ServBay Cross-Platform Data Migration Guide

If you’re upgrading your device or switching between platforms (for example, moving from an Intel Mac to an Apple Silicon Mac, or from macOS to Windows), it’s essential to follow a specific migration process for your ServBay local development environment to run smoothly and efficiently on your new device. This guide provides detailed, official steps to help you through the migration.

Why is a special migration process required?

ServBay is a cross-platform local development environment supporting both macOS and Windows. On macOS, the main application uses a universal architecture, natively compatible with both Intel and Apple Silicon (M Series) chips.

However, the core software packages ServBay provides (such as PHP, Node.js, Python, Go, Java, MySQL, MariaDB, Nginx, Apache, etc.) are compiled and optimized specifically for each operating system and CPU architecture. This means:

• macOS Intel packages won’t run on Apple Silicon Macs
• macOS packages won’t run on Windows
• Windows packages won’t run on macOS

Therefore, when switching platforms or architectures, you cannot simply copy the entire ServBay directory. You must replace all installed packages and migrate your personal data and configurations.

Step-by-Step Migration Process

Please follow the steps below precisely to ensure complete and successful data migration.

Step 1: Completely Stop and Exit ServBay

On your old Intel Mac, click the ServBay icon in your top menu bar, then select Stop All Services and Exit from the menu. This is a critical step to make sure all data files are properly closed before backup.

Step 2: Backup the ServBay Data Directory

macOS:

1. Open Finder and navigate to the /Applications directory.
2. Locate the ServBay folder (Note: this is not the ServBay.app application).
3. Rename this folder to ServBay.bak.

Windows:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the C:\ directory.
2. Find the folder named ServBay.
3. Rename this folder to ServBay.bak.

This folder contains all your website files, databases, SSL certificates, backups, and configuration files.

Step 3: Do a Fresh Install of ServBay on Your New Device

1. Fully copy the ServBay.bak directory from your old device onto your new device:
   • macOS: Copy it into the /Applications directory
   • Windows: Copy it to the C:\ directory
2. Download and install the latest ServBay main application on your new device.
3. When you open ServBay for the first time, it will guide you through a fresh installation process. Follow the instructions, and upon completion, a new ServBay directory will be generated:
   • macOS: /Applications/ServBay
   • Windows: C:\ServBay

Step 4: Reinstall All Required Software Packages

1. Open ServBay on your new device.
2. Go to the Packages section in the left navigation bar.
3. Reinstall all the packages you previously used on your old device (for example, PHP 8.2, MySQL 8.0, Nginx 1.25, etc.).
4. Important: At this stage, just install the packages but do not enable them yet.

Step 5: Once Again, Completely Stop and Exit ServBay

After installing all required packages, click the ServBay icon in the menu bar and select Stop All Services and Exit again.

Step 6: Migrate Core Data and Configurations

At this point, you should have two relevant directories on your device:

• macOS:
  • /Applications/ServBay.bak (backup from your old device)
  • /Applications/ServBay (fresh install on your new device)
• Windows:
  • C:\ServBay.bak (backup from your old device)
  • C:\ServBay (fresh install on your new device)

Perform the following copy operations:

Open the backup directory, then copy the following subfolders into your new ServBay installation directory, overwriting any files and folders with the same name:

• backup: contains all your manual and automatic backup files.
• data: holds your website configurations, application settings, etc.
• db: contains all your database files (MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL).
• ssl: includes all your SSL certificate files.
• www: has all your website project files.

Note: This step is very important. It restores all your data.

Step 7: Contact Technical Support to Convert Configuration Files (Critical Step)

Because of platform and architecture differences, your old configuration files need to be converted before they can be used on the new platform.

1. On your new device, locate your previously backed-up configuration file:
   • macOS: /Applications/ServBay.bak/data/servbay/config.data
   • Windows: C:\ServBay.bak\data\servbay\config.data
2. Send this config.data file to the ServBay official technical support team (for example, via official Discord, Telegram, WeChat, or email).
3. The technical support team will convert the file to fit your new platform and architecture, then send the converted file back to you.
4. Once you receive the new file, overwrite the corresponding file in your new ServBay directory:
   • macOS: /Applications/ServBay/data/servbay/config.data
   • Windows: C:\ServBay\data\servbay\config.data

Step 8: Reinstall ServBay Root CA

1. Open the ServBay application.
2. Go to the Settings section in the left navigation bar.
3. On the settings page, locate the ServBay Root CA option and click the Reinstall ServBay Root CA button.

Step 9: Restart All Services

1. Go to the Packages section in the left navigation bar.
2. For each package you’ve installed, restart it individually: first, toggle the switch to disable it, then toggle it again to enable. This ensures all services start with the migrated data and configurations.

Step 10: Migration Complete

Your ServBay data migration is now complete! You can start using ServBay on your new device. Check your websites, databases, and all services to confirm everything is working as expected.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Q: Can I skip contacting technical support to convert the config.data file?
  • A: No. The config.data file contains key configuration information related to the platform and architecture. Skipping this step may result in ServBay failing to properly load your websites, databases, or service configurations, and could even prevent it from starting.
• Q: What if I don’t remember which packages I had installed previously?
  • A: When you contact technical support for the config.data file conversion, you can ask them for assistance. The file records information about the packages you previously installed.
• Q: What should I do if I can’t access my websites after migration?
  • A: Please check the following in order:
    1. Make sure you’ve restarted all relevant packages in Step 9 (such as Nginx/Apache and the corresponding PHP version).
    2. Confirm your website configurations in ServBay are correct.
    3. Review the logs for the related packages and examine any specific error messages.