Migrating your email across to different platforms can sound complicated to undertake but is easy to perform. There are so many various applications you can use. However, we can only document some applications as each will differ. The following information is needed to undertake a mail migration:
- Existing cPanel account username and password.
- Current Domain Registrar login information (If the domain is not registered with us)
- The new cPanel account login details or the Office 365 global administrator access to the admin portal.
If your existing service is a cpanel service, this is the easiest way to migrate the data, as we can perform a cpanel-to-cpanel migration. However, we cannot perform a cpanel transfer into us as an “Addon domain”. In this case, you must take up another cPanel service, as we cannot merge an existing service into an existing cpanel account. Perth Web Hosting cannot advise you on how to back up your data if you attempt to migrate your data yourself and choose not to request an assisted migration. Perth Web Hosting also cannot be held responsible for any data loss.
In this example, we assume you currently use Microsoft Outlook 365/2019 for your email. If you use Mac Mail or Windows Mail, seeking assistance backing up your data is best. There are tools available online that you can purchase to do this, as well as plenty of youtube videos online. Perth Web Hosting does not provide tools for you to do this. It is up to the client to purchase the right software.
Step 1: Please log in to your new cPanel/Office 365 global account to create the new email accounts. At this time, we recommend that you go to your DNS settings and lower your TTL for the MX and A/Cname records to 300 (5 minutes). It may take time to propagate the changes. Once we have made these changes, when it comes time (later) to update the MX Record/Mail records, if a mistake happens, the mistake can be easily fixed, and you’re not waiting for hours for the issue to be resolved.
What is the TTL value in DNS?
Time to Live (TTL) is a field on DNS records that controls how long each record is valid and — as a result — how long it takes for record updates to reach your end users. TTL value is in seconds. For example:
60 = 1 minute
300 = 5 minutes
14400 = 4 hours
You must also recreate all the email accounts on our system (in cPanel or Office 365 admin portal) BEFORE updating the DNS records. Remember, you must also set up all the email aliases and addon domains for every domain you migrate over.
After the previous TTL period has passed (before you altered this value), you can change the IP Address (A Record) or CNAME value in the zone editor or where you control your DNS records.
Step 2: On the old server; if you are using IMAP, please ensure you have cached all your email data. You can find this setting in your mail account settings. Outlook sometimes only caches the last 3 months so it is advisable to check to see if your profile has downloaded all the email data
Using Outlook, Export your data to a PST file – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/back-up-your-email-e5845b0b-1aeb-424f-924c-aa1c33b18833. Please refer to the link to back up your email to a pst. Backing up to a PST file backs up your email, calendar, and contacts.
Repeat for all email accounts that belong to your domain name.
Step 3: Update your DNS settings (MX, CNAME and A records) and, if required, the nameservers at your domain registrar.
Once you have completed this process, it may take some time for the DNS to propagate. It can take anywhere between 4 hours to 48 hours to complete. It is advisable to do this when you expect fewer emails coming through as some mail may flow to the old server, and you will need to repeat step 2.
Step 4: On your computer, please flush out the DNS cache (and reboot your modem), as your ISP still see the old server IP address. If you just updated the DNS records, the changes may take a few hours to propagate correctly.
Step 5: Create a new Outlook profile to refer back to your old Outlook Profile if you need to refer back to your old email data. Please visit https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/overview-of-outlook-e-mail-profiles-9073a8ac-c3d6-421d-b5b9-fcedff7642fc for more information. (under Create a new profile)
When setting up your new account, it is advisable to set it up as IMAP if you use the email accounts on the cPanel services. If you are using Office 365, you will set up the account as an Office 365 account.
A few extra steps are needed to set up an IMAP/POP3 email account. If you don’t know the difference between IMAP/POP3, please read this article
Step 6: Set up the new email account you created on our server (or Office 365 account) and open Outlook in your new profile.
Step 7: Locate the PST you backed up in Step 2, and Import this PST file to your new account.
Nameservers
When you are ready to update the nameservers, please use the following:
- ns1.perthwebhosting.net.au
- ns2.perthwebhosting.net.au
- ns3.perthwebhosting.net.au
If you choose to maintain your DNS with another provider, please ensure you set up the following records to ensure your sent email is received correctly.
- Mail Record – Normally, the shared IP address your cpanel service is on.
- MX Records – Normally mail.yourdomain.com.au with a priority of 0.
- Webmail A/CNAME Record – In case you wish to use webmail.
To run the mail through our Spam Filtering, you must ensure the spam filters are set up before updating the MX records. If you have never logged into Spam Experts, you can do this via cPanel and Professional Spam Filter within the email group. If you are on an entry-level hosting plan, your plan does not include SpamExperts and must upgrade to a higher one.
When you first log in, setting up the records can take up to a minute to complete. Once you have entered into the filtering console, you can update the MX records to:
- mxfilter.pwh.com.au with a priority of 0
- mxfilter2.pwh.com.au with a priority of 20
If none of the following DNS records is set correctly, your email may be rejected, blocked or delivered to the junk/spam folder.
- DKIM record
- SPF record
- DMARC record
Once set up, you can use a tool called mail tester to confirm if your email services are correctly set up and configured. The tool is limited to 6 test emails a day. Please visit https://www.mail-tester.com/
Again this is an overview of how you would migrate your email data from one platform to another. Unless you request us to migrate, we can only give you brief instructions on migrating your email to Perth Web Hosting.
To check your Domain DNS propagation status, please visit https://whatsmydns.me/. If after some time you cannot connect to your email account, please refer to step 4 and attempt to clear the DNS cache on your computer.
