Detailed breakdown of what Opterius imports from cPanel pkgacct backups and what does not transfer.
What does NOT migrate
Database password note
Opterius parses cPanel pkgacct archives and imports the components listed below. Anything not listed here does not migrate and must be handled manually.
What migrates#
Files#
| Item |
Notes |
public_html contents |
Migrated in full including subdirectories |
| Home directory files |
Any files in the account home outside public_html |
| Path adjustment |
cPanel /home/user/public_html/ → Opterius /home/user/domain.com/public_html/ — handled automatically |
Databases#
| Item |
Notes |
| Database structure |
Full schema dump imported |
| Database data |
All rows imported |
| Database users |
Users created on the Opterius MySQL server |
| Passwords |
Regenerated — original cPanel passwords are not carried over. Opterius generates new random passwords and updates the database user grants. Update application config files (wp-config.php, .env, etc.) after migration. |
Email#
| Item |
Notes |
| Email accounts |
All mailboxes created with matching usernames |
| Maildir contents |
Inbox, sent, drafts, and all IMAP folders preserved |
| Email passwords |
Preserved from the pkgacct archive (cPanel stores hashed passwords, these are imported as-is) |
| Forwarders |
Imported |
| Autoresponders |
Imported |
DNS zones#
| Item |
Notes |
| A records |
Imported, IP addresses rewritten to the new server's IP |
| AAAA records |
Imported |
| MX records |
Imported |
| TXT records |
Imported (SPF, DKIM, DMARC included) |
| CNAME records |
Imported |
| SRV records |
Imported |
| Old server IP |
Automatically replaced with the new server IP during import |
SSL certificates#
| Item |
Notes |
| Active certificates |
Imported if not expired at time of migration |
| Expired certificates |
Skipped — issue a new Let's Encrypt certificate post-migration |
Cron jobs#
| Item |
Notes |
| Crontab entries |
All entries imported |
| Path rewriting |
If the username changes during migration, paths containing the old username are rewritten to the new one |
What does NOT migrate#
| Item |
Reason / What to do instead |
| Softaculous installation metadata |
Softaculous is cPanel-specific. WordPress and other apps installed via Softaculous migrate fine through the files and database import — the app itself works, you just have no Softaculous record of it on the new server. No action needed. |
| cPanel-specific configuration files |
.cpanel/, .cphorde/, cPanel API tokens, cPanel theme data — none of these are applicable on Opterius. |
| Custom cPanel hooks and scripts |
Scripts in /usr/local/cpanel/hooks/ or cPanel automation scripts are cPanel-specific. Migrate any needed logic manually. |
| cPanel-managed subdomains configured as addon domains |
Opterius uses a different domain architecture — one main domain per account, subdomains only. Addon domains from cPanel need to be restructured. |
| Email filters (Exim-specific) |
Complex Exim filter rules may need to be recreated as Sieve rules in Dovecot. Simple forwarders and autoresponders migrate fine. |
| WHM reseller configuration |
If migrating from a WHM reseller account, each sub-account must be migrated individually using its own pkgacct backup. |
| FTP accounts (pure-ftpd) |
Opterius does not use FTP. Users should switch to SFTP. |
Database password note#
[!WARNING]
Database passwords are regenerated during migration. This is intentional — cPanel stores database passwords in a way that makes direct migration unreliable across different MySQL server versions and configurations.
After migration, Opterius displays the new database credentials in the account's database panel. Update any application config files immediately:
- WordPress:
wp-config.php → DB_PASSWORD
- Laravel:
.env → DB_PASSWORD
- Custom apps: wherever the database connection is configured
See Verifying Migration for the full post-migration checklist.