At Hostinger, our Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are self-managed, granting you full control over your server environment. With this level of control, you will be responsible for setting up and configuring your project, which includes the manual migration process if you are moving from another server.
To assist you during the migration, check the comprehensive guide below. While specific tasks might vary based on your current operating system and the applications you are running, the guide is generally applicable to any Linux-based server.
If you're looking to move to a VPS from shared hosting, check this tutorial instead: How to Migrate a Website From Shared Hosting to VPS
Step 1 - Prepare backups
Before starting the migration, you will need to do some previous checks:
Make sure to have an up-to-date backup including all the files you will need to transfer and identify the backup location on your server
If you are using a database, perform a new dump if required and confirm your database backup location
Step 2 - Set up your new VPS
Before migrating, you will need an active VPS order. Keep in mind that:
The resources on your new VPS at Hostinger should be sufficient for your server. For example, if your previous server used up to 2 GB RAM, it's recommended to choose plans with 2 or more GB of RAM
Your VPS at Hostinger will be overwritten during the transfer. If you have any content before migrating, it will be permanently deleted
If your previous server had an older version of your preferred operating system - this is the perfect time to install the latest version on your new VPS 😊
Next, you can go ahead and install the same applications you are currently using, such as Apache, PHP, MariaDB, Redis, Node.JS, etc.
Step 3 - Transfer the data
Start the data transferring process by logging into your server as a root user and stopping all running services in order to avoid errors during the transfer.
Next, upload your backups to the new VPS by using FTP, scp, or rsync tools. Once the upload is completed, move the application files to their correct locations.
If your control panel includes an internal transfer tool, you can use it as well 💡
Step 4 - Test
After restoring your backups, perform a test run of all your applications to ensure everything is working as it should be. You may need to make changes to the configuration files in order to update hostnames, IP addresses, etc.
NOTE
If you encounter difficulties or configuration-related issues after the transfer, we recommend you contact your developer or a freelancer for further assistance
Step 5 - Point your domain
Once you've completed the tests and everything is good to go, point your domain by updating the A record to match your new VPS IP address.
After a few hours, when the propagation process is completed, your application will be running fully from the new VPS 😊
Additional Resources
Feel free to check our selection of articles on VPS.