Migrating Your Pterodactyl Panel & Wings

Migrating your Pterodactyl Panel (and Wings daemon) isn't as scary as it sounds! This guide breaks it into simple steps to ensure your panel and server data make a safe trip to your new machine.

1. Back Up Your Panel Secrets

Your Pterodactyl panel has a hidden .env file with important secrets, especially the APP_KEY for encrypting data. Never lose this file!

cp /var/www/pterodactyl/.env /var/www/pterodactyl/.env.backup

Copy .env.backup somewhere safe! (USB, cloud drive, etc.)

2. Export Your Database

Your panel stores info in a database named panel (by default). Let's export it:

mysqldump -u root -p --opt panel > /var/www/pterodactyl/panel.sql

Tip: The resulting panel.sql file will appear in /var/www/pterodactyl/.

3. Install Pterodactyl Panel on the New Server

Follow the official Pterodactyl panel installation guide for your new machine.

• Don’t start creating users or servers yet; we’ll restore your real data in the next step!

4. Transfer Database and Files

1. Move backup files to the new server (panel.sql & .env):

# On your OLD server
scp /var/www/pterodactyl/panel.sql user@NEW_SERVER:/path/to/your/folder/
scp /var/www/pterodactyl/.env user@NEW_SERVER:/path/to/your/folder/

2. On the new server, move .env to the correct location:

mv /path/to/your/folder/.env /var/www/pterodactyl/.env

3. Import your database (inside panel folder):

mysql -u root -p panel < /path/to/your/folder/panel.sql

5. Migrate Wings (Daemon)

a. Install Wings

• See the official Wings install docs.

b. Use the install configuration of the previous node

c. Migrate your server volumes

• Your game/data files are in /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/ (unless you set a custom path in config.yml).
• Use rsync (recommended) or scp:

rsync -avz /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/ user@NEW_SERVER:/var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/

• Make sure ownership and permissions match on the new server.

6. Update Allocations (IP Addresses)

Your new Wings might have a different IP! Let's update it in your panel database.

Find your new IP:

hostname -I | awk '{print $1}'

Update the allocation table:

Login to MySQL:

mysql -u root -p

Update the IP:

USE panel;
UPDATE allocations SET ip = 'YOUR_NEW_IP' WHERE ip = 'YOUR_OLD_IP';
EXIT;

7. Final Checks

• Start your panel and wings, then test logging in and managing servers.
• Double-check file permissions and run php artisan queue:restart if needed.

Your panel, wings, and all server data are now on your new machine. Enjoy the improved performance or better hosting!

Need more details?

• Panel docs
• Wings docs