Choosing a location, and moving later if you get it wrong

This picks up from a server you can already reach over SSH.

Choose the VPS location closest to most of your visitors: our London VPS serves UK and Europe well, New York serves the Americas. Distance drives round‑trip latency, so being nearer reduces wait time. If you later find you chose the wrong side of the Atlantic, you can move, but expect new IP addresses, DNS changes and a maintenance window while the VPS is migrated.

Before you start

• Know where your DNS is managed. If your domains use Hostworld nameservers, you will edit DNS in cPanel. Our nameservers are ns1.serverworld.uk, ns2.serverworld.uk, ns3.serverworld.uk and ns4.serverworld.uk. In cPanel the place to edit A and AAAA records is Domains > Zone Editor.
• Plan your TTLs. DNS changes take effect according to TTL. Lower A, AAAA and any CNAMEs involved to about 300 seconds at least 24–48 hours before you cut over, then raise them again afterwards. Some resolvers may still serve stale records briefly after cutover, even when TTL has expired, so expect a small tail of users to hit the old address for a while.
• Expect downtime during migration. Cross‑datacentre moves are performed as an offline migration. The VM is powered off to transfer its disks, so there is service interruption during the move itself.
• Assume new IP addresses. Moving a VPS between datacentres assigns a new IP unless both ends share the same IP pool. Treat both IPv4 and IPv6 as changing and plan to update A and AAAA.
• Do not press Rebuild. In Virtualizor a Rebuild formats the disk and reinstalls the OS. It is not a migration tool. Only use it when you intend to wipe the server and you have backups.
• If your VPS sends mail directly, plan email authentication updates. You will need to update SPF to authorise the new IP. You will also need PTR (reverse DNS) set on the new IP to your chosen hostname for proper delivery.
• Know our geography. Our UK product is London VPS. The physical facility is our own datacentre in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The US location is New York.

Step 1: Decide your location

Pick the location where the majority of your audience is. If most visitors are in the UK or Europe, choose our London VPS. If most are in North America, choose New York. This follows industry guidance that workloads should be placed close to end users to minimise latency. If your users are genuinely split, pick the side where the most performance‑sensitive interactions occur.

Step 2: Take a quick inventory

Before you schedule a move, note down what will need changing when the IPs change:

• The domains and subdomains that point at this VPS.
• Where DNS is hosted. If it is Hostworld, confirm you can log in to cPanel and reach Domains > Zone Editor.
• The current TTL of the A and AAAA records you will change.
• Whether your VPS sends outbound mail directly. If yes, find your current SPF record and decide the hostname you want for PTR.
• Any service configuration that mentions the current IP. NGINX or Apache Listen directives, application bind addresses, or firewall rules.

Step 3: Lower DNS TTLs 24–48 hours before cutover

The goal is to shorten how long resolvers cache your old IPs so users follow you to the new address quickly.

If your DNS is in Hostworld cPanel

• Sign in to cPanel, then go to Domains > Zone Editor.
• Edit the A and AAAA records for the hostnames that point to your VPS. Set their TTL to around 300 seconds.
• If you have CNAMEs that ultimately point to those A or AAAA records, lower their TTLs too.

If your DNS is elsewhere

• Lower the TTL on the A and AAAA records for your hostnames to about 300 seconds in that DNS system.

Wait until those lower TTLs have had time to propagate, ideally 24–48 hours, before you move on.

Step 4: Ask us to schedule the cross‑datacentre move

Open a ticket so we can plan the window and confirm the new addresses.

• Use open a support ticket.
• Include: your VPS hostname, current location, the destination you want (London or New York), your preferred maintenance window in UTC, whether you use IPv6, and the hostname you want for reverse DNS if you send mail from the VPS.
• We will confirm the window and provide your new IPv4 and IPv6 addresses once allocated.

Virtualizor performs the move as an offline migration. Your VPS will be powered off while its disks transfer to the destination, then powered on there. Do not press Rebuild at any point.

Step 5: Prepare to update the VPS network configuration

After the VPS is started in the new location, it will use the new network settings. If your VPS is configured with static addressing inside the OS, you will update that configuration to match the new IPv4, IPv6, gateway and DNS. Use the VNC console in Virtualizor if you expect connectivity to drop while you apply changes.

Ubuntu 24.04: identify Netplan config and apply new addresses

List the Netplan configuration files so you know which YAML file to edit.

On both AlmaLinux 9 and Ubuntu 24.04, this command lists files. Here it is shown for Ubuntu because Netplan is Ubuntu‑specific:

# Show Netplan config files (Ubuntu 24.04)
ls /etc/netplan

Edit the relevant YAML to reflect your new addresses, gateway and DNS. A typical static example looks like this. Replace the placeholders with the values we provide in your ticket.

# /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml (example)
network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    ens3:
      addresses:
        - 203.0.113.10/24        # new IPv4/prefix
        - 2001:db8:1234::10/64   # new IPv6/prefix (if allocated)
      routes:
        - to: 0.0.0.0/0
          via: 203.0.113.1       # new IPv4 gateway
        - to: ::/0
          via: 2001:db8:1234::1  # new IPv6 gateway
      nameservers:
        addresses:
          - 1.1.1.1
          - 2606:4700:4700::1111

Apply the Netplan configuration. This reads your YAML and reconfigures networking accordingly.

# Apply Netplan changes (Ubuntu 24.04)
sudo netplan apply

AlmaLinux 9: update NetworkManager with nmcli

List existing connections so you know the connection name to modify. NetworkManager stores them as profiles.

# List NetworkManager connections (AlmaLinux 9)
nmcli connection show

Set the new IPv4 address, prefix and gateway on your primary connection, then set DNS. Replace <CONNECTION>, <IP/PREFIX> and <GATEWAY> with the values we provide.

# Configure static IPv4 on the connection (AlmaLinux 9)
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv4.addresses 203.0.113.10/24
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv4.gateway 203.0.113.1
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv4.dns "1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1"
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv4.method manual

If you have IPv6, set the new IPv6 address, gateway and DNS.

# Configure static IPv6 on the connection (AlmaLinux 9)
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv6.addresses 2001:db8:1234::10/64
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv6.gateway 2001:db8:1234::1
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv6.dns "2606:4700:4700::1111 2606:4700:4700::1001"
sudo nmcli connection modify <CONNECTION> ipv6.method manual

Bring the connection up to apply the changes. This activates the modified profile.

# Activate the modified connection (AlmaLinux 9)
sudo nmcli connection up <CONNECTION>

Step 6: Update DNS A and AAAA records to the new IPs

Once the VPS is answering on the new addresses, update public DNS so users reach it.

If your DNS is in Hostworld cPanel

• In cPanel, go to Domains > Zone Editor.
• Edit the A records that point at your old IPv4 and replace them with the new IPv4 address.
• Edit the AAAA records and replace the old IPv6 with the new IPv6. Do not forget AAAA or IPv6 users may still hit the old server.
• Keep the lowered TTLs in place for now.

If your DNS is elsewhere

• Edit A and AAAA for each hostname that points to the VPS. Replace the old IPs with the new ones you were given. Keep TTL at about 300 seconds for the first hours after cutover.

You do not need to change nameservers for a cross‑datacentre move. If you are moving DNS to Hostworld at the same time, set your domain’s nameservers at the registrar to ns1.serverworld.uk, ns2.serverworld.uk, ns3.serverworld.uk and ns4.serverworld.uk, then manage records in cPanel’s Zone Editor.

Step 7: Fix web server bindings that reference the old IP

Web servers listen either on all addresses or on a specific one. If you hard‑coded the old IP in a Listen directive, you need to update it or switch to a hostname‑agnostic form.

Search for the old IP in common web server config paths. This scans for any mention of the address.

# Search common web server config paths (both AlmaLinux 9 and Ubuntu 24.04)
sudo grep -R "203\.0\.113\.10" /etc/nginx /etc/apache2 /etc/httpd 2>/dev/null || true

Update NGINX configs that contain a line like listen 203.0.113.10:80;. You can change it to listen 80; to bind on all addresses or to the new IP.

Test NGINX configuration, then reload it. The test checks syntax without applying it. The reload applies the new configuration without dropping active connections.

# Test and reload NGINX (both AlmaLinux 9 and Ubuntu 24.04)
sudo nginx -t
# Ubuntu 24.04
sudo systemctl reload nginx
# AlmaLinux 9
sudo systemctl reload nginx

For Apache, look for Listen 203.0.113.10:80 or VirtualHost declarations tied to the old IP. Change them to use the new IP or a port‑only form such as Listen 80.

Test Apache syntax, then reload it. The test checks for errors. The reload applies changes without a full restart.

# Test and reload Apache
# Ubuntu 24.04
sudo apachectl -t
sudo systemctl reload apache2
# AlmaLinux 9
sudo httpd -t
sudo systemctl reload httpd

Step 8: Update SPF and request PTR (reverse DNS) if you send mail

If your VPS sends mail directly, update your SPF record to include the new IP and arrange PTR on the new address.

SPF

Edit the TXT record for your domain’s SPF in DNS. Add the new IPs using ip4: and ip6: mechanisms. Keep any existing include: mechanisms you already rely on.

# Example SPF with new IPs added (edit in DNS)
v=spf1 ip4:203.0.113.10 ip6:2001:db8:1234::10 include:_spf.yourmail.example -all

In Hostworld cPanel, make this change in Domains > Zone Editor.

PTR (reverse DNS)

Reverse DNS is set at the IP owner. If you cannot see an rDNS option in Virtualizor for your new IP, ask us to set it.

• Use open a support ticket and provide the new IP address and the exact hostname you want it to resolve to.

Mailbox providers expect a valid PTR aligned with the HELO/EHLO hostname. Without it, delivery can fail or be marked as suspicious.

Step 9: Verify the cutover and raise TTLs again

Check that public DNS now points to the new IPs and that your site responds there.

Query DNS for the current A and AAAA. This confirms what resolvers near you see.

# Check current A and AAAA (both AlmaLinux 9 and Ubuntu 24.04)
dig +short yourdomain.example A
dig +short yourdomain.example AAAA

Make a quick HTTP check. This fetches only the headers and shows the status line from the new server.

# Quick HTTP check (both AlmaLinux 9 and Ubuntu 24.04)
curl -sI https://yourdomain.example | head -n 1

When you are happy the new location is taking traffic, raise the TTLs you lowered earlier back to their usual values in your DNS system. Keep in mind that a small number of users may still hit the old IP for a short time due to resolver behaviour during outages or changes.

Step 10: Deal with SSH host key warnings after the IP change

When you connect to the server at its new IP, SSH may warn that the remote host identification has changed. That happens because your local known_hosts entry for the old IP no longer matches. After you verify the new host key is correct, remove the stale entry so SSH can store the new one.

Remove the old IP from your known_hosts. This edits your local SSH cache.

# Remove old IP and hostname from known_hosts (both AlmaLinux 9 and Ubuntu 24.04)
ssh-keygen -R 203.0.113.10
ssh-keygen -R yourdomain.example

Reconnect to accept the new key. Verify the fingerprint matches what you expect before trusting it.

Step 11: Reissue any IP‑bound licences

Some software licences are tied to the server IP. If you run software that checks its licence against your IP, you may need to reissue or update it now that the address has changed. For example, cPanel licences can be transferred to a new IP in the cPanel store. Check the vendor’s process for any licensed products you installed on the VPS.

What next

If you are choosing a plan now, read our UK options on Linux VPS and match the location to where your visitors are. For more topics like DNS management, web servers and networking, browse our VPS guides.

If you want us to plan a move with you, or you need PTR set on a new IP, please open a support ticket.