Shared host to VPS: my migration didn't go as planned

olespete

Member OP

Trust No One

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

1y ago · edited

#1

Migrating 12 client sites from shared Hostinger to my new KnownHost VPS. Planned 2 hour window. DNS propagation took 8 HOURS. Email down entirely, clients calling, one threatening legal action. What went wrong? I had:

1. Copied all files via rsync
2. Exported databases
3. Updated A records

BUT I forgot MX records. And TTL was 86400 from shared host. WARNINGS to all: always check TTL before migration. Always have fallback. fail2ban already installed on new box, firewall tight, but downtime is the real enemy!

airgapped, encrypted, faraday'd, still worried

LichunLars

Member

Joined:: Jun 2024
Posts:: 190
From:: Stockholm, SE

1y ago · edited

#2

$ dig +trace client1.example.com MX
client1.example.com. 86400 IN MX 0 hostinger.com.

Your MX still pointed to Hostinger. Route via their mail cluster adds 45ms from your VPS anyway. Better to host mail yourself or use dedicated relay — I used https://www.hostinger.com for that client.

$ ping -c 10 knownhost.com
rtt min/avg/max = 12.3/14.7/18.2 ms

New route much cleaner.

1ms or I don't want it

kate3

Member

Joined:: Jul 2024
Posts:: 208
From:: Utrecht, NL

1y ago

#3

LichunLars said:

Host mail yourself

Self-hosted mail on KVM is fine if you understand virtualization tax. OpenVZ would struggle with spamd + clamd + postfix under cgroup limits. Your KnownHost VPS—confirm it's KVM? Check `systemd-detect-virt`. Mail queues need stable kernel clock, which some containers lack. I've seen 6-hour delays from clock drift in cheap virtualization, not DNS at all.

virsh list --all | wc -l: 47

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