Migrating your website from another hosting provider to SakuraHost does not have to be stressful or complicated. Whether you are running a WordPress site, a custom-built application, or an e-commerce store, this guide covers the complete migration process step by step. Our goal is to help you transfer everything — files, databases, emails, and DNS settings — with minimal downtime.
Pre-Migration Checklist
Before you begin the migration process, ensure you have completed these prerequisites:
- Active SakuraHost hosting account — Purchase a hosting plan and ensure it is activated. See How to Register and Set Up Your SakuraHost Account and How to Choose the Right Hosting Plan for Your Business in Tanzania if you haven't done this yet.
- Access to your old hosting provider — You need login credentials for your current host's control panel (cPanel, Plesk, or similar) and/or FTP access.
- Access to your domain registrar — You will need to update nameservers after migration.
- Full backup of your current website — Always create a backup before making changes. Download it to your local computer as a safety net.
Method 1: WordPress Migration Using a Plugin (Easiest)
If your website runs on WordPress, using a migration plugin is by far the simplest method. We recommend All-in-One WP Migration or Duplicator.
Using All-in-One WP Migration
On your current WordPress site, install and activate the All-in-One WP Migration plugin (available free from WordPress.org). Go to All-in-One WP Migration > Export, select "Export To > File", and download the generated .wpress archive file.
Log in to your SakuraHost cPanel and install a fresh WordPress instance via Softaculous on your domain. See Setting Up Your First Website on SakuraHost for installation instructions.
On your new WordPress installation (access it via server IP or by modifying your local hosts file — see the "Testing Before DNS Change" section below), install the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. Go to All-in-One WP Migration > Import, upload the .wpress file, and let the plugin restore your entire website including themes, plugins, media, and database.
Test your website thoroughly. Once satisfied, update your nameservers to SakuraHost as described in Connecting Your Domain Name to SakuraHost Hosting.
Method 2: Manual Migration via cPanel (For Any Website)
This method works for any type of website — WordPress, Joomla, custom PHP, static HTML, or any other platform.
Part A: Backup and Download Files from Old Host
Log in to your old host's cPanel or file manager. Navigate to the public_html directory (or wherever your website files are stored). Select all files and compress them into a .zip archive. Download the archive to your computer.
Alternatively, use an FTP client like FileZilla to download all files from the remote server to your local machine.
If your website uses a database (WordPress, Joomla, and most CMS platforms do), you need to export it:
- Open phpMyAdmin on your old host.
- Select the database used by your website (check your website's configuration file — e.g.,
wp-config.phpfor WordPress). - Click the "Export" tab.
- Choose "Quick" export method and "SQL" format.
- Click "Go" to download the .sql file.
If you have email accounts on your old host that you want to preserve, use an email client like Mozilla Thunderbird to download all messages via IMAP before migration. This way your email history is preserved locally and can be synced to your new SakuraHost email accounts.
Part B: Upload to SakuraHost
Log in to your SakuraHost cPanel (see How to Access cPanel for the First Time). Open File Manager, navigate to public_html, and delete any default files. Click Upload and upload your .zip archive. Once uploaded, right-click the archive and select "Extract" to decompress your files.
- In cPanel, go to MySQL Databases.
- Create a new database (note the full name including the prefix, e.g.,
username_dbname). - Create a new database user with a strong password.
- Add the user to the database with ALL PRIVILEGES.
- Open phpMyAdmin, select your new database.
- Click the "Import" tab, choose the .sql file you exported earlier, and click "Go".
Your website's configuration file likely contains database connection details that need updating. For WordPress, edit wp-config.php in File Manager and update these lines:
define('DB_USER', 'username_dbuser'); // Your new database user
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'your_password'); // Your new database password
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); // Usually localhost on SakuraHost
For other CMS platforms, the configuration file will be different (e.g., configuration.php for Joomla, config.php for OpenCart).
Testing Before DNS Change
Before changing your DNS to point to SakuraHost, you should test your website on the new server. There are two ways to do this:
Option A: Modify Your Local Hosts File
You can temporarily override DNS on your own computer to preview your website on SakuraHost without affecting anyone else.
On Windows: Edit C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts as Administrator.
On macOS: Edit /etc/hosts using Terminal with sudo nano /etc/hosts.
Add the following line at the end of the file:
Replace [SakuraHost-Server-IP] with your server's IP address. Save the file, then visit your domain in the browser — it will load from SakuraHost instead of your old host. Remember to remove this line after you update DNS.
Option B: Use Server IP Directly
Visit http://[server-ip]/~username/ in your browser, where username is your cPanel username. Note: this may not work perfectly for CMS sites that have hardcoded domain references.
Completing the Migration
Once you have verified that your website works correctly on SakuraHost, update your domain's nameservers to point to SakuraHost. Full instructions are in Connecting Your Domain Name to SakuraHost Hosting. DNS propagation takes 2-48 hours.
Create your email accounts on SakuraHost cPanel (under Email > Email Accounts). If you downloaded emails from your old host using Thunderbird, you can now configure the new SakuraHost email accounts in your email client and the old messages will be available alongside new ones.
After DNS propagation is complete, ensure your SSL certificate is active. SakuraHost's AutoSSL will automatically provision a free Let's Encrypt certificate within a few hours of DNS completion. You can verify this in cPanel under Security > SSL/TLS Status.
Post-Migration Checklist
After migration, verify these items:
- All website pages load correctly with no broken links or missing images.
- Contact forms and other interactive features function properly.
- Email sending and receiving works on all accounts.
- SSL certificate is active (green padlock in browser address bar).
- Database-driven features (search, user login, e-commerce) work as expected.
- Cancel your old hosting account only after confirming everything works on SakuraHost for at least one week.