Domain switching checklist High-level overview
Set up new hosting environment Access control panel, set password and security info View domain configuration and FTP user info Upload files to new FTP location Test new DNS service Test new Web service Create new email account Set up mailer Verify you can read both old and new email accounts Send test email to new account Last-minute sync for any changed files Configure domain registry to point to new DNS servers Wait for NS records to update Check to make sure web site looks OK Check to make sure email accounts and forwards are (all) working Copy mail from old account Notify gconnor to remove and archive old information
Set up new hosting environment FTP hostname: Alt hostname: FTP user: FTP password: FTP home dir: Domain: Domain content dir: Control panel: https://panel.dreamhost.com/ Web ID for panel:
Do not set up email yet Do not change nameservers (NS) at registrar yet
Access control panel, set password and security info Control panel: https://panel.dreamhost.com/
View domain configuration and FTP user info Domains tab Users tab
Upload files to new FTP location This is much easier if the FTP user is also given shell access. Test this with “ssh username@ftphost” first. Verify command prompt appears and then “exit” to log out.
Using RSYNC: (Recommended. Can be resumed if interrupted) box3> rsync -av /home/domains/nekodojo.org/ gconnor@nekodojo.com:domains/nekodojo.org/
Using SSH and TAR box3> tar -czf - -C /home/domains/nekodojo.org/ . | ssh gconnor@licorice.dreamhost.com tar -xzvf - -C domains/nekodojo.org/
Can be done with straight FTP as well, mput one directory at a time
Test new DNS information box3> dig nekodojo.org @ns1.dreamhost.com ;; blah blah blah ;; ANSWER SECTION: nekodojo.org. 14400 IN A 208.113.138.181 ;; blah blah blah
Test new web service Simple test: box3> telnet 208.113.138.181 80 Trying 208.113.138.181… Connected to 208.113.138.181. Escape character is ‘^]’. GET / HTTP/1.0 Host: www.nekodojo.com (hit return again to enter a blank line)
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Blah: blah blah, blah Content-Type: text/html
Verify this looks like your index.html. If you want to test other pages, substitute the “/” in GET with the URI (part of the URL after the hostname)
More involved test: (optional) If you want to test all features of the new site before the switch is made, find your machine’s HOSTS file (probably in /etc/hosts for unix, C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32DRIVERSETCHOSTS for Windows) and add a line to fool your machine to go to the new IP. 208.113.138.181 mydomain.com www.mydomain.com ftp.mydomain.com Save the change (though you might want to leave the window open to remind yourself to remove that line when done) Browse to your domain, you should get the new site. This is effectively what everyone else will see once the DNS change is made.
Create new email account Set up mailer Verify you can read both old and new email accounts
(In case of problem: verify server is IP, verify username is full email addr, verify passwd)
Send test email to new account
(In case of problem: look for bounce, check email settings)
Last-minute sync for any changed files Configure domain registry to point to new DNS servers Wait for NS records to update Check to make sure web site looks OK
(In case of problem: troubleshoot depending on symptom, revert if needed)
Check to make sure email accounts and forwards are (all) working
(In case of problem: troubleshoot depending on symptom, revert if needed)
Copy mail from old account Notify gconnor to remove and archive old information