Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS

[leemuljadi]

Hi, if I would like to move Cloudron to another VPS. Is it possible by taking snapshot of current VPS and restore it to the new VPS? Or is it using Cloudron backup instead or the VPS snapshot? Or any recommended way to do it?

and how to restore the backup file?

[crazybrad]

@leemuljadi I would use the Cloudron backup. Here is the process I followed successfully:

https://docs.cloudron.io/backups/#move-cloudron-to-another-server

As always, taking a provider snapshot of your old VPS is a good safety measure before starting the migration. But the Cloudron process worked like a charm.

[BrutalBirdie]

Note down your Cloudron Version!
I happened so often to me that I wanted to move/restore a server, ran the Cloudron setup only to then realize I forgot to install with --version x.y.z so I needed to set up the server again.

[jdaviescoates]

@leemuljadi also, I'd recommend keeping your existing server intact and using the Dry Run feature and only update the DNS to point at the new server once you're happy everything is running smoothly on the new server.

But yeah @crazybrad is correct: use the Cloudron backup. I've done it a few times now without any issues other than:

1. forgetting to install the correct version of Cloudron as per @BrutalBirdie , or
2. forgetting to click the tiny "Looking to restore" link at the beginning as shown here:

[crazybrad]

@BrutalBirdie @jdaviescoates Thanks for reminding me about those little details:)

[leemuljadi]

Thanks all for the response!

@BrutalBirdie is this how to install cloudron with specific version?

wget https://cloudron.io/cloudron-setup
chmod +x cloudron-setup
./cloudron-setup --version x.y.z

and how to check the fresh version installed in the fresh server?
I use Vultr and install Cloudron from the marketplace but when checking with

cloudron --version

it shows

cloudron: command not found

[BrutalBirdie]

@leemuljadi said in Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS:

is this how to install cloudron with specific version?

According to the official documentation:
https://docs.cloudron.io/backups/#restore-cloudron

wget https://cloudron.io/cloudron-setup
chmod +x cloudron-setup
./cloudron-setup --version x.y.z # version must match your backup version

If you run:

cloudron-support --send-diagnostics

It will generate all information needed for support and give you an URL to view all the information.
Will look something like this:

========================================================
Linux
========================================================

Linux my-DOMAIN-TLD 6.8.0-60-generic #63-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Apr 15 19:04:15 UTC 2025 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

========================================================
Ubuntu
========================================================

Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Release:	24.04
Codename:	noble

========================================================
Cloudron
========================================================

Cloudron version: 8.3.2
Dashboard domain: DOMAIN.TLD

[...]

@leemuljadi said in Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS:

use Vultr and install Cloudron from the marketplace

I am not sure this type of setup offers a version selection on installation.
Time to get your own hands dirty (= If you need any help, let the forum know.

[joseph]

@leemuljadi said in Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS:

I use Vultr and install Cloudron from the marketplace but when checking with

The marketplace only has the latest version of Cloudron. They don't have a way to select old versions. On Vultr, the cloudron version is 8.3.2

[leemuljadi]

Alright cool thanks guys, I made to install Cloudron on new ubuntu server.

Now based on:
@jdaviescoates https://docs.cloudron.io/backups/#dry-run

I tried several times of this dry-run steps but it will still pointing to the old server IP, any idea why?

and what is gonna happened if I just restore without a dry run?

[joseph]

@leemuljadi said in Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS:

and what is gonna happened if I just restore without a dry run?

With dry run, it won't update your DNS. Without dry run, it will update your DNS .

(assuming, you are using one of the programmatic DNS providers)

[jdaviescoates]

@leemuljadi said in Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS:

I tried several times of this dry-run steps but it will still pointing to the old server IP, any idea why?

To access your new server before updating DNS edit your local hosts file (e.g on Linux it's /etc/hosts) to trick your local machine to go to the new IP address.

[leemuljadi]

@jdaviescoates yes I have updated /etc/hosts on my Mac local machine, but seems no effect. Could you please share what it suppose to look like? And after adding the new IP address and domain name run the dry-run it should connect the Cloudron to the new VPS IP right?

[james]

@leemuljadi said in Cloudron Backup for Moving to Another VPS:

Could you please share what it suppose to look like?

The /etc/hosts file is structured in the following way:

IP sub.domain.tld

So lets say your DNS name is my.awesome.it and the official IP from the DNS is 64.26.12.63
Offical DNS can be checked with e.g:

# get IPv4 for Domain from Cloudflare DNS
dig A my.awesome.it +short @1.1.1.1

# get IPv6 for Domain from Cloudflare DNS
dig AAAA my.awesome.it +short @1.1.1.1

Now you have set up a new server with the IP 53.82.33.6. You have run the Cloudron restore with the dry run option.

Now you need to edit your /etc/hosts file and add the following line:

53.82.33.6 my.awesome.it

You should now be able to access my.awesome.it and see your dry run restored Cloudron.
Watch out tho! Browsers have DNS Cache! You might want to use a private / incognito windows to access my.awesome.it to avoid the DNS cache.
One more note.
If you have set up IPv4 and IPv6 for your Cloudron and do a dry run restore and only set the IPv4 in your /etc/hosts file you might still get served the old one if your browser decided it uses IPv6 first.
So it might be best to set both in /etc/hosts.

~Cheers!

[leemuljadi]

@james thanks for the thorough explanations. so I have done this part:
example: 53.82.33.6 my.awesome.it and adding in the /etc/hosts file
but probably still got that browser cache. So I already open it and stuck in this page when opening through the new server IP:

How do I manage this?

[jdaviescoates]

@leemuljadi don't go to the IP go to the URL. If you've correctly done the hosts thing the URL will go to the new IP

[leemuljadi]

Hi all, got issues while restoring to a new VPS, anyone got this before?

[james]

@leemuljadi I forked your question here
https://forum.cloudron.io/topic/13846/backup-restore-error-route-unavailable-post-activation
Since this is now another question and issue than before.
For the sake of keeping topics and solutions clean, please contiune in the new topic.