In this article you will learn:
- Under what conditions can you perform automatic email migration
- How to automatically migrate emails
- Common problems
- Frequently Asked Questions
Conditions for automatic email migration
To enable automatic email migration to run smoothly, make sure you meet the following conditions:
- You know the working IMAP server address of the current mail host. If you are entering an address in the form imap.domena.tld, where domena.tld is your domain name, make sure that this address is pointing to the correct server and has not been overwritten by, for example, a change in DNS servers or DNS records.
- You know all the login credentials of the migrated mailboxes.
- The service from which you are migrating the emails allows access to third-party IMAP applications. Some such services require additional setup.
Automatic migration of emails
If you have ready access to the original provider's IMAP, open the auto-migration interface by following these steps:
- Log in to the customer administration ⧉.
- In the top menu, select Hosting Services Webhosting, Mailhosting, or WMS.
- From the list of services, select the service to which you want to migrate the data.
- In the left menu, select Migrate from competitors - emails.
Open the interface to automatically migrate emails to the service:
Under Source mail server information , fill in IMAP server. Then select the migration type (you can specify separately or combine):
Synchronising existing mailboxes
This type of migration downloads emails from the specified IMAP server to mailboxes that already exist on the hosting. The new emails will be mixed with the ones already in the mailbox.
You can use this tool to download the contents of any other mailbox available through the IMAP server to existing mailboxes.
Follow these steps:
- Under Synchronize existing mailboxes, check the mailboxes you want to migrate to.
- Fill in the password (on VEDOS) and the corresponding login details of the original provider.
Migration of new mailboxes
This type of migration creates new mailboxes with the same name (text before the @ sign) and then downloads emails to them. You create mailboxes in bulk by entering values in the field.
In the section Migrate new mailboxes (that do not yet exist in VEDOS), enter the logins and passwords of all mailboxes you want to migrate. Follow these rules:
- Always enter the login name, space and password of one mailbox on one line.
- Enter your login name as your full email address, i.e. schranka@domena.tld.
After the migration is complete, you can follow the instructions in Emails - Manage mailboxes to change passwords or set up aliases.
DNS edits
After the migration is complete, verify that the domain is using the correct MX records.
To change IMAP, SMTP, and POP3 addresses to names containing your domain, edit the corresponding CNAME records.
Common problems
Common problems with email migration include:
- Invalid mailbox credentials
- Non-functional transfer from one VEDOS hosting to another
- Lack of space on the new hosting
- Repeated failure of automatic migration
Invalid login details
Problem: The system returns a login error.
Cause: The most common cause of this error is an incorrect IMAP server address, or more rarely, an incomplete login name (for example, a mailbox name without a domain) or an old password.
Solution: Check that you are logging in to the correct IMAP server, that you are entering valid credentials for the original mailbox, and that the original system can process those credentials. If you have changed DNS records as part of a service change, check that the IMAP server address you are entering still points to the original service.
Migrating emails between VEDOS services
Problem: Transfer of emails from the old WEDOS mailhost to the new one is not working.
Cause: if you were setting up a new email service, you probably renamed the old one (removing the name by customer support is also a kind of renaming). So the mailserver sees the old mailboxes under the new service name.
Solution: Enter the existing name or alias of the original hosting in the address of the migrated mailbox. If the hosting name has been removed, enter its identifier in the customer administration, for example mailbox@w123456.
Lack of space
Problem: The migration ended with a space shortage error.
Solution: Increase the mailbox capacity according to the instructions in Emails - Increase mailbox space, wait at least 1 hour for the system changes to be made and re-enter the migration. Alternatively, you can delete the emails in the original mailboxes.
Migration repeatedly fails
Problem: All settings look fine, but email migration repeatedly fails.
Solution: Migrate your emails manually, for example, by following this community guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to the emails on the original hosting?
The migration has no effect on the emails on the original mailhost.
How do I find the IMAP address of the original mail host?
If you have mailboxes with VEDOS, follow the instructions for Emails - SMTP, POP3, IMAP. Otherwise, check with your current provider for the address or, for example, in your email client settings if you use one.
How to migrate emails of renamed hosting? VEDOS
If you are migrating emails between VEDOS services, for example because of a switch between Webhosting and Mailhosting, fill in the IMAP Server of the original service, typically in the format wes1-imap.wedos.net (it may be slightly different, check the service details for the exact address). For the name of the original mailbox, enter the domain you renamed the original service to, or the code of the service you removed, after the mailbox. For example, if the old hosting is renamed to stary.wds-test.cz, enter the original mailbox with the address (mailbox-name)@stary.wds-test.cz. If the hosting support has removed the name, enter the name of the service in the customer administration, for example (mailbox-name)@w123456.
Could incorrect MX records be causing the migration problem?
The migration script downloads e-mails via IMAP, the same as the mail client. MX records would only affect its functionality if it were sending emails to the new mailbox, which it is not. So you can safely direct them to the new hosting even before the migration starts. However, make sure that any CNAME record with the imap subdomain points to the original mailhost.