In dire straights and need advice; I might lose my client data!

[ColinJason]

Evening all,

I recently got 2 VPS's setup here at Jag, due to many, many issues with my old/current VPS provider, namely, the business seems to be running on autopilot now. My *plan* was to get my hosted clients and data moved over to one of my VPS's here, get it settled, then bid adieu to the old provider. Of course, the DAY I ask for help in moving them over, my Plesk control panel on my VPS has decided to break!

This leaves me in a very bad situation. VERY bad.

With the panel non-functioning, I can't delve into individual accounts to back up any data that way. I can still login to the VPS via SSH for root access, and all the OTHER services are still working. Web pages are being served, databases running, e-mail going through, and so on. I've been trying desperately to reach anyone at the old VPS company, but no-one ever answers the phones, and the 2 numbers that I have for the company owner are just ringing through to voicemail. I've left several messages, all without a single response. I've tried their ticket system, and that of course is going unanswered as well.

I'm really not sure what to do at this point. My server administration skills are pretty rusty, so I can't just dive in there and fix whatever is wrong. Backups? Sure, if I could reach the company I have the VPS with...there are backups they store...however, if I can't reach them, how can I even get them? Yes, I most definitely got caught with my pants ALL the way down, and don't have any local backups of the data I can use or restore from. Besides that, it's about 60GB worth. Not something I can just zip down the handy broadband line.

If ANYONE can offer any suggestions, help, or referrals as to whom I can get some help on this matter, I would REALLY appreciate it.

[webhead]

If you have files that access the database, you could just write one to do a mysql dump and then download the output file by ftp. If you don't have ftp access then I'm not sure if there's a way to retrieve the file.

[Daniel_DBS]

attempt logging in via SCP as root.

http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

once you are logged in with root you have sftp access to all of the files on the server.. but still that would require the very large amount of files to be downloaded... hmmm i know thisisit and jason will have something to say that may be of more help... you could try submitting a ticket to support here at JPC requesting file and account transfer from your old host and explain the circumstances and they may be able to do something

[Ron]

I would tarball up the site, compress it, then log into your new server and login to your old server with FTP and do a server-to-server transfer.

Should be pretty quick, depending on your bandwidth arrangements on both ends.

[JPC-Greg]

Cant your old host fix the broken plesk ? Its never a good idea to cut ties until you have your new boat ready to sail. I guess step one is reaching them.

If you have root access you have all you really need to move the data. You dont download it to your home via dsl, use there server or ours to push/pull the data right from server to server. We can help with this kind of admin work but it will come with a fee and we cant guarantee we can get anything that your server data moved. Meaning your clients website setups, parked/pointed domains, database configs, email setups, etc etc ... theres an absolute ton of configs to setup one website much less several and it takes a lot of time to do manually. Even then its a pretty good gamble that something will get missed. The built in migrating tools in the control panels really save everyone a ton of stress and time.

[ColinJason]

Well, I have a bit of good news to report on this; I got the control panel working again. I guess the problem occurred as a result of my support ticket request to move my clients from the old VPS to the new one here at Jag. When they started the process, the initial backup ate up all the remaining disk space on the VPS, so the control panel stopped functioning. This is what put me in panic mode. Some digging online found the fix; free up some disk space, and the panel starts working again.

This was also confirmed by the Jag tech, who is working on the migration. The BEST solution in this case would be to temporarily request more disk space on the old VPS, to allow the full backup, but since they no longer answer their phones, e-mail, or support tickets, it's a little hard to request something when no one is steering the ship there. I'd GLADLY pay for it, and we WERE still on good terms. It's just that all human presence at that company seems to have disappeared. Believe me, I've been trying to get ahold of them for a week now. I even went so far as to contact the datacenter where their equipment is held, and they themselves told me that they haven't been able to reach them either. Not a good sign. The last time this happened, the datacenter pulled their plug on the servers for over 14 hours, and I couldn't even reach my VPS. I came to find out later, it was pulled because of non-payment.

Gee, *I* paid MY bill on time...

Again, just one of the MANY reasons I'm now here at Jag. I'm VERY impressed with the support thus far. It's REALLY nice to see someone ANSWER a ticket. In the same DAY yet. I know, sad isn't it. This is what I'm coming from, so hopefully you all will understand. I've done my best to reach them, but no one's home. Very scary for me indeed.

Luckily, with the panel backup, the disk space issue now known, and the situation with the old host known, the boys here at Jag are doing a migration in batches for me. Once again, I can't express how relieved I am. I'm feeling much better every day for making the decision to move here. Believe me.

Wish me luck that we can get it all moved over this weekend, so I can FINALLY kiss that sinking ship of a host goodbye.

And Greg, I'm more than willing to pay fees to have my data, it's just really hard to pay someone if they're never there...

[ColinJason]

I would tarball up the site, compress it, then log into your new server and login to your old server with FTP and do a server-to-server transfer.

Should be pretty quick, depending on your bandwidth arrangements on both ends.

Ron,

I just wanted to briefly address your suggestion here, by saying that the server has approximately 60GB of data on it, and a total of 80GB available. There wasn't enough room to do a straight tarball to move. My only choice would have been to do it in pieces, and move them, but I got lucky with the control panel fix, so a migration is in process using the control panels. It'll be in pieces, but at least we've got that functionality back. As Greg mentioned, having those tools available makes life MUCH better when moving all of this.

edited to add: I should also mention my server administration skills absolutely SUCK these days as well. I grew too complacent with the old host watching things, when they did, so I was working more on trying to grow my business. BIG mistake. The other thing that makes it harder, is my very limited experience with linux, as I was using freebsd for years. This is another reason for me looking for managed services in a new host. My family demands much more time of me now, than it used to, so I can't sit in front of a computer all night, after working all day at my 'day job', trying to sort things out.