ServerMaid Migrate: rebuilt, not cloned
Migrate websites to a new Windows Server without carrying the old one's mistakes
ServerMaid Migrate is an IIS website migration tool for people who would rather not do it by hand. Drop it on the old Windows Server, tick the websites you want, and it exports files, databases and host names into one package. On the new server, built by ServerMaid, one click creates every site the proper way: own folder, permissions, web.config, database and a free SSL certificate* that renews itself. It does not clone the old machine: old permissions, database accounts, web.config files and logs stay behind, and each site is rebuilt on the new server's hardened baseline. No coding, no specialist, old server untouched. What moves and what does not.
Website migration is an add-on: £49 £24.50 one-off per old server, bought from your account or with your licence, and each purchase covers one export of one old server. Importing on the new server needs the Websites and SSL module (included in every Agency licence).
Rebuilt, not cloned
Your websites move. Your old server's baggage does not.
Cloning tools copy the whole machine, faults and all. ServerMaid takes only what belongs to each website and rebuilds it on the new server's hardened baseline, as a specialist would.
Left behind on purpose
- Old permissions: accounts that no longer exist, folders writable by Everyone
- The old web.config: handlers and rewrite modules the new server does not have
- Old database accounts: shared users, old grants, remote root
- Logs and leftovers: log folders, temp files, abandoned backups
- Settings nobody wrote down: the hand-made changes that made the old server fragile
- ASP.NET applications: refused with a reason rather than moved half-working
Rebuilt on the new baseline
- The files: everything in the site's folder that belongs to the site
- The database: a clean dump, imported into a database of its own with a new account limited to it
- The host names: every binding the old site answered to
- WordPress and Laravel settings: read from wp-config.php and .env, rewritten for the new database
- A fresh site: its own folder, application pool, least-privilege permissions and a web.config written for this server
- From day one: free SSL*, backups proven by a restore test, and health monitoring
Nothing from the old server's configuration or permissions is reused. That is the point: its mistakes do not come with you.
Why moving a Windows website by hand goes wrong
Copy wwwroot, copy the database, recreate the site in IIS Manager and hope. A copied website brings its history with it.
- Copied permissions. The old access lists come across, so the new site is owned by an account that does not exist, or writable by Everyone. Folder permissions are the commonest reason a moved site cannot update itself.
- The old web.config. It points at a PHP handler or rewrite module that is not there, and the site returns a 500.
- Database users and collations. A raw dump carries old accounts, old grants and a mix of latin1 and utf8 tables; WordPress connects as a user that does not exist, or the import halts halfway.
- The forgotten setting. Every old server has a site that only works because of something somebody set years ago and never wrote down.
A specialist avoids all of this by not copying the configuration: take the content and data, rebuild each site from a known-good template on a server that was built properly. ServerMaid Migrate does the same.
IIS website migration tool
How ServerMaid Migrate works
Get a key, drop the tool on the old server
Download ServerMaid Migrate from your servermaid.com account and drop it on the old server's desktop. Get a one-time migration key from the same page (valid 24 hours, usable once) and paste it in; the tool checks it with servermaid.com.
See what can be moved
The tool lists every IIS website on the old server: host names, files, and the database details it reads from WordPress (wp-config.php) and Laravel (.env); other PHP sites get a place to enter theirs. What it cannot move properly (no host name, an ASP.NET application, a missing folder) is refused with a plain reason.
Export one package
Tick the sites and export. Everything goes into one .smmigrate file: the files without the old server's web.config, logs or leftovers, and each MySQL or MariaDB database as a clean dump with no old accounts, no old permissions and everything normalised to utf8mb4. A site that cannot be exported completely is left out and listed with the reason.
Import on the new server
On the new server, built by ServerMaid, open Websites and choose "Import migration package". Each website is created its own way (folder, application pool, permissions, web.config with the right rewrite rules, database and user), the files copied in, the database imported, WordPress or Laravel settings rewritten, WordPress hardening applied, and the free SSL certificate* added once DNS points here.
Moving WordPress to a new Windows server
WordPress is the site most people need to move and the one most often broken by it: a home page that loads and every other page a 404, because the permalink rules lived in an .htaccess that IIS ignores, and a wp-config.php pointing at a user that no longer exists.
Migrate reads wp-config.php, exports the database it names and packages the files. On import, ServerMaid creates the site with the WordPress rewrite profile for pretty permalinks, gives it a database and user of its own, rewrites wp-config.php, and applies the same hardening as a fresh install: file editor off, PHP refused in the uploads folder, admin pages over HTTPS. Importing a WordPress site needs the WordPress module (included in every Agency licence). WordPress on IIS has the full list; PHP and MySQL on Windows Server covers what runs underneath.
Cut-over without downtime
The export only reads, so the old site keeps serving throughout. The order that works:
- Build the new server with ServerMaid's web server setup software: IIS, PHP, the database, firewall, security baseline and backups in one click.
- Export on the old server while it runs; copy the package to the new server's desktop.
- Import from the Websites page.
- Test with a hosts-file entry on your own PC: open the site, log in, upload an image.
- Switch DNS to the new server. Pointing DNS at a server is covered step by step.
- Set SSL to automatic by editing the site once DNS has moved; the free SSL certificate* is issued and renewed from then on.
- Keep the old server a week. Nothing on it was changed, so anything missed can be exported again.
If a moved site misbehaves later, one-click Repair puts it back to standard; you run the server without a server administrator.
Who it is for
Move websites from an old server, whatever it was
Leaving shared hosting
A WordPress site on a shared Windows host you have outgrown. Get a small VPS, build it with ServerMaid, and use Migrate if you have desktop access to the old server.
Agencies consolidating clients
Client sites on inherited servers, each built by someone different. Export from each, import onto servers built to one baseline, and every site gets the same permissions and hardening. Agency and Enterprise licences include migrations, one per server the licence covers (three, six, twelve or more with packs), so moving all your clients costs nothing extra.
Replacing an old Windows Server
A Windows Server 2012 or 2016 box that has run out of updates. Build a 2025 server, move the sites, and pick a current PHP line per website on the way in.
Questions about migrating websites
Does it change my old server?
No. It only reads the old server: it lists the websites, copies the files and dumps each database. Nothing is stopped, edited or removed.
Does ServerMaid clone my old server?
No, deliberately. A clone copies the old server's permissions, database accounts, web.config files, logs and undocumented changes along with the websites. ServerMaid Migrate takes only each site's files, database and host names, and the new server rebuilds the site on its own hardened baseline: fresh folder permissions, a new web.config, a new database account limited to that database, free SSL and proven backups.
Which applications can it move?
WordPress and Laravel, recognised automatically with their database details, and any other PHP site: you enter its database details, or the files move alone if it has none. Copying a site by hand instead? Upload it as one zip with its database. Importing a WordPress site needs the WordPress module (included in every Agency licence).
Does it work on older servers like Windows Server 2012?
Yes. ServerMaid Migrate runs on Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2016 and newer. Dumps from MySQL 5.5 to 5.7 are adjusted for MySQL 8.4 on the way, and every site is checked for PHP features that PHP 8 removed, with the file and line, before you import. Moving off Windows Server 2012 or 2016, with the step-by-step Windows Server 2012 to 2025 migration and Windows Server 2016 to 2025 migration.
What about plain PHP sites with their own database settings?
After the import ServerMaid looks for the database settings in the site's PHP files (define constants, variables, mysqli or PDO connections), lists exactly what would change with passwords hidden, and changes them only if you say yes, keeping a copy of each file.
What about ASP.NET sites?
It does not move ASP.NET applications. They depend on the old server's .NET runtimes and configuration in ways a clean rebuild cannot reproduce, so they are listed with a plain reason and left out.
Where does the database go?
Into a new database of its own, with a new user that has rights on that database only. The dump carries no old accounts or permissions, is normalised to utf8mb4, and WordPress or Laravel settings are rewritten to match.
Can I move one site at a time?
Yes. Tick the ones to include. Each export needs its own one-time migration key from your account, valid for 24 hours and usable once.
What does it cost?
Website migration is an add-on: £49 £24.50 one-off per old server, bought from your account or with your licence, and each purchase covers one export of one old server. Agency and Enterprise licences include migrations, one per server the licence covers (three, six, twelve or more with packs), so an agency moving all its clients pays nothing extra. Importing on the new server needs the Websites and SSL module (included in every Agency licence). See pricing, or download ServerMaid first.
Ready to move your websites to a server built properly?
Website migration is an add-on: £49 £24.50 one-off per old server, bought from your account or with your licence, and each purchase covers one export of one old server. Importing on the new server needs the Websites and SSL module (included in every Agency licence).
* Free SSL certificates need the Websites and SSL module (included in Agency and Enterprise licences) on a licence within its twelve-month period. Certificates come from Let's Encrypt; new websites get one while the licence is in date, and certificates already issued keep renewing.