48 hours migrating off a dead host

sarahjey

Member OP

Joined:: Jul 2024
Posts:: 149
From:: Ottawa, Canada

11mo ago · edited

#1

Thread: Experience report: 48 hours migrating off a dead host

Posted: 2025-09-12

Sorry if this is a dumb question. But my VPS provider (RackNerd) just went dark 6 hours ago. No status page, no tickets answering. I have a wordpress site and a small nextcloud for my club. I bought a new VPS at Hetzner but I've never done a migration before?

What's the fastest way to move everything without losing data? I have ssh access still but I don't know if it will stay up. Sorry for typos, panicing a little!

learning on $5 VPS and prayers

olespete

Member

Trust No One

Joined:: Jun 2024
Posts:: 270
From:: Unknown

11mo ago · edited

#2

WARNING: RackNerd going dark could mean BREACH not just bankruptcy. Before you migrate:

Change ALL passwords after move
Check for unauthorized keys in ~/.ssh
Verify file timestamps—look for recent odd changes
fail2ban on new host BEFORE you restore data

Your old host could be compromised and you would pipe the infection to new server.

How are you backing up now? If answer is "I'm not" that's your first problem!

airgapped, encrypted, faraday'd, still worried

annexbi

Member

Joined:: Aug 2024
Posts:: 144
From:: Oslo, Norway

11mo ago

#3

@sarahjey the (classic) (student) (panic) (we've all (been there))—first thing (and I (cannot) stress this (enough))—snapshot what you (can) (while you (still) have (shell))—tar the (whole /var/www) (and /var/lib/mysql) (if that's (where it (lives)))—then scp (or rsync (better)) to (Hetzner https://www.hetzner.com (which (frankly)) sounds (already) (like an) (upgrade))—

push. done. coffee.

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