What This Method Does

Sometimes you want to move a site to Nairahost but you cannot change nameservers yet, because:

• The old site is still live and being used
• You want to test first
• You want zero downtime during migration
• You don’t control the domain DNS

???? This method lets YOU see the site on the new server while everyone else still sees the old one.

Step 1: Upload Files to Nairahost

1. Sign up for hosting
2. Upload your site normally to public_html
3. Create database/import data (if applicable)

Step 2: Get Your Server IP

• Login to cPanel
• Check the right sidebar for “Shared IP Address”

Example: 172.20.54.77

Step 3: Edit Your Host File (Local Preview Only)

You can force YOUR computer to load the site from the new server even though DNS still points elsewhere.

How to edit hosts file:

Windows:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
    

Add this line:

172.20.54.77 yourdomain.com
172.20.54.77 www.yourdomain.com
    

Mac / Linux:

sudo nano /etc/hosts
    

Step 4: Test Your Site Locally

• Open your browser
• Visit yourdomain.com
• Only YOU will see the new version
• The world still sees the old version

Step 5: Move DNS / Nameservers Only When Ready

When everything works perfectly, then update nameservers:

• cPanel: ns1.nairahost.cloud / ns2.nairahost.cloud
• DirectAdmin: ns1.nairahost.com.ng / ns2.nairahost.com.ng