Well my old host has basically left me with a huge .tar file with over half a million files in it. I am unable to extract this file on to my hard drive because there are a few files in it which are corrupt in windows. I talked to new potential hosts and they say they will not or cannot extract this file on to their server.

I am confused as to what to do. I am trying to download all of my old site via FTP but this is taking forever. Even if it ever finishes, which it does not look like it will due to errors and such, it will take twice as long trying to upload all of these files.

Has anyone here had to deal with something like this? My old host is useless. He no longer replies to me.

As long as you still have FTP access to your old account most hosts will do a server -> server transfer. It can be impractical to download and then re-upload the content to your home PC if the .tar file is huge. If you have a local backup you could always just forget the .tar file and upload your content from your local box.

Chris

get a new hosting account with shell access. then upload the tar file to your site via FTP. SSH in and

tar -xvf backupfile.tar

all the files should extract in tact

talk to a couple of hosts, i am sure one of them would be willing to extract it for you if you uploaded it :)

Half a million files? That's indeed a lot. If there aren't any hosts willing to help you out you might try to split this file into several smaller ones, and then try again.

Just upload it and ask the host to extract for you... there's no reason why they don't do it... it's just one simple command and then changing the ownership for all with a second command and you should be up and running.

just as an aside, make sure the file is gzipped first, it'll dramatically reduce the size of the archive file..

It would be better to transfer from server to server if it's possible. Your old host left you a link for the tar ball that contains your half million of files (Let's put it 2GB of zip compressed package).

Get a new host that either provides you a telnet/ssh access or a host who is willing to help you with three UNIX commands to get your site up again.

Use the command:

wget http://url/filename.tar
gzip filename.tar
tar -zxvf filename.tar.gz > install.log

If still you can't find a someone that be able to help you with this, give me the link and I can upload one by one to your new host server. Since I pay for the cable every month, it's time to really use the service ;)

Good luck though.

why don't you hire someone to move it for you?

go to elance.com or ask on this forum. There are also sites that specialize in moving websites. I've never used them and don't know urls but do a search.

Sounds like you may know how to move this file... instead of messing something up pay the extra money to ensure it is moved correctly.

I think he KNOWS how to move the files. It's just that hosts are unwilling to let him move to them because of the shear volume/number of files which might somehow cripple the server when untarring.

I was only suggesting that he let a person with a little bit more knowledge move the files to a new server. Corupt files and the such this could get ugly. If the files are important then it might be best to ensure it is done correctly.

I was offering a suggestion. A very good one I might add.

When a server backs up a site, (depending on the server software) it backs up a lot of other files aswell. These other files contain site config data and email settings and would not necessary be compatable with your new hosts software.

Don't worry about currupting files "you still have the.tar file" extratcing the .tar file will have no effect to your local windows machine.

Use WinZip to unzip your .tar file >> now have a look at the unzipped directories >> you may only need the contents of the html folder and the cgi-bin folder to upload your site to the new host.

Were you using a MySQL database ?

Post a rough idea of what's in the .tar file

What server software was you old host using ?

he is getting currupt files in windows because of the symlinks

Is it normal for WinZip to get an error when trying to open a tar.gz backup from a cpanel backup? I was trying to backup a 200mb site and when it got to my PC as a 60mb tar.gz, WinZip wouldn't open it without getting errors. I actually redownloaded it a second time and still got errors.

I don't think WinZip supports tar.gz files at all. I think WinRAR or ultimatezip does.

Yes, winzip 8 will do the trick

http://www.rarsoft.com

Originally posted by damien16
Yes, winzip 8 will do the trick

Apperantly it doesn't :rolleyes:

Right click the .tar.gz file >> choose unzip to folder >> you will then get a message saying "Should WinZip decompress it into a temporary folder and open it" >> select Yes

Your .tar or .tar.gz will be unziped in a folder inside the folder just created.

Originally posted by Apoc
Apperantly it doesn't :rolleyes:

It does.

but like i said, he is getting errors when trying to extract because the tar.gz has symlinks in it, which wont work on windows

winzip is awful, winrar all the way.

http://www.rarsoft.com

Actually, I'm not sure which version of WinZip I have. It might be an older version. I'll have to check sometime when I'm at that computer and think about it.

It was just something I had noticed when I downloaded a backup after getting notice that the server was going to be down for scheduled maintenance.