How to Self Migrate your Minecraft Server
When moving to WinterNode you may want to keep your current server setup and world. Luckily this is a relatively simple and standard process to go through. Some of the process does rely on how your previous server host functions, but we'll cover most of the norms in detail and the backup cases if those aren't available.
If you're not comfortable with migrating your server on your own, or if you're having issues with any part of this process then the WinterNode staff team would be than happy to assist you with your migration process!
Compress your Server Files on your previous server host
Depending on your previous server host, this step could be easy or require a bit of extra effort. At it's base, the idea is to compress all of the files on your server so that you can transfer them faster than if you were to download them individually. We'll go over some of the ways that your host might offer compression services in order of most ideal to least ideal in the section below.
Some possible Host Services for Compression
Multi-Select Compression
Multi-Select compression is generally the easiest method, assuming you have the space, to compress all of your files for transfer. The idea is to navigate to your previous server host's file manager, if one is provided, and check for a way to either select all files in your root folder, or select them individually using check boxes that are typically located on the left side of each file.
Make sure that you have double the disk space on your rented service to store the files you're compressing! While there will be some space savings by compressing your files, the math required for figuring out exactly how much those savings will be can be complex and error prone. So as a rule of thumb it's better to assume it will be double the size of the files you compress.
When you have multiple files selected, you will typically see either a bulk actions section appear, or you'd have a designated section that's normally greyed out that would say compress/delete/move all. If you see any of those, check for the button that says Compress, Zip, or archive.
If you're unable to locate any of these features on your previous server host, reach out to them and ask! If that isn't an option or you'd like help then WinterNode staff would be happy to assist you with your migration process!
Single-Select Compression
If your previous server host doesn't allow for Multi-Select compression, then your next best bet is to compress specific folders and then download those compressed folders individually. While this is more time consuming, it should be just as simple.
In the absence of Multi-Select compression, you should at least be able to select the options for each file from the file manager, if one is provided by your previous server host, using the kebab menu (the 3 dots typically found on the right of the file) and selecting compress from there. You'll need to compress each folder located in the root of your server and then download the compressed file. Once you've done that you'll download each of the uncompressed files in the server root.
After you've downloaded all of the files, whether compressed or non-compressed, you should decompress them and then organize them into one directory just like they were on your server. Once it's all laid out like it should be you can recompress the files into one compressed file for upload to WinterNode.
If you're unable to locate any of these features on your previous server host, reach out to them and ask! If that isn't an option or you'd like help then WinterNode staff would be happy to assist you with your migration process!
Backup Request
For hosts that provide a backup service you should be able to request a compressed backup that you can either download directly or that will be placed somewhere in your server directory. You may still need to store you server data twice depending on how your previous host handles it.
If your host does not offer a backup service then you'll need to use one of the other methods to download your server files.
Some hosts do not backup .db files or data associated with mapping plugins. Please be aware that a backup taken by your host may not contain all of the data that your server has!
If you're unable to locate any of these features on your previous server host, reach out to them and ask! If that isn't an option or you'd like help then WinterNode staff would be happy to assist you with your migration process!
No compression methods available
If there aren't any methods available to compress your server with your previous server host, that's okay. The goal with compression is to reduce the overhead when downloading the files. Without compression your download methods are limited to SFTP, and SFTP doesn't perform very well when downloading a lot of individual and small files. But don't worry it is still an option as long as your host offers SFTP.
If you can locate your SFTP credentials on your previous server host then you can substitute them for the details you'd otherwise find on our 
Using SFTP page to connect to your previous server host's files.
Once there just select all of the files in your server root and drag them over to a location that you have space for them on your PC. Once they're done downloading you can compress them as explained on our Folder Compression/Decompression page and move on to the next step to upload your compressed file to your WinterNode server.
Upload your Server Files to your WinterNode Server
Before you start uploading your compressed server files, make sure you have enough storage space! The storage space available to you is printed in console when your server starts. If you need more storage just open a support ticket and we'll be happy to help!
Uploading your compressed server files to WinterNode is incredibly simple. However, since the limit for uploads on the Game Panel's File Manager is 100mb it's very likely that you'll have to use SFTP. If you're unsure how to use SFTP on WinterNode check out our Using SFTP page!
If your compressed server files are under 100mb then you can use the Game Panel's File Manager to upload your file. If you're not sure how to use the File Manager to upload a file, make sure to read our Game Control Panel - The Basics page to get started with using out Game Panel, and more specifically check out this section on how to upload files with the File Manager.
Decompress your Server Files using the Game Panel
After uploading your compressed file to your server Using SFTP you need to decompress it by following the steps below.
- Locate the file you uploaded on the File Manager
- Click the 3 dots on the right side of your file
- Select Decompress
- Ensure that the files you wanted are now in the correct location!
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Update your Startup Settings
Before you start your server for the first time you'll want to make sure that your startup settings are correct. In particular the panel knows what file to look for when starting the server.
By default it looks for server.jar so you can name your jar file that and it would work perfectly. If you want to use your own name for the file you can update it in the Startup Parameters section of the Game Panel.