Issue cPanel to Plesk migration problems

[nj2la96]

Server operating system version

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Plesk version and microupdate number

Plesk Obsidian Version 18.0.62 Update #1

Hi guys,

I am migrating from Hostgator with managed servers running cPanel to Fasthost with unmanaged servers running Plesk. I have never had to manage a server myself, used Plesk nor ever run SSH before so bear with me.

I am migrating around 40 domains from cPanel to Plesk and have run into issues. Some domains have migrated successfully but others haven't, and I've noticed that most of those that failed migration are running WordPress websites. Also on my personal domain, I have changed DNS to point to Plesk and have figured out how to send and receive emails, however all my sent emails arrive in the users junk.

1) How do I fix the migration issue? The error I get is:

Failed to detect databases of subscription.
Command execution failed on the local server with non-zero exit code.
command: rsync -r --chmod=Fu=r,Du=rwx,go= --timeout=30 -e 'ssh -i /usr/local/psa/var/modules/panel-migrator/sessions/20240709031156/ssh-keys/id_rsa.162.240.2.185 -p 22 -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o GSSAPIAuthentication=no' /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/modules/panel-migrator/backend/lib/python/parallels/plesk/source/legacy/extras/plesk_11_5_pmm_shared/ [email protected]:/root/plesk_migrator/plesk_migrator-z28wp8wrtkeyvv9s614dv8bkq6nt55ab/pmm_agent
exit code: 255
stdout:
stderr: ssh: connect to host 162.240.2.185 port 22: Connection refused
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [sender]
rsync error: unexplained error (code 255) at io.c(231) [sender=3.2.7]

The errors in the logs shows:

a) Unable to connect to '162.240.2.185' by SSH: [Errno None] Unable to connect to port 22 on 162.240.2.185. Retrying in 10 seconds (I can connect vis Putty using credentials)
b) Failed to perform an action on subscription 'example.com': Failed to detect databases of subscription. Exception message: Error while connecting to the the source server 'cpanel' (162.240.2.185) at '162.240.2.185' by SSH as 'root': Unable to connect to '162.240.2.185' by SSH: [Errno None] Unable to connect to port 22 on 162.240.2.185.Ensure that the server is up and there are no firewall rules that may block SSH connections to the server,then restart migration.
c) |- warning: The component perl is not installed on the destination server. It will be unavailable for the following domains: 'example.com'| | Install that component on the destination server or make sure that none of these domains actually need the component.

2) Hod do I stop my emails going to the junk folder?

Appreciate your assistance.

 

[Kaspar@Plesk]

Hi there, for you A and B questions it seems like something is closing/blocking the SSH connections between servers. It's hard to say for sure what is causing this without knowing your exact server configuration. But if I had to guess I would say it's most likely CSF on the cPanel server. Make sure the IP of the target server (your Plesk server) is whitelisted in CSF. If it is already, you can try to temporarily disabled CSF too.

c) this is a warning that the mod_perl or/and mod_python modules aren't availed on the Plesk server. You can ignore this warning if you don't actively need these modules for this particular domain. Or otherwise install them manually on your server.

2) Are those legitimate emails or actually spam?

 

[nj2la96]

Hi there, for you A and B questions it seems like something is closing/blocking the SSH connections between servers. It's hard to say for sure what is causing this without knowing your exact server configuration. But if I had to guess I would say it's most likely CSF on the cPanel server. Make sure the IP of the target server (your Plesk server) is whitelisted in CSF. If it is already, you can try to temporarily disabled CSF too.

c) this is a warning that the mod_perl or/and mod_python modules aren't availed on the Plesk server. You can ignore this warning if you don't actively need these modules for this particular domain. Or otherwise install them manually on your server.

2) Are those legitimate emails or actually spam?

Thank you much for your response.

A & B) I have been back and forth with both hostgator and fasthost, with each claiming the fault is the other company. I have finally decided to manually migrate all of them myself. I'll do the files through FTP, database backup and restore and I'll figure out the best way to move emails.
C) I don't think any of my domains need it. Thank you, I will ignore it

2) Yes they are legitimate emails. I am learning apparently, I need to do a lot for each domain manually, SPF DKIM etc. I believe the culprit is one of these.

 

[Kaspar@Plesk]

A & B) I have been back and forth with both hostgator and fasthost, with each claiming the fault is the other company. I have finally decided to manually migrate all of them myself. I'll do the files through FTP, database backup and restore and I'll figure out the best way to move emails.

You can use the site import tool (which contains an email import tool) to import email from one server to another. More info on this can be found here:

Importing Mail

Mail Import can migrate the content of mailboxes hosted by a third-party IMAP email service (for example, Gmail or Ya...

docs.plesk.com

Beware that messages in the sent, concept and trash folders aren't imported.

2) Yes they are legitimate emails. I am learning apparently, I need to do a lot for each domain manually, SPF DKIM etc. I believe the culprit is one of these.

Yeah, if legitimate email are being sent to the spam folder it is most likely because of the DMARC policy due to failing SPF and/or DKIM validation.

 

[nj2la96]

You can use the site import tool (which contains an email import tool) to import email from one server to another. More info on this can be found here:

Importing Mail

Mail Import can migrate the content of mailboxes hosted by a third-party IMAP email service (for example, Gmail or Ya...

docs.plesk.com

Beware that messages in the sent, concept and trash folders aren't imported.


Yeah, if legitimate email are being sent to the spam folder it is most likely because of the DMARC policy due to failing SPF and/or DKIM validation.

RE: exactly, and clients would go crazy missing any email items.

I figured. Coming from this being done to having to learn is a process. Need to understand how to do this.

Thank you so much. I am sure I will encounter more issues.

 

[nj2la96]

RE: exactly, and clients would go crazy missing any email items.

I figured. Coming from this being done to having to learn is a process. Need to understand how to do this.

Thank you so much. I am sure I will encounter more issues.

Question: Let's say you are developing a new website for a client who already has a website hosted elsewhere. You want to build and view the website you're developing in Plesk without having to change DNS. How do you achieve this? It seems like it needs the domain DNS changed to function

 

[Kaspar@Plesk]

Question: Let's say you are developing a new website for a client who already has a website hosted elsewhere. You want to build and view the website you're developing in Plesk without having to change DNS. How do you achieve this? It seems like it needs the domain DNS changed to function

There are of a couple of methods, depending on your exact needs.

1) Create the domain on the new server and add the domain with the IP address of that server to the host file on your computer. That way any requests for that domain on you computer are routed the new server. You might run into an SSL issue, in which case you can issue a self signed SSL certificate for that domain. Drawback is that this method only works on the computer on which you modify the host file. So you can't really show your client a preview.

2) Use a temporarily (sub)-domain. Copy the website over as soon as it's ready. If you are using WordPress you can use the Clone feature in Plesk to do this.

3) By default each domain in Plesk gets a separate preview URL too. That way you can create the actual domain already in Plesk and use the preview URL for viewing the site. You'll find the preview link by hovering over the thumb nail of the domain in Plesk.

(More information about customizing the preview URL domain can be read here).