Migrate a Website from BigRock

Migrating a website off BigRock hosting means copying the files, every MySQL database and the mailboxes to the new host, testing the copy, then pointing DNS at the new server while BigRock keeps serving until the switch is proven. The domain registration can stay at BigRock: a hosting move and a registrar transfer are separate jobs.

• Hosting move: files, databases, mail and DNS records. Needs one nameserver or A-record change.
• Registrar transfer: unlock, authorisation (EPP) code and a 60-day lock after registration or a previous transfer. See domain transfer if you want this later.
• Do them in different weeks, so a problem in one is not confused with the other.

WebJi® is not BigRock and is not its support desk; the steps below need only your BigRock control-panel login.

In BigRock's hosting cPanel open Files → Backup → Full Account Backup (or Backup Wizard), wait for the archive, and download it; if the account is too large, take the files, databases and DNS zone separately. Log in to the hosting panel for the domain, not the billing area.

1. Generate the full backup and download it. Keep it until the new site has run cleanly for a week.
2. Export each database. Over SSH: mysqldump --single-transaction --routines --triggers -u USER -p DBNAME > DBNAME.sql
3. Download wp-config.php (or your app's config file); it names the database and user to recreate.
4. Copy every DNS record and its TTL from the zone editor, and take a screenshot.

Freeze edits on BigRock once the backup is taken; anything changed after that must be repeated on the new server.

Create the same addresses on the new host, copy the mail over IMAP with a tool such as imapsync, and change the MX record only after folder counts match. Mail is the item most often forgotten until someone asks where last year's invoices went.

# Dry run first: shows what would be copied
imapsync --host1 mail.oldhost.example --user1 you@yourdomain.in --password1 'OLD' --ssl1 \
         --host2 mail.newhost.example --user2 you@yourdomain.in --password2 'NEW' --ssl2 \
         --automap --dry

# Then run the same command without --dry, twice;
# the second pass copies only what arrived during the first.

Compare message counts per folder, send a test from an outside address, and only then change MX. Add the new mail server to the SPF record in the same edit. Migrating email accounts has a desktop-client method if you cannot run imapsync; if you would rather keep mail off the web server, business email hosting starts at ₹2,520 a year for five 5 GB mailboxes before 18% GST.

Lower the A-record TTL to 300 seconds a day ahead, change the nameservers or A record in BigRock's domain panel, confirm with two public resolvers, and keep the BigRock hosting paid for about a week. The old account is your rollback until traffic settles.

1. Record the current answers: dig +short NS yourdomain.in and dig +short A yourdomain.in.
2. In BigRock's domain management, replace the nameservers with the new host's, or change only the A record (and MX when mail is ready).
3. Check dig +short yourdomain.in @1.1.1.1 and @8.8.8.8; both should return the new IP.
4. If anything breaks, paste the old values back; BigRock is still serving.
5. After a week of normal traffic, take a final backup and cancel the BigRock hosting (not the domain).

Resolvers keep old answers until the previous TTL expires, so some visitors reach BigRock for a while; DNS propagation explains the timing, and changing nameservers covers other registrars.