ThinkHost Migration Guide

Since moving your website can be a challenge, we've put together the following simple steps to help you transfer your site and domain registration from ThinkHost to DreamHost.

Accessing your ThinkHost FTP

 * 1) Enter the following FTP settings:
 * Server name / hostname: ftp.yourdomain.com
 * FTP port: 21
 * FTP mode: set to passive
 * Username / login: your hosting account username
 * Password: your hosting account password
 * Remote directory for website: /websites/yourdomain.com/docs/ directory
 * Remote directory for CGI files: /websites/yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/ directory
 * 1) Copy all the files to your computer
 * 2) Upload them to the DreamHost server at http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Ftp

Backing up MySQL files on ThinkHost
There are two ways to back up your databases or tables:

The easiest way
The following procedure uses phpMyAdmin, which is our MySQL administration tool. If you're not sure about accessing phpMyAdmin, please refer to the phpMyAdmin/MySQL wiki tutorial.
 * 1) Click on your database name in the left hand navigation bar.
 * 2) Click EXPORT (top tab).
 * 3) Highlight the table/s you want to back up.
 * 4) Select STRUCTURE and DATA radio button.
 * 5) Select Enclose table and field names with backquotes.
 * 6) Select Save as file and zipped in the check boxes.
 * 7) Click Go and a zipped archive file is generated.
 * 8) Set up the databases in the DreamHost panel in the Goodies > MySQL Databases section.
 * 9) Import the databases as described on the importing your data wiki page.

For advanced users

 * 1) Enter the following syntax to dump an entire database using the mysqldump command line tool:
 * mysqldump -u username -p --databases mydatabase > mydatabase.sql
 * Enter a password when prompted.
 * 1) You can also choose to dump only certain tables:
 * mysqldump -u username -p mydatabase mytable1 mytable2 > mydatabase.sql
 * Enter a password when prompted.
 * The mysqldump command prints out all the SQL commands necessary to reload your database (or specified tables), which in the examples above is redirected to the file mydatabase.sql.
 * The mysqldump tool is a standard part of the MySQL distribution, and it uses the same options format as the other tools.
 * The documentation is contained in the MySQL manual.
 * mysqldump --help provides a quick option list.

Importing emails

 * 1) Record all the email addresses used in connection with your domain name.
 * Important: Make sure that you set up these email accounts with DreamHost through the Mail > Manage Email section in the DreamHost panel.
 * 1) Obtain the ThinkHost email settings found on the ThinkHost support page.
 * 2) Follow the instructions on the e-mail import wiki page to import the emails to your DreamHost mailboxes.

Setting up a DreamHost account and transferring your domain registration



 * 1) Sign up for any DreamHost plan [here].
 * 2) Create an account and click Continue.
 * The Configure a Domain page appears.
 * 2Domain.png
 * 1) Select I already own this domain and click Continue.
 * Note: You can enter your ThinkHost95 Promotional Code during the sign up process.
 * 1) Finish the sign-up process.
 * Note: DreamHost will send you a request to transfer the registration after you complete the sign up, as well as information on how to access your FTP account. Please allow 1-2 days to receive this information.
 * [[Image:Tranfer 3.jpg|600x175px]]
 * 1) Back up all of your website files, databases, and emails from your old host via FTP or wget.
 * 2) Log in to your DreamHost FTP account using your server's name (i.e., servername.dreamhost.com), which should now be set up with your Domain (Hosting).
 * [[Image:Tranfer 4.jpg|600x175px]]
 * 1) Upload the website files to us.
 * [[Image:Tranfer 5.jpg|600x175px]]
 * 1) Return to your old host and set the nameservers for your domain registration to point to using these names:
 * ns1.dreamhost.com
 * ns2.dreamhost.com
 * ns3.dreamhost.com
 * Note: This modification takes about 1-3 days to propagate across the Internet, after which your new name servers will direct visitors to your account here with DreamHost. A registration transfer, on the other hand, takes about 7-14 days.
 * [[Image:Tranfer 6.jpg|600x175px]]
 * Note: As stated above, you will receive an approval e-mail from DreamHost asking if it is OK to transfer the registration to us.
 * 1) Click on the link in that e-mail to approve it.
 * The transfer starts, and should complete in 7-14 days.
 * Note: If you have not received the approval e-mail in 1-2 days, please contact support.
 * [[Image:Tranfer 7.jpg|600x175px]]
 * 1) Once the registration has transferred, cancel the hosting plan with your old hosting company.