Moving Domain to new WHM Server... how to?

[jvanv8]

I would ultimately like to move a domain to a new dedicated server that is running WHM and CPanel but I would like to develop and test on the new server for a while before actually sending live traffic to the new server.

How can I set up a temporary domain using WHM so it doesn't conflict with the live site?
How can I control when to drive traffic to the new site once development and testing is complete?

Thanks for any help or advice.
John

 

[matsta]

Hi John,

In my experiences you dont actually have to have the nameservers for a domain pointed to your server to be able to create a hosting account. Go ahead and create the account in your new WHM under the correct domain name. This will not affect your current website until you change the domain name servers. To access your new hosting account on the new server type the following into a browser:

http://11.11.11.11/~username/

Where the 11.11.11.11 is your server IP address and 'username' is the username for the cpanel hosting acount that you created.

Using the same details above, to access ftp go to Windows Explorer (file manager) and type the following in the address:

ftp://username:[email protected]

For cpanel access again use your normal details but replace the domain name with the IP address.

When you are happy with the new site using the temporary view method above, go and change the nameservers on your domain and the active site will change over to the new hosting.

Hope this helps.
Matt.

 

[jvanv8]

Do you mean that I should set the nameserver as the nameserver from the existing host then change the nameserver to the WHM server's nameserver? I guess I'm just a little confused as to how to activate/deactivate nameservers.
Thanks

 

[HelloAdam]

Hey,

Well you can setup the account to where the domains are pointed on your old server and have in WHM the DNS point over to new "test" server. No need for chaning nameservers.

In root WHM DNS Functions > Edit DNS Zone > {your domain name}
and change the IP's over to "test" server.

Then on your test server, create the account in WHM with the same domain name and username as on your old server...

That should do it! If you run into any problems, post below...

From,
Adam

 

[jvanv8]

Ok, so I have one account that I set up and would like it to be visible immediately using the correct (perminant domain address). How do I do that. When I use the URL format 66.xx.xxx.xx/~mydomain I see the site but entering the perminant url into a browser leads to "Server Not Found" error.
Do I need to do something with the DNS Zones?
Maybe this information will help(?)

Networking Setup > Nameserver IPs
shows no ips.

So on a hunch, I entered the primary DNS Server that Hostway gave me.
So now it says:
66.xx.xxx.xx=64.41.72.13
This change is now reflected in etc/nameserverips (which use to say 66.xx.xxx.xx=0)
Did I do this correct?

I tried to enter Hostways secondary DNS server but I get the error:
"Sorry, the nameserver 66.113.136.8 already has the ip 66.113.136.8 assigned to it."

Still, entering the domain name gives me "Server Not Found"

dnsreport.com shows several warnings and errors when I enter the domain name for the account I want to activate:

Warming: All nameservers report identical NS records
WARNING: At least one of your nameservers did not return your NS records (it reported 0 answers). This could be because of a referral, if you have a lame nameserver (which would need to be fixed).

64.41.72.13 returns 0 answers (may be a referral)
66.113.136.8 returns 0 answers (may be a referral)

Fail: Lame nameservers
ERROR: You have one or more lame nameservers. These are nameservers that do NOT answer authoritatively for your domain. This is bad; for example, these nameservers may never get updated. The following nameservers are lame:
64.41.72.13
66.113.136.8

Fail: Missing nameservers 2
ERROR: One or more of the nameservers listed at the parent servers are not listed as NS records at your nameservers. The problem NS records are:
c.dns.hostway.net.
d.dns.hostway.net.

Warning: TCP Allowed WARNING: One or more of your DNS servers does not accept TCP connections. Although rarely used, TCP connections are occasionally used instead of UDP connections. When firewalls block the TCP DNS connections, it can cause hard-to-diagnose problems. The problem servers are: 64.41.72.13: Error [No response to TCP packets].

Warning: Single Point of Failure WARNING: Although you have at least 2 NS records, there is a chance that they may both point to the same server (one of our two tests shows them being different, the other is unsure; it appears that there are one or more firewall(s) that intercept and alter DNS packets (some versions of Linux reportedly have a built-in firewall that does this, too)), which would result in a single point of failure. You are required to have at least 2 nameservers per RFC 1035 section 2.2.

Fail: SOA Record No valid SOA record came back:
is not MyDomain.com.

 

[jvanv8]

Anyone have any ideas? After making the above changes and waiting 3 days I still have the same problem... domain name yeilds "Server Not Found"

 

[HelloAdam]

Anyone have any ideas? After making the above changes and waiting 3 days I still have the same problem... domain name yeilds "Server Not Found"

Hey,

Did you use the method I posted above?

From,
Adam