Reclaim Hosting, the cloud vendor for Stanford Domains, will upgrade its web hosting platform to the latest version on Dec. 19. This date was selected to avoid interfering with final exams or end-of-quarter deadlines. cPanel owners should expect their sites to be down from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST on Dec. 19.
Note: This upgrade is for the cloud platform that hosts su.domains webpages and does not include sites.stanford.edu, web.stanford.edu, or AFS.
Additional information is available on the Stanford Domains Server Upgrade FAQ document, which will soon be updated with more details. Real-time status updates can be viewed on the FAQ document during the upgrade on Dec. 19.
Preparing for the upgrade
If you are a cPanel owner, you should have received an email notification highlighting the steps to take before and after the upgrade.
- Before the maintenance:
- Upgrade your content management systems (CMS) and plug-ins to the latest version
- Cease from making any edits to your website(s) by 9 a.m. on Dec. 19 until the end of the maintenance window at 4 p.m.
- Prepare for a new version of MySQL (v5 to v8) by ensuring your content management system and plug-in are compatible with the latest iteration.
- Prepare for external connections to Stanford Domains MySQL being discontinued - if using MySQL on Stanford Domains for something other than your CMS, relocate before you upgrade.
- After the maintenance:
- Confirm you have access to your cPanel dashboard and website(s).
- Reconfigure / Renew SSH access if you’re currently using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or Secure Copy Protocol (SCP.)
For questions, please contact the Stanford Domain team (stanforddomains@stanford.edu).
