Submit Migration Request and Process

Hostwinds offers free migration assistance for all managed services, including Shared Hosting, Business Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Managed VPS (Linux and Windows), and Dedicated Servers. Our goal is to make your transition simple, secure, and complete with minimal downtime.

This guide explains how to request a migration at Hostwinds, what information you need to provide, and the steps to finalize your move. If you haven't already, we recommend reviewing our Migration Policy and Pre-Migration Checklist to ensure you're fully prepared. We're confident that with these resources, your migration journey will be a breeze!

Note: Migration services are not available for Unmanaged VPS plans (Unmanaged Linux or Unmanaged Windows). As outlined in our Support Channels and Service Coverage documentation, these are outside the scope of Hostwinds' technical support.

Migration Ticket Requirements

Before opening a migration ticket, confirm that you have:

1. An active Hostwinds account is created by purchasing any managed service.
2. A Hostwinds-managed service that will be the destination for your websites, applications, or files.
3. An active service with your current provider that will remain online until the migration has been verified as successful.

Once these are in place, you are ready to submit a migration request.

Submit a Migration Ticket

All migrations are requested through the Hostwinds Client Area:

1. Log in to your Hostwinds Client Area.

2. Go to Support → Open a Ticket.
   

   

3. Choose Technical Support.
   

   

4. Select the Hostwinds service you want to migrate to.

5. Under Issue Category, choose Migration Request.
   

   

6. Provide the migration details and credentials from your current hosting provider or server.

Information to Include

To ensure our Migration Team can begin right away, provide the following details:

• Server IP address or Control Panel URL for FTP, SSH, or control panel access (such as cPanel or Plesk).
• Port number for FTP (default 21) or SSH (default 22).
• Username for FTP, SSH, or your control panel.
• Password for the associated account.
• Subject line marked clearly as "Migration Request."

• Message body with any additional instructions, such as which domains, databases, or applications to migrate or any special requests.
  

  

Communication During Migration

• All updates will be provided in your migration ticket.
• Notifications are also sent to the email address on your Hostwinds account.
• If additional information is required, such as corrected login credentials, migration progress will pause until the requested details are provided.
• Our Migration Team will follow the details exactly as provided in your ticket. For this reason, it is essential that you supply complete and accurate information and review all communications carefully.

Tip: The more specific you are, the smoother your migration will be.

• Vague request: "Please migrate everything from my old server."
• Clear request: "Please migrate the following:
  • Domains: example.com, example.net
  • Email accounts: support@example.com, billing@example.net
  • Database: exampledb (WordPress site on example.com)."

Providing detailed directions ensures that nothing important is missed and reduces the chance of delays.

You can view progress anytime by visiting the Support Tickets area.

Confirming Migration

When the migration is complete, our team will notify you. At that point:

• Review your Hostwinds service carefully to confirm files, databases, and applications migrated correctly.
• Test your site or application before updating DNS. You can preview it by editing your hosts file or using the Hostwinds server IP.
• Report any issues or concerns through your ticket so they can be addressed quickly.

Finalizing Migration

Once you confirm everything is working:

1. Update your domain's nameservers or DNS records (A records, MX records, etc.) to point to Hostwinds.
2. Use the DNS values included in your Hostwinds welcome email or find them in your Client Area under My Emails.
3. If preferred, you may manage DNS directly through the Hostwinds Cloud DNS Manager.

Reminder: Do not cancel your old service until DNS propagation is complete, which may take up to 24 hours.

Post Migration Steps

After DNS propagation, your websites and applications will run fully from Hostwinds. At this point, you may cancel your old service with your previous provider.

Congratulations on completing your migration to Hostwinds.

Related Resources

• Hostwinds Migration Policy
  
• Pre Migration Checklist
  
• Support Channels and Service Coverage
  
• Create and Manage Support Tickets