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1. jbwtucker
   Member
   Posted 10 months ago #

   About 24 hours ago, I moved my domain, jbwtucker.com, from Dreamhost to ServInt. I got everything in order on my new server, backed up my old blog, had MX records all set up on my new server so mail wouldn't skip a beat, and last of all, I switched the NameServers.

   The changeover took a couple hours to propagate (didn't it used to take a couple days?), during which time there were moments when it seemed halfway in between. http://joshtucker.com pointed to my new server, http://www.jbwtucker.com to my old one. That's not unusual.

   But as of about 21 hours ago, the transition was complete. I've been using it extensively ever since. I've been editing posts (not really creating new ones), and doing a lot of design improvement. I changed some settings (i.e., permalinks; I hadn't been able to get DreamHost, cursed be they, to let me use custom permalinks).

   Tonight, within the last 1-2 hours, suddenly it switched back to the old database, on the old server. I mean, EVERYTHING is back to the way it was just before I switched. The design (i.e., theme files) is back to where I left off before switching the NameServers. The posts are back to the way they were. My edits are gone, and I'm back to default permalinks.

   I believe I was editing a post when it happened. Suddenly WP informed me, subtly, that I was logged out and it couldn't autosave. So I opened a new tab to log in and create a new session without leaving the page and losing what I had. When I tried to post, it wouldn't work. (Thankfully, I copied the HTML of the post I had just finished to a text document, so I didn't lose the edits I was in the middle of.)

   I logged out, logged in, started over on that post... and then noticed everything was all FUBAR.

   I checked my domain registrar, GoDaddy, because one time earlier in the year I did a hosting service transfer much like this one, and the NameServers at GoDaddy had reverted back to the old ones. That is not the case here; the NameServers are correct.

   I did a WHOIS, and everything looks good. Has the nameservers and IP address of my new hosting service, ServInt.

   I even got a domain details plugin for my web browser, loaded one of the new(old) pages on the site as it's currently displaying, and viewed the details. There, too, the plugin told me in real time that the NameServers and IP address are correct, they're for ServInt.

   So I can't see any evidence that it is actually pointing to the old server. But it has to be.

   I've seen a couple people mentioning problems with similar things on forums around here and elsewhere, but all of them have a distinct difference from me: They didn't switch to an entirely different host; they simply installed a new iteration of WP on the same server, and something like a duplicate index file is causing it to point to the wrong database (FYI, I don't have a duplicate index file).

   My problem is different. The only possibility would seem to be that it's pointing to the old DreamHost server, and the corresponding database — because the theme files showing up do not exist anywhere on my ServInt server, nor have they ever. Same for the posts, and the database entries that represent them. I checked out my database on the new ServInt server using phpMyAdmin; there is only one database, and all the table entries reflect exactly the way they should look — meaning, the way I had them before the blog hiccuped on me.

   There can be no other answer than that somehow, when I type "jbwtucker.com," that domain is pointing to my old server in all ways — HTTP files, database, everything. None of those files even exist, nor ever have, on my new server.

   So what do I do? It's been a good 1-2 hours, and it's still pointing to the old server. The settings at GoDaddy are correct, so there's nothing to fix there. I know my site as it should be is still there, still stored in the public_html directory and database on my new ServInt server... it's just that the domain isn't pointing to that server. What do I do?

2. christopherross
   Member
   Posted 10 months ago #

   Don't panic.

   After 2 hours it all looked good, but it wasn't finished yet, the Internet is huge and propagation takes a long time, during which you'll flip between the two destinations.

   c.

3. A2JC4life
   Member
   Posted 10 months ago #

   Did you change the internal WP links so that it knows the database address is different?

   Check out this tutorial and see if it answers your question or if you still have a problem. (I didn't write this article, but it's what I used when I moved my blog, and it worked like a charm.)

   http://yoast.com/move-wordpress-blog-domain-10-steps/

4. jbwtucker
   Member
   Posted 10 months ago #

   A2JC4life, I did not change the internal WP links, because I did not move my blog manually. Instead, I created a fresh WP installation on the new server, and simply exported the information regarding posts, pages, comments, etc. to a standard WP export XML file. Then, once it had switched over, I imported from the new blog. Therefore, things like the settings in wp-config.php were established at the time of the fresh WP install; since I did not carry those files over from my old server, there is no possibility for the files on the new server to have any of the information from the old server.

   christopherross, it seems you have the right answer here. I have done much with domains on the internet, but I have never seen a case like this. I am used to fluctuation during the time of propagation, which I did see in the first couple hours. However, my experience to date had been that once it finally all got switched over, and was stable in that regard, it wouldn't flip back. At least, it never had in the past. I had seen fluctuation during the first couple hours after I changed NameServers, but once it appeared to be fully switched over — after about 2-3 hours, and remaining stable for a period of 21 hours — I assumed to changeover was complete. Apparently, though it may have seemed stable, there were still things going on in the inner workings of the internet. 21 hours of stability later, I was still in the process of propagation, and that showed itself when, after having reached a point that only seemed like stability, I again experienced those fluctuations.

   It lasted 3-4 hours, but eventually it flipped back. All just part of the natural process of changing NameServers. As you say, the internet is huge and propagation takes time, during which you'll flip between the two destinations. Apparently, it takes longer than I thought, so I'm still in that spot where I could experience flipping.

   Anyhow, if anybody ever experiences something similar to my scenario, they'll know that it's simply the internet doing what it do, and all they can do is wait it out.

5. jbwtucker
   Member
   Posted 10 months ago #

   This is getting annoying. It has flipped back to the old server again.

   Well, at least I know that sooner or later, the propagation will be complete, and I'll be fine. It's really irritating that it's still fluctuating on the second day.

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