Moving a domain on the same VPS

[BrianRiley]

Hi,

We have a VPS, and we built a new site to replace our existing one with a different account on that VPS.  (the original account is a ourname.org, the new account is ourname.net)

These are both wordpress sites, I know how to reset the domain name of the wordpress installation.  What I need to know is the procedure for pointing ourname.org to the account holding ourname.net.

Both domians are registered on our Godaddy account the VPS is on, the .org account has an SSL certificate, .net does not, so that needs to transfer too.  Since everything is on the same server I'm hoping that just happens.

The old account will be decommissioned when the new one goes live, so losing the domain there is not a problem.

[PL281]

@BrianRiley 

While not exactly the easiest thing to do - not the hardest thing either

What I would do is 

Step 1) change the domain on the cPanel account from ourname.org to old.ourname.org 

Step 2) change the domain on the cPanel account from ourname.net to ourname.org - this will now point the domain to the correct account

In "theory" that SSL should just move over as from what I recall the SSL is at the server level - but you may have to move the certificate files - that's the only thing I'm not 100% sure of.

Hopefully this all makes sense - you will need to do this via WHM vs the GoDaddy control panel

[BrianRiley]

That's the way I thought it would go - wanted to make sure ahead of time since it is a company website and I'd like to keep my job ;).  I'll see if someone else comments on that SSL certificate.

[PL281]

Since you don’t have to change any IP’s or anything they should be pretty instant for the SSL is it a free one or is it a paid one

[BrianRiley]

Paid, from GoDaddy

[PL281]

@BrianRiley 

You will probably need to move the cert than manually from 

/home/oldaccount/ssl/certs/

to

/home/newaccount/ssl/certs/

Probably best to do this via terminal in WHM

I would also do this move in the evening just to be safe

[BrianRiley]

I see what you mean.  There are some other entries there I would be leery of.  I'm just wondering if it might be wiser to backup and move the site rather than the SSL directory.  There are some db and cache files in the root of that SSL directory I don't like the looks of.  Manhandling the contents of ssl/certs might cause issues with them.

[PL281]

@BrianRiley 

You should be able to copy the certificate between accounts in cpanel -> SSL -> Edit should show you the certificate

[BrianRiley · Accepted solution]

I see the place.  I probably need to uninstall it then reinstall it when the domain is moved though.  I don't want it set for ourname.net, and I can't move it to ourname.org since that is where it already is.  Sort of a chicken-and-the-egg thing.

[PL281]

@BrianRiley 

Exactly - Please let me know if you have any other questions and good luck with your move