Your cPanel hosting serves your website from the public_html folder of the account. This guide covers the three operations that put a site online: transferring the files, importing the database and attaching the domain.
Locate your account details
Sign in to the cPanel panel of your hosting account from the client area, or directly at https://yourdomain.tld/cpanel. Then look for the site root folder: it is public_html for a primary domain. An additional domain may have its own folder, for example public_html/shop, so always check the document root before starting a transfer.
In cPanel, also check the active PHP version (MultiPHP Manager), the certificate status (SSL/TLS Status) and whether the site database already exists in MySQL Databases. A site hosted somewhere else must have a local copy of its files and a recent SQL export before you begin.
Prepare a site archive
Compress the site files into a single ZIP archive on your computer. Exclude cache folders and local backups: they are useless in production and slow down the upload. Check that the entry file of the site (index.php) sits at the root of the archive and not inside a subfolder — this is the most common mistake on a first upload.
Write down the database credentials used on the old server. They are stored in the configuration file of the site: wp-config.php for WordPress, configuration.php for Joomla, .env for a Symfony or Laravel application. Those values will be replaced by the ones of your Open Vista hosting.
Transfer the files
Two methods give the same result. The cPanel File Manager accepts a ZIP archive and extracts it with the Extract button. For a large volume, prefer an FTP or SFTP client (FileZilla, Cyberduck): host ftp.yourdomain.tld, port 21 for FTP or 22 for SFTP, target folder public_html.
After the transfer, check permissions: 755 for folders, 644 for files. Permissions that are too open, such as 777, are rejected by most shared servers and expose the site to code injection.
Import the database
Create a MySQL database and a dedicated user in cPanel, then attach the user to the database with full privileges. Open phpMyAdmin, select the new database and import the .sql file exported from the old server.
Next, update the configuration file of the site with the new database name, user and password. If the site address changes, replace the old URLs inside the database: with WordPress, the wp search-replace command is the safest route, because a manual edit can corrupt serialised data. For an online shop, also clear the application cache after the import.
Attach the domain and verify
The domain must point to the hosting account. Use the name servers provided by Open Vista, or create an A record to the hosting IP address at your registrar. For an additional domain placed in a subfolder, declare it under Domains (addon domain) and set its document root precisely.
Finish with the usual checks: home page, internal links, forms, active SSL certificate and HTTPS redirection. If you get a 500 error, read the error_log file of the account: it usually points to a wrong permission or a missing PHP extension. Finally, enable AutoSSL so the certificate renews automatically.
