Here is the NORMAL process for doing a Plesk migration between servers (specifically at GoDaddy): [NOTE: This process seamlessly allows you to migrate user accounts, domains, databases, files, file permissions, the whole damn thing!]

1. You backup EVERYTHING on the old server, including files and MYSQL databases.  (PHPMyAdmin is a good export tool if you don’t know how to back a database up via SSH.)
2. Go to the NEW server, click on the SERVER link on the left, and choose Migration Manager
3. Enter your OLD server’s IP address and the root password. If you do not have root access, you’ll want to get it, or at least have an account that has root level permissions.
4. Click on NEXT and follow the wizard as it takes you through the process of migrating user accounts and domains.

Now here’s where things get tricky. On a normal VPS, you’d have root access. On a Godaddy (boo) VPS, they don’t allow you to log in as root (for FTP or SSH), so you have to use “su -” (Note the ‘-’ sign) when you’re logged in as another user.

This is what typically shows up when you try to use the migration manager to transfer one Godaddy VPS to another:

Cannot send scout to the remote host

Failed to execute scout.
The return code is 1
The output on STDERR is
sudo: sorry, you must have a tty to run sudo

All this error means is that the user account you entered does not have sufficient permissions on the server to do the migration.  Normally you would simply use the root account and things would be peachy, but with Godaddy, they like to make it difficult.

Here’s the solution. [NOTE: This is technical and requires you to be damn careful else you'll really hose your old system up and TRUST ME, Godaddy DOES NOT offer support for VPS accounts beyond setting them up and tearing them down. [Everything you do is on your own shoulders..]

1. Using your normal user account, (not Plesk admin, but the user account you have for the server/SSH/FTP) SSH into your server.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, download PUTTY.EXE and do the following: Enter the IP address of your server in the HOST NAME field, then make sure connection type is SSH.  Click on OPEN.  A black window should come up and you can enter your FTP username, then password, and you should be given a prompt.
2. Once you are logged into the Godaddy VPS server via SSH, you can type ‘SU -’ [no quotes] and enter your password again. This will change the prompt to say root on the left hand side.  If you use the ‘-’ it will give you access to the root PATH, which is necessary for the next step.
3. Type ‘visudo’ and hit enter. This will take you to the edit screen of the SUDO security configuration.  Find the section that has the following:  “root   ALL=(ALL)    ALL”  and below that, add your username along with the ALL entries.   “username  ALL=(ALL)   ALL”   [NOTE: To edit, move the insertion point to the space you wish to type, then start typing.   When finished, hit the colon key ":" and type W to write the file, then hit the colon key again and type 'quit'.]
4. At this point your username should have the appropriate configuration.  Go back to the NEW server’s Migration Manager and start it fresh, this time using the user account, it’s password, and it’s password again for the SUDO password.

That should take you through the entire Migration Manager wizard process and help you get your domains and client accounts transferred to the new server.

When you are finished with the migration, and if you plan on keeping the OLD server, be sure to remove the user entry from the sudo security config file using the process above.

The information in this article will allow you to run WordPress permalinks on Windows Server 2000, 2003, or 2008 using IIS5, IIS6, or IIS7.

Ok, first of all there is no real MOD_REWRITE setting for IIS5 or IIS6.  That’s an Apache mod and though there are some ISAPI_MOD_REWRITE projects floating around out there, most of them do NOT do the exact same thing as MOD_REWRITE does and will not function in IIS as MOD_REWRITE does in APACHE.

For programs such as WordPress that normally are designed for Apache installations, you can install the following ISAPI filter and all your Permalink problems go away.

First, what is a Permalink. A permalink is what WordPress uses to form the URL of your posts/pages into something more SEO friendly or human readable. (HINT: Get to Permalinks by logging into your WordPress Admin Panel your http://www.domain.com/wp-admin/  Click on SETTINGS, Permalinks.)

By default, a wordpress standard URL on Apache is formed as such: http://www.nickmattern.com/2008/10/06/sample-post/, In IIS, the WordPress URL uses the index.php file to display your permalinks, ex. http://shelbygirl.com/index.php/2008/10/06/sample-post/

Obviously the IIS URL doesn’t help the user remember your URL  What most users and search engines want to see is a descriptive URL.  www.domain.com/index.php?a=4423 is a LOT harder to remember than www.domain.com/AboutUs would be.

Format your Permalinks in the following manner: /%postname%/, making sure to begin each string with a /% and end each string with a %/.  If I wanted my URL to have the Year/Date/Postname, I’d format my Permalink string as such: /%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%/

Now back to why this matters for IIS.  First, Apache forms URLs without the need for index.php to be involved with the URL.  Be default, in IIS, your permalinks will use this format: http://shelbygirl.com/index.php/2008/10/06/sample-post/ (Notice the index.php) whereas Apache will simply use http://www.nickmattern.com/2008/10/06/sample-post/. Now, according to numerous Google Blogs, the index.php shouldn’t really matter, and that’s mostly correct.  The problem you’ll find is your users not being able to remember the index.php, they’ll simply see the domain.com/postname, not the domain.com/index.php/postname.

By installing the filter listed above (You’ll need to have access to the IIS manager and your PHP.ini file) you can eliminate the need for the index.php to be included in any URLs that WordPress cranks out.  Be sure to back up your PHP.ini file before you change it and while you’re at it, make a backup of your IIS Site as well.

Once the filter is installed, restart IIS and change your permalink structure accordingly, then test out your WordPress content. If it doesn’t work, go back and reread the instructions.