Move a Website from cPanel to Container Hosting

This guide moves a PHP or WordPress site from cPanel hosting to Container Hosting. You copy the files and database, test the site on its preview address, then point the domain. Keep the cPanel account until the new site has run well for a few days.

Before you start: check these

• PHP version. Containers run PHP 8.2, 8.3 or 8.4. Older code that needs PHP 7.x must be updated first.
• .htaccess. Containers run nginx, which ignores .htaccess. WordPress pretty links work. Custom rewrite or password rules in .htaccess must be handled another way.
• Email. Container Hosting has no mailboxes. If your email is on the cPanel account, keep it there, or move it to Business Email before you close cPanel. See Sending Email from Your Website.
• Size. Check your plan's disk; see Container Hosting Plans and Limits.

1. Export from cPanel

1. In cPanel File Manager, open public_html, select everything, click Compress and choose Zip Archive. Download the zip.
2. In phpMyAdmin, select your database, click Export, choose Quick and SQL, and download the file.
3. For WordPress, open wp-config.php and note the table prefix ($table_prefix).

2. Prepare the container

1. Log in to the client area, open Hosting, choose the Container hosting tab and click Manage next to your site.
2. Add your domain on the Domains tab. Do not change DNS yet. See Add a Domain and HTTPS.
3. On the Databases tab, click New database. Copy the database name, username, host and password shown; the password is shown once.

3. Upload the files

1. On the Files tab, open public_html and delete the placeholder index.html.
2. Upload the zip (up to 512 MB per file) and Extract it there. For bigger sites, upload over SFTP; see Upload Files with SFTP.
3. Make sure your index.php sits directly in public_html, not in a subfolder.

4. Import the database

Open Database manager on the Databases tab. It signs you in to your database; use its import to load the .sql file you exported.

5. Update the config

In wp-config.php set the new values from the Databases tab:

define( 'DB_NAME', 'the full database name shown' );
define( 'DB_USER', 'the username shown' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'the password shown' );
define( 'DB_HOST', 'the host shown' );

Use the host exactly as the panel shows it. Other applications have the same four values in their own config file, for example .env in Laravel.

6. Test before switching DNS

Click Preview site on the overview. Log in, open a few pages, submit a form. Check the Logs tab for PHP errors.

7. Point the domain

1. Change the A records for @ and www to the address on the Domains tab. Leave MX and email records as they are.
2. Wait for the DNS badge to show Pointed here. HTTPS is issued on the first secure visit.
3. Add an SMTP plugin so WordPress can send email.

8. Finish

• Take a backup on the Backups tab.
• Add the WordPress cron job on the Cron jobs tab (wp-cron.php every 15 minutes).
• Keep the cPanel account for a few days, then cancel it, but only after email has been moved if it lived there.

For a WordPress site you can also start fresh with the one-click WordPress installer and import your content with a migration plugin.

Frequently asked questions