Moving to centron
Have you chosen one of our hosting packages and would like to transfer your existing website and email accounts to us? In this article, we summarise the procedure for transferring your domain, website and email accounts. Should you require any assistance with this, we’ll be happy to help.
A brief summary of the process
- Copy your website’s data from your original host.
Good to know: By using a temporary domain, you can ensure that your website remains accessible via our servers. - Set up all email accounts on our mail server.
- Change the DNS settings to point to our web and mail servers.
- Copy emails from the old mail server to the new one.
- Transfer the domain to centron for management.
Some providers delete the domain from their servers immediately after an outgoing domain transfer has been initiated. If no appropriate measures are taken, your website and email accounts may be temporarily unavailable whilst the domain is being transferred to us.
For this reason, we recommend that you first migrate your data, website and email accounts to our servers to prevent any potential downtime. This will also ensure that the transition period during the DNS changeover is kept to a minimum.
1. Copying your website’s data
What you’ll need: FTP and database login details; alternatively, login details for your hosting provider’s Control Panel
The first step is to copy your website’s data onto our web server. This normally includes a database as well. This ensures that your website is accessible on our servers right from the start. When booking your hosting package, make sure you select the correct operating system. You can choose between Linux and Windows. If you are unsure about this, your hosting provider will be able to help you.
Connect to your hosting provider’s web server via FTP to copy your website files. Need help setting up an FTP connection? This article will help you. Download all your website’s files. It’s often a good idea to pack all the files into a ZIP archive and compress them to save on data usage and time. Then upload all the files back to the website directory in your new hosting package. Make sure you select the correct directory. These are usually named as follows:
- Windows hosting: domain.de\web
- Linux hosting: domain.de\httpdocs (The domain.de folder is optional here.)
A website often includes a database, which you must first back up with your current hosting provider. Find out in advance which version of the database server is being used to ensure compatibility with the new database server. Here you can see which version of the database server is available with your new hosting package.
We’d be happy to help you transfer your data to us as part of our relocation service (you’ll find further information at the end of this post).
Good to know: You can use a temporary domain to check whether your website is accessible via our servers.
2. Setting up all email accounts
Required: Email addresses for the domain (+ any associated passwords)
To ensure you can be contacted by email, your mailboxes can be set up on our mail server even before the migration. Don’t worry, this won’t affect your current ability to send and receive emails. You can set up individual mailboxes yourself via our WebPanel. If you need any help with this, please don’t hesitate to contact our Support. To check the functionality of your new mailboxes in advance and ensure a smooth transition, you can set them up in an email client now. These articles provide instructions on how to set up an IMAP/POP mailbox or an Exchange mailbox.
Provided that secure passwords have been set for the mailboxes and these comply with our password policy, they can also be carried over to your new mailboxes. If these remain unchanged, you will only need to adjust the mail server settings in your client software. You can find out how to do this here.
If new passwords are set for the mailboxes, these must be reconfigured in the clients.
3. Changing the DNS
What you’ll need: Access to your current provider’s management interface
Once all the website data and email accounts have been set up on our servers, the DNS records can be updated to point to the new web and mail servers. You will receive the necessary IP addresses from our support team. If you need help with the migration, you can book our migration service (you’ll find more information on this at the end of this post).
We recommend that you carry out any changes only between Monday and Thursday (and not before public holidays) during our business hours, so that we can provide you with timely support should any difficulties arise. If you wish to carry out the change yourself, you may do so at your own risk outside these hours.
4. Copying emails
What you’ll need: Passwords for the old and new email accounts
About 30 minutes after the DNS records for your domain have been updated, the changes will take effect worldwide. After this time, incoming emails will always be delivered to your new mailboxes, so you can transfer the emails from your old mailboxes to the new ones. These instructions will help you do this.
5. Transfer the domain to centron’s management system
Required: Authcode
The final step is to transfer the domain to centron for management.
As a general rule, we only carry out changes from Monday to Thursday (and not before public holidays) between 9 am and 4 pm, so that we can act promptly should any difficulties arise. If you wish to carry out the change yourself, you may do so at your own risk outside these times.
Your domain is usually included in your hosting package, so there are no additional costs for you. It is advisable to centralise the management of your website, as this means, on the one hand, that you will have just one point of contact and, on the other hand, that centron can carry out all the necessary configurations directly. An authorisation code (or ‘auth code’ for short) is required to switch providers. This code ensures that only authorised persons can transfer your domain, much like a password. You will receive the authcode from your current provider as soon as you initiate the cancellation of your domain with them and notify them that you are switching providers. Once an authcode has been generated, it is usually valid for 30 days. However, this may vary for certain TLDs. Should this be the case, your provider will inform you accordingly.
When you move or transfer a domain, the so-called nameservers responsible for your domain are changed. It can take up to 24 hours for this change to take effect worldwide. But don’t worry: as we have already migrated all other DNS records to our servers before the nameserver change, you won’t notice anything during this lengthy transition period.
The centron migration service
If you are unable to carry out the migration yourself due to time constraints or lack the technical expertise required, we will be happy to migrate your hosting for you. To do this, we will need the following:
- The domain’s authentication code
- FTP and database login details, or alternatively: login details for your hosting provider’s management interface
- The domain’s email addresses + any associated passwords, provided that …
- these are to be transferred and comply with our security policies
- emails from your old mailboxes are to be transferred to the new ones
Please note that there are additional charges for the relocation service. For further information, simply contact our Support.