change Virtualmin>Virtual Server name

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#1 Mon, 10/21/2019 - 16:32
adamjedgar

change Virtualmin>Virtual Server name

Hi guys, I am trialing a workaround for temporary URLs by creating a subdomain on a primary Virtualmin virtual server (not a sub server). This allows me to keep the URL a subdomain of the website owners existing website (which in this case is on Wix). The intention is to dump wix completely replacing it with a new wordpress website on Virtualmin.

So below is the illustration

Current domain and website with Wix (let's call it wix.com)

so i figured, why not create a Virtualmin>virtual Server called website.wix.com and add a DNS A record via Wix DNS for it

website.wix.com A-record 123.45.678.9 (my Virtualmin VPS)

Create a new virtualmin virtual server as a primary server but name=subdomain

Virtualmin>Create Virtual Server (where name = website.wix.com)

DNS resolves no problems

Install Wordpress...virtualmin scripts>wordpress = ok

Now the owner of the Virtual Server can edit the WordPress website for development purposes until they are ready to go live with it

https://website.wix.com/wp-admin

Once ready to go live:

1. change Virtualmin Virtual Server (website.wix.com) to website.com
2. change Wix DNS A record for wix.com to website.com Virtualmin VPS IP address
3. Delete Wix account


Ok, can we rename Virtualmin Virtual Servers?

https://website.wix.com becomes https://website.com OR

Do I need to create a new Virtualmin Virtual server (website.com) and move WordPress? OR

Would i be best to completely setup the Virtualmin Virtual server (website.wix.com) with all functionality, then perform a "Virtualmin Virtual Server" migration from website.wix.com to website.com? This seems like an attractive idea but a simple rename would be far easier to do wouldnt it? If a rename is possible, can Virtualmin also automatically "move Wordpress" in that step?

Mon, 10/21/2019 - 19:33
Dibs

why not just create the VirtualServer for website.com and tick the box for alias of master domain (yours) and then they see it as

website.yourMasterDomain.com

for development purposes. Then when ready switch their DNS and they see it as website.com? Or did I read your post wrong?

Tue, 10/22/2019 - 21:28
calport

You asked: can we rename Virtualmin Virtual Servers?

Yes, we can. Under Virtualmin | Server Configuration | Change Domain Name - your old domain name will read website.wix.com. You need to enter website.com in the New domain name form field and leave everything else as is. Click Rename Now and your server will resolve and render the new website.

Thu, 10/24/2019 - 01:50
adamjedgar

Next question, will it also update domain for everything on said virtual server (like wordpress), or am I going to need to "move wordpress" to reflect the change in domain from website.wix.com to website.com

What about mail accounts in postfix?

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Thu, 10/24/2019 - 10:31 (Reply to #4)
calport

You asked: Will the form on Virtualmin | Server Configuration | Change Domain Name move a Wordpress site from its old domain name to the new one. The answer is that the following changes to virtual server configuration are applied: 1) The domain name is changed from the old name to a new one that is specified in "New domain name" text box 2) The username (login name) for the account can be, if desired, changed to a system generated name or user specified name 3) The location (directory name) of the home directory for the new domain can be, if desired, changed to a system generated location or user specified location 4) The username suffix and group for the account can be, if desired, changed to a system generated name or user specified name

Depending on the choices made for the above, the Change Domain Name form will move files, including change ownership & permissions and move email accounts & email messages to work with the new domain name.

Specifically for Wordpress, if there are any configuration files with hardcoded paths which worked on the old domain name (e,g, references to /home/oldvirtualserver/public_html/somefile.cfg) then these must be manually updated to reflect their corresponding path and location on the new domain name (e.g. /home/newvirtualserver/public_html/somefile.cfg) so that the configuration is valid for the new domain name. If you use cron jobs or have used absolute paths for images then it might be a good idea to double check if these still work as before.

In summary, the Change Domain Name form of Virtualmin does much of the hard work of changing the domain name and / or moving the account to a different folder but it is not 'aware' of Wordpress or any other app installed on the account which it is processing. It falls upon the user to make additional changes where these are required.

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