Migrating from cPanel to cPanel: full-account transfer

Both your current host and Omega Digital run cPanel. That means you can move everything (sites, mailboxes, databases, DNS zones, FTP users, cron jobs) with a single full-account backup archive. This is the cleanest migration path in hosting.

What a full-account transfer carries

· Every file under the home directory (public_html, mail, etc/)
· All databases (MySQL and PostgreSQL)
· All email accounts with password hashes and mail contents
· Email forwarders, autoresponders, and filters
· DNS zone records (ignored on target if nameservers differ)
· Cron jobs
· SSL certificates
· FTP accounts and passwords

Step 1: Generate the backup on the source

On the source host, log into cPanel and open Backup Wizard (or Backup, depending on the theme):

01. Click Backup Wizard → Back Up.
02. Choose Full Backup.
03. Backup Destination: Home Directory. Do not email it (the file will be too large).
04. Click Generate Backup.

The job runs in the background. Small accounts (a few sites, under 5 GB) finish in minutes. Multi-reseller accounts with hundreds of mailboxes can take hours. When it completes, an email notifies you and a file appears at the home directory root: backup-YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS_cpuser.tar.gz.

Step 2: Transfer the archive to Omega Digital

Three reliable ways, pick the fastest:

Option A: scp directly between hosts (fastest)

bash

# SSH into Omega Digital and pull
ssh [email protected]
cd /home/cpuser

scp [email protected]:/home/oldcpuser/backup-2026-04-19_10-00-00_oldcpuser.tar.gz .

Option B: wget from a URL

If the source host makes the backup available via HTTP (some do, under File Manager → download link):

bash

ssh [email protected]
cd /home/cpuser
wget https://oldhost.com/download/backup-2026-04-19_10-00-00_oldcpuser.tar.gz

Option C: Download and upload

Slowest. Only use if the backup is under a few hundred MB and neither source nor destination supports SSH between hosts.

Step 3: Restore on Omega Digital

cPanel's Restore A Full Backup feature is only available on WHM (reseller/VPS). On shared hosting, email [email protected] with the backup path and we will perform the restore. This takes under an hour typically and is free.

For reseller accounts, restore yourself:

01. Log into WHM at https://your-server.omdigital.cc:2087.
02. Open Transfer Tool (or Restore a cPanel Account from a Full Backup).
03. Select the source file on your new server.
04. Confirm the target username (usually the same as source), choose a package.
05. Start the restore.

Step 4: Verify the restore

bash

# Database count
wp db query "SELECT SCHEMA_NAME FROM information_schema.SCHEMATA WHERE SCHEMA_NAME LIKE 'cpuser_%';"

# Mailbox count
ls /home/cpuser/mail/yourdomain.com/ | wc -l

# Site directory structure
ls /home/cpuser/public_html/

Before DNS cutover, preview each site using the temporary URL the panel provides: cpuser.your-server.omdigital.cc or your-server.omdigital.cc/~cpuser.

Step 5: DNS cutover

Same as the WordPress migration: lower TTL 24 hours ahead, then switch nameservers or A records. If your domain is registered at the old host, transfer the domain separately; DNS and registration are independent.

Step 6: Email reconciliation

Any mail that arrived at the old host between your backup and DNS cutover is on the old server. You have two options:

01. Keep the old host live for 48 hours after cutover. Mail that hits it during the window can be pulled manually via IMAP.
02. Run imapsync to forklift any messages from old mailboxes into new ones after cutover. Reliable for technical users.

bash

# Example imapsync pull (one mailbox)
imapsync \
  --host1 mail.oldhost.com --user1 [email protected] --password1 'oldpass' \
  --host2 mail.yourdomain.com --user2 [email protected] --password2 'newpass' \
  --ssl1 --ssl2 --automap

Common gotchas

· cPanel version mismatch. Backups from very old cPanel versions (11.60 and older) sometimes fail to restore on current versions. The fix: use a newer cPanel's migration tool.
· Reseller backup on shared target. A WHM backup containing multiple cPanel accounts cannot restore onto a single shared hosting account. Generate one backup per cPanel username.
· DNS zone imported on top of existing. If you already added the domain at Omega Digital with different DNS records, the full-backup restore may not overwrite them. Confirm zone contents after restore.
· SSL certificates not auto-renewing. The restore brings in the old certificate, but AutoSSL may not claim the domain until DNS points here. Expect a brief window where you might need to force-renew.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected]. We handle cPanel-to-cPanel migrations daily and can drive the whole thing if you prefer.