I am trying to move a website from one server to another. However, when I try to access this website in a browser it only downloads a 1kb file called “download.” What could be causing this? The original site has SSL certificates as well as a lot of code written in php, sql, json, ajax, etc.
This question was closed as “not a real question” but I did not have time to respond to the comments. If this is a simple answer then, by all means, please give me the answer. *I have moved all files from the old server to the new server using an ftp client. All of the files have moved successfully. When try to login to the base page, or go to the index.php page, all that happens is a 1kb download titled “download” begins and ends. This file has no extension and is not able to be opened. * This problem has also occurred over multiple hosting companies as I have been trying to move this site for two weeks now.
I have had a similar problem before.
Try opening the “download” file with a text editor (perhaps rename it to download.txt to make it easier to open)
Once you have opened the file you will probably see the source of index.php. This would indicate that it is due to a misconfiguration of your server, possibly due to whoever set up the server of possibly due to your own .htaccess.
Firstly try deleting your .htaccess (some ftp clients may hide it). Does it work now?
If not try uploading a text file or image and checking if this file is being served, if not then there is something gravely wrong with the server config, probably not due to you.
If this does work then it is due to the PHP configuration, essentially the script is not being sent to PHP for processing, if this is the case then I would make sure PHP is installed and allowed on that server.