Transfer Tool — Prepare The Source Server

Valid for versions 118 through 122

Version:

118

124

Last modified: October 22, 2024

Overview

You can use WHM’s Transfer Tool feature to copy one or more cPanel accounts, packages, and configurations from a source server to a destination server. To complete a transfer, you must first prepare the source server to interact with the Transfer Tool.

Set up a source server for transfer

To set up a source server for transfer, perform the steps listed in each of the Transfer Tool interface sections below:

Remote server information

This section of the Transfer Tool interface allows you to specify information about the source server (the server from which to transfer accounts).

1. In the Remote Server Address text box, enter an IP address or a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
   • IP address example — 127.0.0.1
   • FQDN example — host.example.com
     Note:

     In this case, the FQDN does not require the trailing dot.
2. In the Remote SSH port text box, specify the port to use.
   Note:

   The default value for SSH is port 22. If the server cannot establish an SSH connection, the Transfer Tool uses port 2087 instead.

Authentication

In this section of the Transfer Tool interface, specify the authentication method the tool will use to log into the source server with the following steps:

1. Select whether to log in as the root user or with a specific username.
   Note:

   If the PermitRootLogin value equals no in the sshd_config file on the source server, you must log in as a user other than the root user and then escalate to the root user.

2. If you selected User for Login, perform the following actions:
   • Enter the source account’s username in the Username text box.
   • Enter the source account’s password in the Password text box.
3. Use the Authentication Method menu to specify whether to use a password or an SSH key pair to authenticate to the source server.
   • If you select Password, enter the password for the account in the Password text box.
   • If you select SSH Public Key, select the key pair to use during authentication. Make certain that you installed the appropriate key pair in WHM’s Manage root’s SSH Keys interface (WHM » Home » Security Center » Manage root’s SSH Keys).
     Note:

     • If you encrypted your account’s SSH key pair, enter the SSH Key Passphrase.
     • If you’re experiencing firewall issues, use the Password method instead.
4. Optionally:
   • If you select User under Login, select a root escalation method under the Root Escalation Method heading.
   • If you select su for the Root Escalation Method, enter the root password in the Root Password text box.
   • To bypass TLS verification, select the I understand the risks. Connect anyway. checkbox and then click Continue.
     Warning:

     We strongly recommend that you do not use this option. Only use this option if you can confirm the identity of the source server.

Security

In this section of the Transfer Tool interface, select whether to use the Restricted Restore feature or copy reseller privileges. If you do not trust the source of the account backup with root access to your server, you may use the Restricted Restore feature to protect your server. The Restricted Restore feature lets the system perform extra security checks on the archive file. If part of the file has a security issue, the system will not restore that part of the archive file. This helps mitigate the risk of transfers from unfamiliar sources.

The system enables this feature by default.

Advanced

This section of the Transfer Tool interface provides advanced settings for the transfer. Click Show to display the list of settings.

To select the advanced settings, perform the following steps:

1. From the Remote Server Type menu, select the web control panel that the source server runs. Choose from the following settings:
   • Auto Detect
   • cPanel & WHM
   • DirectAdmin
   • Ensim (Parallels Pro)
   • Plesk
2. Select Unencrypted to use an unencrypted session to transfer the files.
3. Select Compressed Transfers to compress the files during the rsync process when the source server transfers the files between the source and destination servers.
   Note:

   This setting does not affect the package account function, which creates a gzip archive of the user’s account on the source server.

4. Select Low Priority to use less CPU and input/output (I/O) on the source server.
   Note:

   This setting reduces the impact on performance on the source server, but increases the duration of the transfer session.

5. Select Use Incremental Backups speed-up to decrease the amount of time that the system uses to package the account on the source server. If a daily incremental backup exists, WHM uses that backup as a starting point. The system then updates the package before transfer.
6. Select Use custom account packaging modules from /var/cpanel/lib/Whostmgr/Pkgacct to use packaging scripts in that directory.
   Important:

   The system does not create the /var/cpanel/lib/Whostmgr/Pkgacct directory by default. You must create the /var/cpanel/lib/Whostmgr/Pkgacct directory before you select this setting, if the directory does not already exist.

   Note:

   cPanel & WHM always prioritizes custom restore modules in the /var/cpanel/perl/Whostmgr/Transfers/Systems directory over the cPanel-provided modules in the /usr/local/cpanel/Whostmgr/Transfers/Systems directory.

   • The /var/cpanel/perl/Whostmgr/Transfers/Systems directory stores any custom modules that you create.
   • The /usr/local/cpanel/Whostmgr/Transfers/Systems directory stores the modules that ship with cPanel & WHM.
7. Set the number of CPU threads (processes) for the transfer session in the Number of Transfer Threads text box.
   Note:

   This setting defaults to a number of threads based on the available amount of memory and number of CPUs. You can set a maximum value of five, but the system may still automatically reduce that number based on available resources.

8. Set the number of CPU threads (processes) for the restore session in the Number of Restore Threads text box.
   Note:

   This setting defaults to a number of threads based on the available amount of memory and number of CPUs. You can set a maximum value of five, but the system may still automatically reduce that number based on available resources.

9. Enter the number of seconds that the transfer session remains open before it times out in the Transfer Session Timeout text box.
   Important:

   If you change the default in the Transfer Session Timeout text box, it will only apply to the current session. You must enter a new value each time that you run a transfer. You can permanently change the value in WHM’s Tweak Settings interface (WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Tweak Settings).

10. After you make your selections, click Scan Remote Server. The Account List interface will appear.

The Account List interface

The Account List interface will appear after you prepare a source server for transfer. It displays information about the source server. If any of this information appears incorrect, click Rescan Source Server.

Below the source server information, the interface displays if any available IP addresses exist.

If all the information is correct, click the Accounts tab to prepare your destination server for the transfer by selecting the accounts, configurations, and packages you want to transfer.