How to migrate your FiveM server to Winheberg

Context

You already have a FiveM server running elsewhere, with another host or directly on your PC, and you want to migrate it to Winheberg without starting from scratch? Good news, the process is simpler than it looks, and you keep all your resources, your database, and your players' progress.

This guide walks you through the migration step by step, whether you're coming from another host or from your personal PC, self-hosting, localhost, or a development machine.

Before you start, what you need to understand

A FiveM server is made up of two inseparable parts.

• The resources/ folder and the server.cfg file, the unique content of your server
• The MySQL database, which holds players, economy, vehicles, and inventories

For the migration to be complete, both need to be transferred. If you only migrate the files, your players will lose all their progress. If you only migrate the database, your server simply won't start.

Prerequisites

• An active FiveM server at Winheberg, ready to receive your files
• FileZilla or another SFTP client installed on your PC
• Your Winheberg SFTP credentials, visible in the Settings section of your server, same password as your panel
• Your Winheberg MySQL credentials, visible in the Databases section of the panel
• Access to your original server, other host or PC, to retrieve the files and the database

Case 1. Migration from another host

If your FiveM server currently runs at another host, whichever one it is, the process breaks down into 4 main steps.

1. Stop your original server

Log in to your current host's panel and stop your FiveM server. This is crucial to avoid any data loss during the transfer.

2. Retrieve your server's unique content via SFTP

Connect to your original server via SFTP and download only the content that's specific to your server, not the FiveM artifacts.

1. Open FileZilla
2. Enter your old host's SFTP credentials, host, port, username, and password
3. Connect
4. Navigate to your FiveM server's root folder
5. Select only the resources/ folder and the server.cfg file
6. Download them to a local folder on your PC, for example C:\migration-fivem\

3. Export the database from the old host

The most universal method goes through phpMyAdmin, available at almost every host.

1. Log in to your current host's phpMyAdmin
2. Select your FiveM server's database from the left-hand menu
3. Click the Export tab at the top
4. Leave the default options, SQL format, Quick method
5. Click Export to download the .sql file
6. Save this file in your migration folder

4. Import your files and database to Winheberg

You now have both elements on your PC, whether you went through a downloaded backup or a manual retrieval. Move on to the Import your files to Winheberg section below, common to both cases.

Case 2. Migration from your PC

If you developed your FiveM server locally, with MySQL Workbench, XAMPP, WAMP, Laragon, or another tool, the process is very similar, but without an SFTP step on the origin side since the files are already on your machine.

1. Locate your server's content

Find the folder where you installed your FiveM server on your PC. Depending on your setup, it could be in a location like this.

• C:\FXServer\server-data\, typical Windows install
• D:\My-RP-Server\
• C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\FiveM-Server\

In this folder, you should find at minimum a server.cfg and a resources/ folder. These are the only two elements to upload to Winheberg. The FXServer.exe binaries and the citizen/ and cache/ folders are unnecessary, Winheberg already provides all of that server-side.

2. Prepare the files for upload

You're only going to upload two things to Winheberg.

• The complete resources/ folder, your scripts, your frameworks, and your RP
• The server.cfg file, your configuration

Take the opportunity to do a bit of cleanup before uploading.

• Remove any resources you no longer use
• Check that your server.cfg doesn't contain anything specific to your PC, local absolute paths, 127.0.0.1, or localhost

3. Export your local database

Depending on the tool you use locally, the method varies slightly.

• MySQL Workbench, go to Server → Data Export, select your database, choose Export to Self-Contained File, and export as .sql
• phpMyAdmin (XAMPP, WAMP, Laragon), open phpMyAdmin via http://localhost/phpmyadmin, select your database, Export tab, SQL format, then Export
• HeidiSQL, right-click the database, Export database as SQL, then choose the destination file

Save the .sql file next to your server folder.

4. Import your files and database to Winheberg

As with case 1, move on to the common section below.

Import your files to Winheberg

This section is common to both cases. You now need to upload your files and your database to your Winheberg server.

1. Connect via SFTP to your Winheberg server

1. Open FileZilla
2. Get your SFTP credentials from the Settings section of your server on the Winheberg panel
3. Enter the information in FileZilla, host, port, and username
4. For the password, use the one for your Winheberg panel account, it's the same
5. Connect

2. Upload resources/ and server.cfg

1. In FileZilla, on the right-hand side (remote server), navigate to /home/container/
2. On the left-hand side (local), navigate to your migration folder
3. Select only the resources/ folder and the server.cfg file
4. Drag and drop them into /home/container/
5. Wait for the transfer to complete

Import your database to Winheberg

1. Access phpMyAdmin

1. On your Winheberg panel, go to the Databases section
2. Click the phpMyAdmin icon, or use the direct link provided
3. Log in with your Winheberg database's MySQL credentials

2. Import the .sql file

1. In phpMyAdmin, select your Winheberg database from the left-hand menu
2. Click the Import tab at the top
3. Click Choose File and select the .sql file you exported earlier
4. Leave the default options
5. Click Import at the bottom
6. Wait for the import, it can take a few minutes depending on the size

Adjust your server.cfg

Before starting your server, a few lines in the server.cfg need to be adapted to your new Winheberg infrastructure.

Update the MySQL connection string

Find the set mysql_connection_string line in your server.cfg and replace the old credentials with your new Winheberg credentials, host, user, password, and database name.

Check the License Key

The sv_licenseKey line must contain your License Key, also called the Server Registration Key. If you have several keys on the Cfx.re portal (portal.cfx.re), use the one generated for your new Winheberg server, with its hostname in the gm1-whXX.wh-game.fr format.

Check the server endpoints

In your server.cfg, the endpoint_add_tcp and endpoint_add_udp lines must use the 0.0.0.0 address followed by the port assigned to your server by Winheberg, visible on your server's main page in the panel.

endpoint_add_tcp "0.0.0.0:30XXX"
endpoint_add_udp "0.0.0.0:30XXX"

Start your migrated server

Everything's in place, you can now start your server.

1. Go back to your server's main page in the Winheberg panel
2. Click Start
3. Watch the console closely, that's where any errors will appear

If all goes well, your server starts, your resources load one by one in the console, and you can connect to it with your FiveM client. The migration is a success 🎉

If you run into trouble

❌ The server won't start, MySQL error

If you see errors like Can't connect to MySQL or Access denied in the console.

• Check the connection string in your server.cfg, user, password, host, and database name
• Check that your password doesn't contain problematic characters
• Check that you're using the Winheberg host provided in your panel's Databases section, not your old host
• Test the connection through phpMyAdmin to confirm your credentials work

❌ Some resources won't load

If some resources show Couldn't start resource X.

• Check that the resource is actually present in /home/container/resources/
• Check the resource's dependencies, often listed in its fxmanifest.lua
• Compare with your old server, a resource may have been missed in the transfer

❌ Players don't get their progress back

If players can connect but are back at level 0.

• The database import may have partially failed, check in phpMyAdmin that all tables are present with their data
• The server.cfg might be pointing to the wrong database, an empty test database for example, check the connection string
• Some frameworks keep a local player cache, restart the server to force a reload

❌ The .sql file is too large for phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin has an upload limit that can block very large databases.

• Split your .sql file into several parts, table by table for example
• Compress the file as .sql.gz before uploading, phpMyAdmin can read it directly
• Contact our support for a direct server-side import

❌ My server starts but nobody can connect

If the server starts without errors but no player can connect.

• Check that your License Key matches your Winheberg server
• Check the connection address given to your players, in the gm1-whXX.wh-game.fr:port format
• Check that the server actually appears in the public FiveM listing. For the full listing procedure, check our guide "How to list your FiveM server on the Cfx.re list?"

Best practices

• Make a full backup before touching anything, files and database, and keep it in case you need to roll back
• Migrate in test mode first without announcing it to your players, check that everything works before communicating
• Plan the migration during off-peak hours to limit disruption for your players
• Warn your players in advance on Discord or in-game, ideally the day before
• Document your migration to remember the adjustments made in case of future issues
• Don't delete your old server right away, keep it around for a few days just in case

Need help?

If you run into an issue during the migration, a failed transfer, an oversized database, or persistent MySQL errors, our team is here. Open a ticket in the Technical department from your client area and fill in the Related Product field with the server in question.

Welcome to Winheberg, enjoy your RP adventure with your migrated server 🎮