Transferring a cPanel website to Amazon Web Services
Services include various planning discussions.
We require logins for related services: DNS management, e-mail (if required), current hosting provider and cPanel.
Create an Amazon AWS Account
We create a new account (assuming no existing) with your Credit Card details and an e-mail address for a new account.
Once logged in, we create a QR barcode for future logins. This is shared via a screendump image in an SMS message to you, adding it to our Authentication Apps. This permits Advantage Web under “root” login to create an administrator login later on.
If you already have an AWS account, you add an administrator account.
Building the EC2 Linux Instance
A standard Linux build is created from an existing template, then modified for your domain name, or built from scratch. Various automation scripts are added.
When the system is live and settled in, we optionally pay for a Reserved Instance each year to reduce the hardware costs. Manual renewal is less than half an hour of work.
Database and File transfers (e.g. WordPress)
The actual transfer/migration time of a Database and its Website or app files to Linux, is half an hour, if that. We change your DNS A record to point to the new AWS Server IP4 address. Your cPanel plan is cleaned up and deleted after you sign off completion a couple of weeks later.
Work time is taken up by several components, each varying in extent of work and based on the technical requirements at hand.
Troubleshooting
Sometimes the cPanel database is a little incompatible with migrations if it is very old, or there is corruption from many previous plugins with their twists and turns over the years. There may even be identifiable viruses in the WordPress files. To date, these obstacles have been overcome using various technical and manual approaches, in effect, utilising disaster recovery skills.
DNS Configurations
These are straight forward, but care is used so that your domain name is not lost, or transferred with error which some providers then charge hundreds of dollars to fix.
There are some providers who do not support .com.au or .au Top Level Domains.
If you have your business under a Trust, there are a few extra things we do to register .au domains.
Any chosen registrar needs to provide DNS CAA records. (Some charge a hefty fee or do not provide these records outside of their own cPanel services.)
How are you managing e-mail?
If cPanel IS your e-mail, there is work. When e-mail is transferred to other services, it typically loses time/date stamps. There is no free e-mail on AWS even though cPanel does have. Clients using cPanel should seriously consider a more formal service anyway.
Option 1: We choose VentraIP Australia, where they transfer to their e-mail plan. (They need logins to your DNS and e-mail)
Option 2: We copy all your emails to a temporary domain e-mail account via an e-mail client such as Outlook, and from there copy back to your new plan such as MS Exchange.
Option 3: You have a service in place. We check the service was configured correctly for DKIM, SPF and DMARC.
Sometimes folks have e-mails on their PC, thinking they are on the cloud. Local emails should be copied to the cloud before migration.
Option 4: If using AWS SES e-mail forwarding, we first test e-mail, then request to remove AWS Sandbox mode. This can take a couple of days.
Amazon reviews that your website is legitimate and you agree to their terms – basically, deal with bounced e-mails and don’t use its platform for mass marketing scams. Once sandbox is removed, the public can use a WordPress contact form.
A website e-mail is then forwarded to your nominated address, such as Gmail where replies would be sent from Gmail.
SSL Certificates
We either configure for automated renewal of free Let’s Encrypt certificates, or a paid certificate that is renewed and re-installed each year. Manual renewal is less than half an hour of work.
Your New Service
There are a raft of technical things that Advantage Web service does behind the scenes for a complete end-to-end delivery and post-installation review.
For example, adding protection against security breaches and port flooding, country blocking, checking the server is reachable, automated backups, software updates, etc.
We can check a few other things if you wish, such as Google Analytics, WordPress caching, etc.
Maintenance
Please see the Pricing page.
Amazon AWS Invoicing
You will have the option to supply Amazon an ABN business number for tax purposes.
If your credit card expires, Amazon issues an alert – your service does not rudely stop, as is the case with some providers.
You have your account login for updating your credit card, or downloading invoices. You are sent an invoice each month from AWS.
We add a budgeting alert in case of suspicious activity – however, the alerts tend to take a day to receive. This would be highly unusual and has not occurred on any sites we are aware of. An alert is helpful for notifying of larger expenses such as a domain name renewal.
