Transfering files from one server to another

How do you guys do it?

[SEO practioner]

Hi. I am in the process of wanting to transfer all the files from site A to site B. I need to transfer all the files to server B before the DNS changes is done.

My dilemma is that I don't have access to the files right now. If I make the DNS transfer now, not only will the users will see a blank error page, but the files will still remain on site A!

So the question is: How do you get all the files on server A if the client lost his original CD or diskettes? If he could supply me those files, I would just upload them to server B (the new server) and we would be done. The issue is he cannot give me those files, but the site is live and has been for 3 years.

How do you guys do it? It's soooooo easy when we do have the files with us.

Thanks for any help you can give me in this.

[wruk999]

Hi,

Is it not possible to do a wget from Server B, to Server A, requesting the files. If you've got ssh/telnet access on server b, and the files are still publically visible on server a, just do a

wget [mydomain.com...]

butthis wouldn't be very quick, so on Server A, can you tar up the contents of the site, then do the

wget [mydomain.com...]

wruk999

[SEO practioner]

Thanks Wruk for that. It is appreciated. Now where can I get one of those "tar" utilities?

If I do a search on G, will I see anything? I need to do this thing today.

Thanks

[SEO practioner]

[list-archive.xemacs.org...]

I found this here... I will se if that helps me

[wruk999]

tar zcvf thetar.tar.gz *

from inside your site directory should do the trick ;)

you have got ssh access?

[wruk999]

once you have made the tar file, it will be in your site folder on server A.
Then go to Server B, log-in (via SSH) and do the wget command on the tar on server A.

All this depends whether you got SSH/Telnet access to _both_ servers?

wruk999

[SEO practioner]

Thanks wruk, but the problem is I don't have access to site A... no password, no nothing. I suspect our client is not in very good terms with his current hosting provider.

Do you suggest I contact them directly?

I have SSH access to server B but I've never done that. Could something go wrong there if I don't do it right?

[SEO practioner]

wruk: I only have SSH access to server B and, as I said, I've never done this and I don't want to damage anything

[SEO practioner]

wruk: isn't there a simpler and faster way of doing it?

[wruk999]

but the problem is I don't have access to site A... no password, no nothing

You do not have FTP details neither then?

Hmm, there might be a way to run a PHP script off your new server, which can "index" site A's files, and write a file which when run will automatically do the wget for you.
This would be safer, and quicker, esepcially seeing as you don't have access to Site A.

Give me a little while and I can see whether the script will work ;)

wruk999

[wruk999]

if you can just try logging to the server b, and cd'ing to the dir where your site will go.
Then run this command:

wget http://www.thedomain.com/index.htm

Obviosuly change the above line to your domain and tghe real name of your index page, and please see whether you get a 403 Forbidden, or if it downloads...if it does - that is good ;)

wruk999

[SEO practioner]

wruk, if you can get me outta here, I'l owe you a beer my friend! :-)

[SEO practioner]

wruk, have you ever done this before?

I'm In brand new territory here. To me, Linux is all so new...

[john316]

You could wget from your machine locally and upload them via FTP as well. You won't get any scripts, but you will get the "meat" of the site.

If you don't have or want to use wget, any site ripper will do.

added: Are you using windows or mac?

[SEO practioner]

Hi John and thanks

I'm using windows. I once used site stripper a long time agon and somehow got also a virus with it. Don't know if it was related. Maybe it was inside the program download. It's a long time ago. However, everytime someone mentions "Site ripper" I still remember the weird things it did

[SEO practioner]

But John, is there a "site ripper" you could recommend that you use and you'r happy with it?

[SEO practioner]

"" You could wget from your machine locally and upload them via FTP as well. You won't get any scripts, but you will get the "meat" of the site. ""

-- John: How can you "wget" locally from a local machine? Is there a special procedure I am not aware about?

[wruk999]

Hi

If you do a 'G' search for "site ripper", number 2 on the list has 30-day free trial (hope I'm allowed to say this). You could give this a go, if it doesn't work, let us know, and I can have a go at this script.

Are there many pages to transfer?

wruk999

[john316]

Open up a terminal > cd to the directory you want the site dl/ed to > wget -r www.yourdomain.com

[SEO practioner]

Wruk: thanks I will do that...

John: this may sound simple to most unix or Linux gurus, but I am brand new at unix and Linux and don't know the first thing about it.

Im ok with any windows machine, but unix I don't know the first thing about it and it would explain why I am scared of it... I've heard all kinds of horror stories of what a wrong command in unix can do and how it will not forgive the novice like me....

That is why it scares me, but meanwhile I do have to find a solution. Wruk: I'm going to use that "no. 2 line in G"

Probably the only way I will get this thing done today. I will keep you posted on (hopefully) progress...

Thanks very much John and Wruk!
I will try my best to make it work!

[DaveAtIFG]

You can also find a binary of Wget for Windoze here [space.tin.it]. Download V 1.82 and SSL library dated 9/18/02.

[brendan]

Try looking into the scp binary that is more secure and will allow server to server copies through and SSH tunnel.

[SEO practioner]

Thanks Brendan and all the rest of you guys!

I finally solved my problem using site strippper and it was pretty fast, I must say.

I still need to learn a lot about Linux and unix commands. That is my main hurdle in these things.

Thanks again all of you!

:-) SEO

[jerr3301]

I take over site from hosting companies that refuse to cooperate quite frequently... This software never fails for sites that don't use server side scripting:

www.httrack.com