Moving a site between nodes

Webcore can move an enabled managed site from one hosting node to another. Site moves use a persistent migration job so the operation can be inspected and recovered rather than being treated as a single opaque copy command.

Before starting

Choose a healthy destination node with the required PHP runtime and sufficient capacity. A site move is an infrastructure operation and has stricter permissions than ordinary site management.

Do not start a second move while an active move job already exists for the site.

Pre-copy

The first part of a move copies the site toward the destination without immediately making the destination authoritative. This reduces the amount of work required during final cutover and keeps the existing source available while the migration is prepared.

The move state is persisted by the control plane so a failed or interrupted operation can be retried through the supported workflow.

Cutover and rollback window

The cutover phase completes the transition to the destination node. Webcore retains the previous source instance during the rollback window instead of immediately destroying it.

Use this window to validate the destination site and confirm that the application behaves correctly after the move.

If validation fails, use the supported rollback path rather than manually copying files or changing control-plane records.

Finalization

Finalization closes the migration and removes the retained old source instance. This action is destructive to the old copy; the destination remains the managed site.

Only finalize after the destination has been validated and you no longer need the migration rollback path.

Operational guidance

1. Confirm the source site is healthy before moving it.
2. Select a suitable active destination node.
3. Start the pre-copy and allow it to complete.
4. Perform the cutover using the Panel workflow.
5. Validate the public site, WordPress administration and important application functions on the destination.
6. Roll back if the destination cannot be accepted.
7. Finalize only after validation, which removes the retained source copy and closes the move.

Avoid making unmanaged filesystem or database changes to either side while a move is active. Those changes can undermine the migration state Webcore is tracking.