Migrating From ServBay

PortBay reads ServBay's NGINX vhost config files and registers each enabled site as a PortBay project. The importer scans the vhost directories on disk, parses each server { } block, and writes matching projects to PortBay's registry. ServBay's config files are not modified.

What gets carried over: hostname, document root (with automatic public/web/dist splitting), HTTPS state, and whether the site is PHP or static.

Before You Start

Check	Detail
ServBay vhost directories	The importer scans these directories (all that exist are read): ~/Library/Application Support/ServBay/vhosts/, ~/Library/Application Support/ServBay/disabled-vhosts/, /Applications/ServBay/etc/nginx/manual-vhosts/, /Applications/ServBay/etc/nginx/enabled-dev-vhosts/, /Applications/ServBay/etc/nginx/sites/, /Applications/ServBay/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/. If none of these exist, ServBay shows as "not installed".
PHP version	ServBay does not record the PHP version in vhost files. The import creates PHP projects without a pinned version; PortBay will fall back to the first PHP version it detects on the machine. Set the exact version in the project detail panel after import.
PortBay project cap	Free accounts: up to 6 projects total. Importing stops at the cap and lists skipped sites. Pro accounts have no cap.
Source app state	PortBay reads config files only and never calls any ServBay binary. You do not need to quit ServBay first. However, both tools listen on port 80/443, so running both at the same time causes a port conflict.

Run the Import

In the app

1. Open Settings (sidebar or menu bar).
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Scroll to the Import from another tool card.
4. PortBay scans installed sources automatically. ServBay will appear with a site count if any vhost directory is found.
5. Click Preview sites next to the ServBay row. A note reads "uses NGINX vhost format".
6. A checklist shows every detected site. Rows flagged id taken or path in use already exist in PortBay and are unchecked by default.
7. Adjust the selection and click Import N sites.
8. PortBay writes the projects to the registry and refreshes the project list.

CLI alternative

# See what is installed and how many sites each source exposes.
portbay import sources

# Preview ServBay sites flagged for collisions.
portbay import preview servbay

# Import all ServBay sites.
portbay import projects servbay --all

# Import specific sites by id.
portbay import projects servbay myapp tribal-house-cms

What Gets Imported

ServBay concept	PortBay field	Notes
server_name in vhost	hostname	First token after server_name. Wildcard names (e.g. *.servbay.demo) are skipped — they are ServBay's catch-all, not real projects.
root in vhost	path + document_root	If the root ends in a conventional sub-directory (public, web, html, public_html, www, dist, build, out), PortBay splits it: the parent becomes path and the leaf becomes document_root. A root of /Users/x/myapp/public imports as path /Users/x/myapp, document root public.
listen 443 ssl	https: true	HTTP-only vhosts import as https: false; PortBay issues a fresh mkcert certificate when HTTPS is enabled later.
include …php-fpm… or any .php reference in the block	kind: php, services: [caddy, php-fpm]	The importer detects PHP-FPM includes and .php references (try_files, index, router.php) to identify PHP apps. Vhosts with neither are imported as kind: static.
Reverse-proxy vhosts (proxy_pass, no root)	Skipped	The importer requires a root directive. Vhosts that proxy to another process (e.g. a Node dev server) have no root and are excluded.
PHP version	Not imported	ServBay vhost files do not contain the PHP version. Set it manually in the project detail panel after import.

The importer assigns Nginx as the web server hint for all ServBay projects (reflecting the source configuration). You can change this to Caddy in the project detail panel.

Every imported project receives the tag source:servbay.

What Isn't Imported

• PHP version. Not stored in vhost files. PortBay falls back to the first PHP version it detects on your machine; set it explicitly after import.
• Database contents or credentials. ServBay bundles its own MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, and other databases. PortBay manages separate database containers; you will need to re-create databases and import data independently.
• Environment variables. Per-project .env files are not read during import; they remain in place and will be picked up by your application normally when the project starts.
• ServBay-specific extensions, custom PHP builds, or SSL certificates. PortBay uses mkcert for local HTTPS and manages its own PHP-FPM sidecars; existing ServBay certificates are not reused.
• Disabled vhosts. Files in disabled-vhosts/ are scanned and included in the import preview, but they import with the same settings as enabled ones. Whether you start them in PortBay is up to you.
• Mail catching configuration. Configure PortBay's built-in Mailpit sidecar separately.

After the Import

1. Open the Projects view. Confirm imported projects show the correct hostname and document root.
2. For PHP projects, open the project detail panel and set the PHP version explicitly (the importer cannot read this from ServBay's vhost files).
3. Click Start on a project. PortBay provisions a mkcert certificate and starts Caddy and PHP-FPM.
4. Visit the project URL in a browser to verify it loads.
5. If you plan to use PortBay going forward, stop ServBay (or disable its startup item) to free ports 80 and 443.

If a project fails to start, check the log viewer. The most common cause after a ServBay migration is a PHP version not installed in PortBay. Install missing versions via Settings → Languages.