How do I migrate my websites to 20i from DirectAdmin?

Ben Gayson
Published: 23 July 2024Last updated: 12 August 2024
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Migrating from a Direct Admin server to 20i's hosting platform is simple and quick task using the 20i Migration Center 

Here's a quick video to explain the process:

Please note there are a few things that need to be done on the Direct Admin server before you start the Migration: 

The package being migrated has to have space for one additional FTP user to be created - the default is for packages to have 1 FTP user already created, with a limit of 1 - this limit needs to be increased to at least 2, as the migration process creates a temporary FTP user to pull the backup

Also, if you are using the latest version of Direct Admin, the FTP service will need to be configured on the server manually. This will need to be done via the Server Admin as it doesn't come as a standard part of the Direct Admin installation.

 To Get Started:

  1. Log in to My20i 
  2. Click on Migrations in the side navigation panel  
  3. Click Start Migration 

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    4. Choose Direct Admin from the list and click next 

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5. Enter the required credentials: hostname, username and the password for Direct Admin, and click Next

6. Go to Migrations Overview in My20i at any time to see the status of your migration. You’ll be notified when it’s successfully completed. 

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7. Once the migration status has been updated to 'Complete' you can head to Manage Hosting to view the website and emails. 

DNS Records 

Note: The Migration Centre does not transfer DNS records. 

By default, DNS records will be configured so that they point all services to 20i's services, such as mail and FTP. For example, if you are using Office365 or Gmail you'll want to remove our standard MX records and ensure the Office365/Gmail DNS records have been added before you continue, to avoid any interruption to your mail service. 

After migrating your websites, databases, and email, the final step is to update your domain names. You can either transfer your domain name to 20i or leave it with its current registrar and simply point the name servers to your 20i hosting. 

If you’re intending to use our free SSL certificates, the domain name(s) will need to be using 20i nameservers. 

Transferring Domain Names 

To transfer your own or your customers’ domain names to 20i, head to Transfer a Domain from the Migration Centre section of your 20i control panel. Enter the domain name(s) you want to transfer, confirm them, and then check out.  

You can see the progress of your domain transfers from Migration Centre > Pending Domain Transfers. Please note that DNS propagation typically takes an hour but can take anywhere up to 24 hours as a global update is rolled out, so it may be a while before your domain resolves after the nameservers have been updated. 

Updating Nameservers 

If you’d prefer to update your nameservers with your current domain registrar (meaning you have your non-20i domain pointing to your 20i hosting) instead of transferring your domain to 20i, you will need to log in to your domain registrar’s control panel and update the nameservers to the following: 

• ns1.stackdns.com 

• ns2.stackdns.com 

• ns3.stackdns.com 

• ns4.stackdns.com 

If your registrar doesn’t support 4 nameservers, simply add as many as it will support. It can take up to 48 hours for nameserver changes to propagate across the web, but in the vast majority of cases, it will be completed much faster. 

Congratulations, you’ve successfully migrated to 20i! 

Important: You can never have too many backups! Before you delete any data with your old hosting company, please back it up on a separate physical device and/or have a copy in cloud storage. You can also download your data at any time via My20i, or purchase our Timeline Backups service for automatic daily backups.