How do you move emails on a cPanel server to Google Apps for Businesses?
I had been running a small businesses emails and website on an Australian web hosting when it was decided that the business should delegate it's email hosting to Google Apps for businesses. This would be fairly straight forward except, all emails on the cPanel server must be able to be accessed. I figured to simply just move all emails across to Google Apps.
The way I finally found was far from perfect and I am sure there are more practical ways. After being told numerous times that moving from a cPanel based email account to such a service as Google Apps was impossible, I discovered a way. Although the fix is a little time consuming I can guarantee it works.
For those who are familiar with MigrationWiz the main reason I couldn't use it was because I lacked 2 domain names on either side.
cPanel --> Google Apps
My domain could only point to one of the two above.
Step 1:
Download Thunderbird from here.
Install this awesome add-on that allows you to save emails to your HDD (this is the best functional add-on I have ever seen for Thunderbird).
Then you need a secondary email client such as Outlook/Mail/Entourage for the drag-n-drop we'll cover later in the final step.
Step 2:
Setup Google Apps with the domain already active with the cPanel service. The Google Apps process is simple enough. Keep following the setup wizard until you reach the domain verification. Then you must jump into the Advanced DNS Zone Editor in the cPanel.
Step 3:
A list of all the DNS domains will be at the bottom of the page. You must edit the main domain you run your cPanel on to what Google tells you to do here
You do not need to create any subdomains at all. Just change the main DNS settings as shown. Google supplies you with the correct TXT Data - keep the TTL the same.
Step 4:
You should get a success and Google's wizard will pick up this DNS change. It will lead you onto applying the following MX Records. If you don't get a success message on Google's wizard then they have a backup plan of a CNAME or 2 others which include editing files on your website.
The MX Record can be found under the cPanel email list.
Google will tell you this but you must set your MX Records as appropriate priorities. Think of the numbers as a net. If one server is down the emails will flow to the next highest priority and catch/receive the emails.
IMPORTANT: You must not delete the priority 0 that lists your domain name yet. Not until we have downloaded all the emails from the cPanel.
Step 5:
In Thunderbird set up the appropriate cPanel settings to connect a mailbox. You must use IMAP to download all emails. This may take a while depending on how big the mailbox is. Once this is complete click Tools in Thunderbird, the dropdown window will have ImportExportTools at the bottom. Then Export All Messages In This Folder > EML Format. EML Format is best for retaining all format/attachments/images in the email. And Gmail can read the format. Save all your emails to one directory on your computer.
Step 6:
Now head back to MX Records and delete the priority 0. Your MX Records should all point to Google's servers now.
All emails will now be entering Google's servers where you can access them via Gmail.
Step 7:
This is the final step. Use either Outlook/Mail/Entourage to connect to Google's servers. These are Google's instructions. Now you should be able to drag and drop all the emails saved on your HDD to the email client such as Outlook. The email client will upload all emails to Google's servers. This should be it! I used this method to move over 7000 emails and none were lost, altered or corrupted in the process.
If there are any possible improvements or mistakes in this post, don't hesitate to comment below.
