Launch day runbook and DNS cutover checklist

T minus 48 hours

• Lower TTL on the records you will change to 300 seconds, at least one current TTL ahead.
• Export the full DNS zone. Note current A, AAAA, CNAME, MX and TXT values.
• Confirm the window: early in the week, early in the day, you free for the rest of it.
• Confirm SSL can issue for www and non-www right at cutover, or via DNS validation.
• Freeze content edits, or plan a final sync.

T minus 1 hour

• Full backup of the new and old sites, stored off both servers.
• Run wp search-replace staging URL to live URL, --dry-run first.
• Turn off “Discourage search engines”, maintenance mode and staging passwords.
• Load the 301 redirect map on the new server.

Cutover

• Change only A/AAAA or the website CNAME. Leave MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC alone.
• Check dig +short for the bare domain and www returns the new address.
• Valid certificate on both hostnames. curl -I shows 200, and 301 for variants.
• Purge page cache, object cache and CDN.

First hour

• Test on a phone on mobile data: key pages, menus, search, checkout.
• Submit every form and confirm delivery. Send and receive a test email.
• Spot-check old URLs: one 301 to the right page, no 404s or redirect chains.
• Confirm analytics records a visit. Submit the XML sitemap in Search Console.
• Turn on uptime and SSL expiry monitoring.

First week

• Fix 404s found in logs and Search Console.
• Confirm scheduled backups run on the new host.
• Raise TTL back to normal (3600 is common) once stable.
• Keep the old site at least 7 days. Final backup, then remove it.