Server migration checklists
Validation Checklist
- Set the hosts file to locally load services
- Check to see if all required services are functioning
- Check your site for 404 errors, 500 errors, PHP warnings, etc.
- Update all server software to the latest version
- Tune LAMP performance (Apache, MySQL, PHP)
- Test the cron
- Check email deliverability and email records (DKIM, SPF, etc.)
- Verify mail is synced (i.e. that all messages are there and all contacts have been migrated)
- Check backups are still working
Security Checklist
- Audit firewall configuration
- Identify and implement non-standard security requirements
- Restrict access where appropriate
- Implement programs to educate staff
- Ensure setup is compliant with all protocols
Configuration Checklist
- Analyse configurations of both old and new hosting environments
- Configure web server modules (i.e. suexec, mod_php, mod_perl, mod_ssl, etc.)
- Identify shared libraries and other code/program dependencies
- Set up SSL certificates
- Create fresh (or import existing) configuration files
- Import databases
- Fine-tune server performance
- Check and reconfigure applications that connect from remote sources
User Account Checklist
- Migrate user accounts and passwords
- Consider forcing password reset on next login
- Purge old/inactive accounts
File System Checklist
- Ensure all files copied over
- Check that permissions are correct
- Crawl website to identify 404 not found errors
Final Check Checklist
- Were all of the issues addressed during migration?
- Was the migration painless? If not, what went wrong?
- Are you happy with your new server?
- What else (if anything) needs doing?
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