Website umziehen oder überarbeiten („Relaunch“)

If you already have a website that is currently being hosted by an external provider and intend to move it to the LRZ web hosting service, or if you would like to do a complete website makeover, we can help you do this with minimal downtimes. The process resembles the creation of an entirely new website (see above). The crucial difference is that your new website will usually be available under a temporary DNS name at first while you work on creating (or copying) the content. As soon as you are ready, the temporary name will be changed to the publicly known name so that visitors will get to see the new website hosted at LRZ.


Each website relocation is special

No two website relocations will be completely identical. Therefore, there may be deviations from the procedure described here, especially with regard to DNS names and DNS records. Please also bear in mind that a website relocation usually is a time-consuming process and cannot be done in a rush since multiple parties will be involved who have to communicate with each other for the process to go smoothly.

Part 1: Creating a new website with a temporary DNS name

  1. Get a new (blauer Stern) LRZ functional account to be used with your new website.
  2. Request your website via the (blauer Stern) LRZ Servicedesk using the authenticated variant and state answers to the following:
    1. Reason why a  temporary DNS name is needed (e.g. website relocation, website relaunch)
    2. DNS name for later production use (i.e. after the relocation or relaunch has been completed)
    3. For how long will the temporary name be needed?
    4. Functional account to be used with your website
    5. Your organisation (TUM, LMU, or other)
    6. Will you need a MySQL database for your planned web application?
  3. The LRZ web hosting team will create a temporary name from the desired, "real" website name and configure the DNS record accordingly. This action can usually be completed within one to two business days.
  4. The LRZ web hosting team will create the website for you (usually within one to two business days) and inform you via email.

Now you can work on your website's content until it is ready to be published. Read (blauer Stern) Access options for details on how to access your website's filesystem.

Save yourself time and effort

Since the temporary DNS name will later be replaced with the website's final name, it is recommended that you record where the temporary DNS name is used (e.g. in configuration files, scripts, the database etc.) while you are working on your new website. This way, you will save time and effort when replacing the temporary name later on.

Part 2: Changing the website's name to its final name

  1. As soon as you are ready to publish your new website, please contact the LRZ again to schedule a date to change the website's name to the desired final name. Please allow for at least one week and at least two weeks during vacation periods for this step.

  2. On the scheduled date, the DNS records will be changed so that the name that formerly pointed to the old website will now point to your new website. Your new website will now also be available under the desired name.

    Remove the temporary name from your website!

    Remember to purge the temporary name from your new website and replace all occurrences with the final name (see hint box in part 1). You should do this right before the DNS records are changed. Otherwise your website will probably not work as intended.

  3. We will keep the temporary name for some time to make it possible to roll back the changes in case there are any problems with your new website. When everything has been working as expected for a few days or weeks, please let us know so that we can safely remove the temporary name from your website.

If you have moved your website from an external provider to LRZ, it is recommended to continue operating the old website for a few more days instead of removing it right away. The reason for this is that it may take up to several days until the entire "World Wide Web" has picked up on your website's DNS record change. If a DNS server somewhere in the world has not yet "gotten the memo", it will still point to the old website for some time, so leaving the old website running will prevent "not found" errors.