WP Engine WordPress Migration from WPE Account to Another One

WP Engine WordPress Migration – At this stage, the site migration is completed. If you wish to review this step again, click here. Now it’s time to look at the Domain Name DNS (Domain Name System) records setup. You need to make sure it points to your new site address.

First, we need to make a distinction between two things. The domain without and with the “www”. The one without the www (example: yoursite.com) is called the Root or Naked domain. The version with the “www” (www.yoursite.com) is technically a subdomain.

Adding your Domain Name

1. Go to your Site in WPE portor and select your new (Destination) environment.
2. In the left-hand menu, click on Domains.
3. Click the Add domain button.
4. Enter your root domain: yoursite.com (WP Engine’s system often automatically asks if you want to add the www version at the same time. If it does, check that box. If not, simply repeat this step for www.yoursite.com).
5. Once both are added, decide which one you want to be the main address people see in their browser bar. Click the three dots next to that domain and select Set Primary.
6. Click the three dots next to the other domain, select Add Redirect, and point it to your primary domain.

Note: WP Engine will attempt to provision free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for these domains. They will show a “Pending” status until you complete the following part, and the DNS changes propagate.

>>> Then you need to update your domain in WordPress. Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. Go to Settings > General.
3. Update both the “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Site Address (URL)” fields to your new domain (for example, https://yoursite.com).
4. Scroll down and click Save Changes.

After saving, you may be logged out. Just log in again with your same credentials.

Updating Your DNS Records in your Registrar

At this point, your WP Engine WordPress Migration is not done yet. You need to be aware of the following records.

– A Records point a domain to an IP address (a string of numbers like 192.168.1.1).

– CNAME Records point a domain to another domain name (like yourenv.wpenginepowered.com).

Standard internet rules (DNS RFCs) do not allow you to use a CNAME for a root domain. So WP Engine’s standard and most robust setup utilizes two A Records for the root domain and one CNAME for the www domain (which is actually a subdomain as mentioned earlier).

Follow this step-by-step process to update your DNS records.

Step 1: Find your WPE DNS Information

Before leaving WP Engine, stay on the Domains page. Look for the DNS details provided by WP Engine for your environment. You need to copy three things:

• IP Address 1 (e.g., 141.193.x.x)
• IP Address 2 (e.g., 141.193.y.y)
• CNAME (usually looks like wp.wpenginepowered.com or yourenvironment.wpenginepowered.com)

Step 2: Update Your Registrar (GoDaddy or Gandi or BlueHost, etc.)

1. Log in to your Domain Name account.
2. Go to Domain and select it.
3. Click on the DNS Records tab.
4. Configure the Root Domain (A Records):
   • Look for an existing A record where the Name is @ (the @ symbol represents your root domain). Edit this record and paste your first WP Engine IP address into the value/target field. Save it.
   • Create a new record. Set the Type to A, the Name to @, and paste your second WP Engine IP address into the value/target field. Save it.
5. Configure the WWW Subdomain (CNAME):
   • Look for an existing record where the Name is www.
   • Change its Type to CNAME (if it isn’t already) and paste your WP Engine CNAME into the value field.
   • Gandi Tip: Gandi’s system often requires a trailing dot at the end of a CNAME value. So, you would enter yourenv.wpenginepowered.com. (note the dot at the very end). Save it.
6. Clean Up: Delete any old A or CNAME records for @ or www that point to your old WP Engine IP addresses. You should only have the two new A records and the one new CNAME for your website traffic.

Be aware that every single registrar has its own layout, settings and platform. So the above 6 points may slightly differ between for example GoDaddy and BlueHost.

DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours to fully propagate across the global internet. The following step will tackle the plugins issues.