# Move from Netlify to Naijacloud

Source: https://naijacloud.com/guides/migrate-from-netlify

Your Netlify site served as a Naijacloud static site on your own domain, deployed from your terminal, with the Netlify site kept as a rollback.

_45 min · Beginner · Last verified 2026-10-07 · Stack: dns_

## What things are called here

| On Netlify | On Naijacloud |
| --- | --- |
| Site | Static site, free and unlimited |
| Build command and publish directory | Your build runs locally; naijacloud deploy --output uploads the folder |
| SPA fallback (/* /index.html 200) | --spa on naijacloud deploy |
| _redirects and [[redirects]] rules | (none) No redirect rules on static sites |
| _headers and [[headers]] | (none) No custom headers on static sites |
| Netlify Functions | A web service with the same routes |
| Edge Functions | (none) No edge locations |
| Netlify Forms | (none) No forms product. A route on a web service, or a form service |
| Netlify Identity | (none) No hosted sign-in |
| Deploy Previews | (none) No previews for CLI-deployed static sites |
| Netlify DNS | DNS hosting on Naijacloud, or keep your provider |

## Before you move: what Netlify has that we don't

- Redirect and rewrite rules, and custom response headers, on static sites.
- Netlify Forms and Netlify Identity.
- Edge Functions and a global edge network.
- Deploy previews and branch deploys for static sites.
- Build plugins.
- Split testing.

If your app depends on one of these, stay on Netlify for now.

## The cutover, in order

1. **Lower DNS TTL**: 48 hours before. Set the record to 60 seconds.
2. **Deploy here and add the domain**: Traffic still goes to Netlify.
3. **Certificate issued**: Wait for it before you touch DNS, where you can.
4. **Check the new site**: Every page, every route, every asset.
5. **Switch DNS**: Point the record at Naijacloud.
6. **Keep the old site 7 days**: Going back is one DNS change.

## Lower the DNS TTL, 48 hours before

At your DNS provider, set the TTL on your domain’s record to 60 seconds and wait at least as long as the old TTL. If Netlify runs your DNS, make the change in Netlify’s DNS panel and leave the nameservers where they are until this move is done.

## Deploy here and add the domain

Read `netlify.toml`, and the **Build settings** in Netlify’s UI, for the build command and publish directory. Then pull the build variables, because your build runs on your machine now:

```sh
$ npm install -g netlify-cli
$ netlify link
$ netlify env:list --plain --context production > .env.production
```

Netlify sets some variables of its own at build time (`URL`, `DEPLOY_PRIME_URL`, `CONTEXT`). If your build reads them, set your own values in that file. Your `.env` files stay on your machine: the CLI never uploads them.

Install the Naijacloud CLI and deploy the publish directory. `--env` takes `project/environment`; add `--spa` if the site is a single-page app with client-side routes.

```sh
$ npm install -g @naijacloud/cli
$ naijacloud login
$ naijacloud deploy --name my-site --output dist --env shop/dev
```

It runs your build, uploads the folder and prints the live address, `https://my-site.naijacloud.app`. Commit the `naijacloud.json` it writes; from then on `naijacloud deploy` updates this site.

Then open the site in the dashboard, go to **Domains**, enter your domain in **Custom domain** and click **Add domain**. Add the records it lists that prove ownership and issue the certificate. Don’t change the routing record yet.

## Wait for the certificate

Where the **Domains** table lists ownership and HTTPS records, the certificate is issued while traffic is still on Netlify. Wait until the domain shows **Verified · HTTPS ready**.

> **Warning: Never move DNS before the certificate is issued here**
>
> If the record points at us while we hold no certificate for the domain, every request fails TLS — a hard browser error, not a slow page — until issuance finishes.

If the table lists only one routing record (an **A** record, as it does for a root domain), the certificate is issued in the minutes after the record points here. Plan the switch for a quiet hour.

## Check the new site

Go through the site on its naijacloud.app address before anyone else does: the home page, a deep link, a page that only exists in your router, a large image, a 404.

> **Warning: Redirect rules don’t come across**
>
> Rules in `_redirects`, `[[redirects]]` and `_headers` aren’t applied here. The SPA fallback is the one exception (`--spa`). If you rely on others, keep them on Netlify for now, or move them into your app.

If you used Netlify Functions, deploy them as a **Web service** with the same routes and point the front end at its address before you switch.

## Switch DNS

At your DNS provider, replace Netlify’s record with the routing record shown in **Domains**. With a 60-second TTL, most visitors follow within minutes. Leave the domain attached to the Netlify site.

## Keep the old site for 7 days

Netlify keeps every deploy. Lock the last good one so a stray push doesn’t replace it, and leave the site and its domain in place.

> **Warning: Don’t delete the Netlify site yet**
>
> It’s the fastest way back. After 7 days, check nothing still points at it, then delete it and raise the TTL again.

## Rollback: keep these for 7 days

- The Netlify site, with its last good deploy locked
- The domain attached to the Netlify site
- netlify.toml in the repo
- The 60-second TTL on your record

To go back: point the record at Netlify again. A static site has no data to reconcile.

All guides: https://naijacloud.com/guides · Index for agents: https://naijacloud.com/llms.txt