Complete guide to migrating your VPS without downtime — tools, methods, and best practices
VPS migration tools help you transfer your server, applications, databases, and files from one hosting environment to another — safely and efficiently.
Understanding different types of migrations
Complete overview organized by category
Incremental file transfer and synchronization tool. Industry standard for Linux migrations.
Secure copy protocol for transferring files between servers over SSH.
Archive and compress files for efficient transfer between servers.
Disk cloning and raw disk image creation for exact replicas.
Free disk imaging and cloning software with GUI interface.
Built-in Windows backup and restore solution for Windows VPS.
Built-in WHM/cPanel migration tool for seamless account transfers.
Official Plesk migration extension for server-to-server transfers.
DirectAdmin's built-in backup and restore functionality.
Modern panel with built-in migration from cPanel and other panels.
Fork of VestaCP with improved migration scripts and tools.
Webmin's backup and restore module for system migration.
Automated WordPress migration plugin with zero downtime.
Popular WordPress migration plugin with drag-and-drop restore.
WordPress migration and backup plugin for developers.
Complete Joomla backup and migration solution.
Official Magento data migration tool for e-commerce stores.
WordPress backup plugin with migration capabilities.
Standard MySQL backup utility for database exports.
Hot backup tool for MySQL with zero downtime.
PostgreSQL database export and backup utility.
Web-based MySQL administration with export/import features.
Microsoft's official tool for SQL Server migrations.
Modern MySQL backup tool with parallel processing.
Centralized AWS migration tracking and automation service.
Microsoft Azure migration assessment and execution platform.
Google Cloud Platform migration service for VMs and apps.
Create and transfer droplet snapshots between regions.
Vultr's snapshot and backup system for server migration.
Linode's image capture and deployment system.
Built-in Proxmox VE backup and restore functionality.
QEMU disk image format conversion and transfer.
Live VM migration between VMware ESXi hosts.
Export VirtualBox VMs to OVA/OVF formats.
Microsoft Hyper-V VM export and import utilities.
Container export and migration between Docker hosts.
Compare features, difficulty, and use cases
| Tool | Type | Best For | OS Support | Downtime | Difficulty | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rsync | OS-Level | File synchronization | Linux/Unix | Minimal | Medium | Free |
| cPanel Transfer Tool | Control Panel | cPanel migrations | Linux | Very Low | Easy | Included |
| Plesk Migrator | Control Panel | Plesk migrations | Linux/Windows | Very Low | Easy | Included |
| Clonezilla | OS-Level | Full disk cloning | Any OS | High | Medium | Free |
| Migrate Guru | Website | WordPress migration | WordPress | Zero | Easy | Free |
| mysqldump | Database | MySQL backups | Linux/Windows | Medium | Medium | Free |
| Percona XtraBackup | Database | Hot MySQL backups | Linux | Zero | Hard | Free |
| AWS Migration Hub | Cloud | AWS migrations | Any OS | Low | Medium | Pay-as-you-go |
| Azure Migrate | Cloud | Azure migrations | Any OS | Low | Medium | Free migration |
| DigitalOcean Snapshots | Cloud | DO droplets | Any OS | Very Low | Easy | $0.05/GB/mo |
| VMware vMotion | Virtualization | Live VM migration | Any OS | Zero | Hard | Enterprise |
For most Linux VPS migrations, rsync is the best choice. If you use a control panel (cPanel/Plesk), use their built-in migration tools. For WordPress sites, Migrate Guru offers the easiest experience. Cloud providers (AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean) have their own optimized migration services.
Troubleshoot issues quickly
Files transferred but website shows errors or can't write files
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html
Can't connect to database after migration
Quick answers to common VPS migration questions
The safest method is: (1) Create full backups, (2) Test on the new server before DNS switch, (3) Keep both servers running during DNS propagation, (4) Monitor for 72 hours before removing old server.
Yes! Zero-downtime migration is possible using techniques like rsync while live, database replication, reverse proxy, and gradual DNS switching using low TTL.
Small websites (1-5GB) take 30 minutes to 2 hours. Medium sites (5-50GB) take 2-6 hours. Large servers (50GB+) can take 6-24 hours. DNS propagation adds another 24-48 hours.
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