Preview a migrated site before you switch DNS

You can preview a migrated site on LogicWeb while the rest of the world still reaches your old host. Your domain keeps its current nameservers until you are ready, so only your own computer needs to point at the new server. That private check is how you confirm files, pages, and forms before you switch DNS.

What is already on the new server

After a migration, the account lives on our side with its document root, databases, and any cron jobs we copied. Mailboxes are here too if they were part of the move. Public DNS still points at the old IP, so visitors and search engines do not see the new copy yet. Open the home page, a deeper page, wp-admin if you use WordPress, and at least one form submit on the preview. A clean homepage alone does not prove a store or app is ready. If the site writes to the database often, plan a short final dump before the real cutover. A simple brochure site usually does not need that extra step.

Point only your computer at the new IP

Edit your local hosts file so the domain resolves to the new server address on your laptop alone. On macOS or Linux that file is /etc/hosts; on Windows it lives under the system drivers etc folder. Add one line for the bare domain and www if you use both. Use a private browser window and flush your local DNS cache after you save the file.

203.0.113.40 example.com www.example.com

That address is only documentation space, not a real LogicWeb IP. Take the correct IP from your welcome email or the cPanel sidebar. Once the line is active, a quick check should show LiteSpeed in the response headers. Browsers can still serve cached pages, so do not trust a single load. When you finish testing, remove the hosts line. Leaving it in place is an easy way to troubleshoot “live” traffic that nobody else can see.

Certificate warnings during preview are normal

AutoSSL and Let’s Encrypt validate against public DNS. Until nameservers or the A record point here, the browser may show the old host’s certificate, a temporary stand-in, or no matching cert at all. A warning on your private preview does not mean the application is broken. Do not switch DNS only to clear that warning before you have checked checkout, logins, and forms.

Mail cannot be previewed the same way

MX records follow public DNS, so one laptop cannot privately aim mail at the new server the way a hosts file aims web traffic. If mail is moving, treat that as a later cut after the website looks correct in production. Keep the old host active until public resolvers agree on the new path. Expect hours for DNS to settle, not an instant flip the same afternoon.

If the preview returns 404 errors, tell us which document root you expected and we will trace it with you. Do not switch nameservers to “see if it helps,” because that only publishes the problem. HTTP versus HTTPS on the preview is its own check; HTTP/3 can wait until the domain actually points here. Our nameservers are ns1.logicweb.com and ns2.logicweb.com when you are ready to make the change.