net domain, I just need to update the 3 Host Names nameservers IP's with the new server's nameserver IP's. Then nothing needs to be changed on the new servers DNS (hostname.domain) correct ?

Yes, that is correct.

Will the SSL certs also be transfer with those 2 accounts also??

Yes, SSL certificates are transferred over as part of the transfer process.

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

Thank you very much. I spent the last 2 days with Softlayer Tech, where our servers are, trying to resolve this issue with the DNS & nameservers and got about 6 different approaches to this resolve this issue without much success.

I guess this should have been my first stop Next I'll know.

Regarding transferring account, when they are transferred, a new zone file is also created for each domain on the new server correct?

Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

Regarding transferring account, when they are transferred, a new zone file is also created for each domain on the new server correct?

Yes, that is correct.

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

I'm just trying to go through the final steps to transfer our accounts from the old server to the new server.

I've added a ns3.domain.com on the new server, assigned the IP and added the "A" entry. So we have 3 nameservers like our old server is setup. Then once all the accounts setup and configured for the new server then go into go GoDaddy update the 3 nameserver IP's to the new server nameservers IP then we would basically have 2 servers running with the same websites as the changes propagate through the internet the DNS servers on the new server will start taking over for the old server.

The after about 24-48hrs for the propagation to complete then you would want to login to the old server and tell the server to shutdown once the server is shutdown test to make sure that the sites on the new server are still working then it should be safe to cancel the old server. Does this sound like the correct procedure?

Regarding shutting down the server, as I was instructed to do, before cancelling the old server, was is the correct procedure to shutdown a server, not reboot, but shut it down. If we do run into problems what is the proper procedure to bring the server back on line again?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[cPanelMichael]

Does this sound like the correct procedure?

Yes, the procedure you detailed is correct and should work as you intend it to.

Regarding shutting down the server, as I was instructed to do, before cancelling the old server, was is the correct procedure to shutdown a server, not reboot, but shut it down. If we do run into problems what is the proper procedure to bring the server back on line again?

You can shut down the server with a command such as:

shutdown -h now

You will need to consult with your data center to have them power it back on if you need access to it again.

Thank you.

 

[cgimickalo]

Thank you for all your assistance. Saved me a whole bunch of time. Will be transferring our accounts today to the new server and if all goes ... finger crossed .... should be live by this weekend and retire our old server of 6 faithful years

Mike

 

[Infopro]

I'm happy to hear you got this all sorted. On a side note, you may notice I've edited every single one of your posts here to remove personal information. In the future, that should be considered when posting here on these forums. You don't want the entire Internet knowing all of these details, seeing you having issues, and knowing who and where you are. Editing the IPs and domain names a bit, is important to consider.


Thanks in advance for your understanding here on this.

 

[cgimickalo]

No problems, I understand.

Thanks,

Mike