Join Infomaniak: change host

This guide explains step by step how to transfer  without interruption to Infomaniak:

• a domain name (thanks to its transfer code)
• a website (by recovering it if you have some notions of webmastering)
• your emails (keeping your message history)

You will learn how to change host without losing your Web & Mail data.

Why Infomaniak for your emails, sites and domains?

• Know-how : Infomaniak has been hosting websites for more than 25 years. It is a globally recognized player in hosting and online solutions. Infomaniak is the 1st host in Switzerland in terms of turnover and the 2nd in terms of the number of sites hosted

• Security : all of our customers' data is hosted on servers in Switzerland that belong to Infomaniak. Our solutions are systematically developed and maintained by our engineers, in our premises in Geneva, Switzerland

• Support : with more than 1,000 articles and videos, our knowledge base allows our customers to answer the vast majority of their questions immediately. We help our customers every day to use the potential of our products by phone and email

• Responsible : Infomaniak is 100% committed to sustainable and responsible development with concrete actions , such as the adoption of the ISO 14'001 standard or the creation of the most ecological Datacenter in Switzerland. We offset 100% of the CO2 emissions we release through our activities and 100% of the energy we use is from renewable sources.

• With passion : we love what we do and are committed to offering top-of-the-range solutions at affordable prices. We continuously improve and enrich our services according to market trends and the needs of our customers.

By grouping your domain names, websites and emails with Infomaniak, you simplify the management of your invoices and services. For example, the linking of a domain name will be done automatically with your website and your e-mail address. You will therefore not need to manually configure the DNS at another registrar (registrar).

1. Transferring a domain name to Infomaniak

The domain name is the address you enter in a browser to display a site, such as infomaniak.com.

It is possible to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another.

Here are the steps to take to transfer a domain name to Infomaniak:

1. Connect to the registrar that currently manages your domain name
2. Obtain from your current registrar the transfer code for the domain name to be transferred ( help )
3. Order the domain name to transfer to Infomaniak
4. During the transfer, be careful to keep the current DNS of the domain name
5. Enter transfer code when prompted

2. Move a website to Infomaniak

All the sites you visit are stored (hosted) with companies that are usually called hosting providers. If you already have a website, it is possible to entrust the management of its hosting to Infomaniak without interrupting the proper functioning of your current site and without disturbing your loyal visitors :)

Here are the steps to take to move your current site to Infomaniak:

1. Using FTP software, save all the files on your site to your current host
2. Back up your MySQL databases if you use them
3. Order the Infomaniak hosting of your choice with the current domain name of your website
4. From the  Manager , create an FTP account ( help )
5. Using FTP software, send the files of your site that you saved in step 1 to the Web folder of your hosting (you can also use our FTP Manager ( help ) to upload a .zip of your data and unzip everything from the tool)
6. From the  Manager , create a new MySQL database with a user having all the rights on this database ( help )
7. From the  Manager , import the backup of your database into the database that was just created ( help )
8. In the configuration file of your Web application (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.), adapt the following information according to the parameters indicated in our Manager ( help ):
   • the name of the database
   • the database server
   • the database user name
   • the database user password
9. Test your website with the preview address ( help )
10. Do not forget to follow chapter 4 of this guide to redirect your domain name to your new hosting!

3. Move the management of your emails to Infomaniak

By entrusting the management of your emails to Infomaniak, you will notably be able to have a kMail account .

k Mail is a complete online solution for reading and managing your emails, contacts, calendars, tasks and Internet favorites online. It also allows you to synchronize your contacts and calendars with a smartphone, tablet or messaging software.

Here are the actions to take to manage your emails at Infomaniak:

1. If necessary, order a Service Mail ( help )
2. From the Manager , create the desired email addresses ( help )
3. Use our synchronization tools to automatically copy and repatriate the content of the old email address to the new one, box by box or in batches ( help )
4. Configure your kMail account ( help ) or your email software with your new addresses ( help )

1. Import contacts into address book ( help ) and import calendar into calendar ( help )
2. Set up synchronization of contacts and calendars with your smartphone/tablet ( help )

4. Activate your new hosting

Now all you have to do is point your domain name to the Infomaniak hosting:

1. Open the Manager ( manager.infomaniak.com )
2. Go to Domain name
3. Click on the domain name concerned
4. In the left side menu, click on DNS Management
5. Click on the DNS Servers button
6. Click on the Change DNS Servers button
7. Check the Infomaniak DNS servers box and click on Validate

5. Wait up to 48 hours and terminate your old services

Updating the DNS of your domain name can take up to 48 hours . It is therefore possible that for 48 hours your domain will still point to your old host.

Once this period has elapsed, do not forget to terminate your services (emails, hosting of your sites, etc.) with your former host.

Bravo :) Your site and your emails are now hosted by Infomaniak. Thank you for your confidence.

And after?

Install an SSL certificate on your site to secure connections: https://faq.infomaniak.com/2027
Discover our other products : https://faq.infomaniak.com/2190