How to change the domain name associated with a LWS hosting?

Procédure

Objective

This documentation explains how to replace the domain name currently associated with your LWS hosting with another domain name.

This operation is called a hosting swap. It may change the expiration date of your hosting and delete data related to the service. Please read the information below carefully before proceeding.

Affected services

This documentation pertains to hosting managed from the LWS client area / LWS Panel.

It is intended for users who want to associate an existing hosting with another domain name.

This procedure also applies to hosting managed with cPanel or Plesk.

What is a hosting swap?

A hosting swap involves replacing the domain name attached to your hosting.

Example:

• before the swap, your hosting is associated with old-domain.fr;
• after the swap, your hosting will be associated with new-domain.fr.

The new domain then becomes the main domain associated with the hosting.

What this operation does not do

The hosting swap does not allow correcting or renaming an already registered domain name.

For example, if you purchased my-sitee.fr instead of my-site.fr, the swap will not automatically correct this mistake. In this case, you generally need to order the correct domain name, and then associate it with your hosting.

The swap also does not correspond to a simple redirection. If you only want to send visitors from one domain to another, use a web redirection instead.

Before you begin

Before initiating the swap, check the following points.

You must have:

• access to your LWS client area;
• an active hosting;
• a domain name currently associated with this hosting;
• another domain name available for the swap and not associated with a hosting plan (excluding domain plan);
• backed up important data from your hosting.

Do not initiate the swap if you have not yet backed up your site, your databases, and your important emails.

Warning: this action deletes your data

The swap of a hosting results in the deletion of data related to the hosting.

This particularly includes:

• the files of your website;
• the databases;
• the email accounts;
• the messages stored in the email inboxes;
• the settings related to the hosting;

Before continuing, you must therefore perform a complete backup.

• LWS Panel documentation
• cPanel documentation

1. Basic rule: Hosting always takes the expiration date of the target domain

When you perform a swap, the expiration date of your hosting is automatically replaced by that of the new target domain. This means that:

• If the target domain expires AFTER the expiration date of the current hosting, an additional payment is required to align the hosting with this new date.
• If the target domain expires BEFORE the expiration date of the current hosting, the remaining months of hosting will be lost.

⚠️ Attention: The swap also leads to the deletion of all data associated with the hosting (website, databases, emails). Make sure to back up before proceeding.

2. Case #1: The target domain expires AFTER the current hosting (additional payment)

Explanation

If you choose a domain whose expiration date is later than that of your current hosting, you will need to pay the difference to extend the hosting until this new date.

Message displayed on the interface

📢 Important information:
By swapping this hosting to the domain {{target domain name}}, its expiration date will automatically be updated to match that of this domain ({{target domain expiration date}}).
🔹 To align the hosting with this new date, an additional payment of {{amount}}€ is required.
✅ You will need to pay this amount before finalizing the swap.

Possible actions

• Accept the swap and pay the additional amount.
• Choose another domain with an earlier expiration date.

3. Case #2: The target domain expires BEFORE the current hosting (loss of remaining months)

Explanation

If the target domain expires before the expiration date of your hosting, the latter will be shortened and the unused months of hosting will be lost.

⚠️ Attention: This action results in the deletion of all data associated with the current hosting. Make sure to perform a complete backup (website, databases, emails) before continuing.

Solutions to limit loss

• Option 1: Refund (if recent purchase)

  • If your hosting was purchased less than 30 days ago, you can request a refund before performing the swap.

• Option 2: Renew the target domain before swapping

  • By renewing the target domain before the swap, you can reduce the loss of paid months. However, an additional payment may be required after the swap to align the hosting with the new expiration date of the domain.

Message displayed on the interface

➡️ If the hosting was purchased less than 30 days ago

📢 Attention:
By swapping this hosting to the domain {{target domain name}}, its expiration date will be advanced to {{target domain expiration date}}.
❌ The unused months of your hosting cannot be recovered.
ℹ️ Good to know:
🔹 Your hosting was purchased less than 30 days ago, you can request a refund instead of the swap.
💡 Tip to limit loss: You can renew your target domain ({{target domain name}}) before performing the swap. This will allow you to reduce the loss of already paid hosting months. An additional payment may be requested later to align the hosting with the new date of the domain.

➡️ If the hosting was purchased more than 30 days ago

📢 Attention:
By swapping this hosting to the domain {{target domain name}}, its expiration date will be advanced to {{target domain expiration date}}.
❌ The unused months of your hosting cannot be recovered.
✅ Confirm that you accept this modification before continuing.
💡 Tip to limit loss: You can renew your target domain before performing the swap. This will allow you to reduce the loss of paid months. An additional payment may be requested later to align the hosting with the new date of the domain.

4. Procedure to perform a backup before the swap

Before swapping a hosting, we highly recommend backing up:

• The files of your website via FTP or a file manager.
• Your databases by exporting them via phpMyAdmin.
• Your emails by transferring them to another email account or downloading them.
• Use a migration plugin if you are on WordPress and save the data on your local PC.

📌 Once the swap is made, this data cannot be recovered.

5. How to perform a hosting swap?

1. Log in to your client area on our site.
2. Go to the section corresponding to the hosting plan you wish to swap.
3. Click on the "Hosting Swap" icon found in the "Domain Management" section.

Conclusion

Before performing a swap, make sure you fully understand the impacts on the expiration date of your hosting. Use the available options to minimize any potential loss and perform a complete backup of your data.

📌 Need help? Contact our customer support for any questions or assistance regarding a hosting swap.

✅ Did this documentation help you? Let us know if you have any suggestions for improvement! 😊

Swap your shared hosting to another domain in video

Conclusion

You are now ready to change the domain name associated with your shared hosting at LWS. However, it is strongly recommended to perform a complete backup of all the data related to your hostings before performing this operation.

Ask for help if necessary: If you encounter difficulties or have questions during the hosting swap process, do not hesitate to contact our support team. They can provide you with additional advice and help resolve any issues that may arise.

We understand that this process may raise questions or concerns. Feel free to share your comments, doubts, or inquiries with our dedicated support team. They are there to help you and provide any additional information you may need to carry out this operation with confidence.