Parallels Business Automation Standard - 4.3 User Manual
Parallels
Parallels Business
Automation Standard
Provider's guide
Release 4.3
(c) 1999-2013
Copyright Notice
Parallels IP Holdings GmbH
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8200 Schaffhausen
Switzerland
Tel: + 41 52 632 0411
Fax: + 41 52 672 2010
Copyright © 1999-2013 Parallels IP Holdings GmbH. and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
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technology, patents, and trademarks are listed at http://www.parallels.com/trademarks
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All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Preface 10
About This Guide ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Audience .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Typographi cal Convent i ons ............................................................................................................. 10
Feedback .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 12
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Advantages .............................................................................. 12
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Users ........................................................................................ 15
Browsers Compatible with Pa rallels Business Automation - Standard ...................................................... 15
Connecting to Parallels Business Automation - Standard Browser-Based Tools ....................................... 16
Parallels Business Automation - Standard I nterface Features .................................................................... 16
Navigation................................................................................................................................................... 16
Main Screen ................................................................................................................................................ 17
Adding a Comment to the Parallels Business Automation - Standard Object ............................................ 18
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 19
Checking Provider Account Contacts ......................................................................................................... 20
Setting Up Access Permission s for Parallels Business Automation - Standard Users ................................ 21
Setting Up Messenger and S/MIME Signing for E-mail ............................................................................ 23
Selecting Regional Settings ........................................................................................................................ 24
Language ......................................................................................................................................... 24
Default Time Zone .......................................................................................................................... 24
First Day of Week ........................................................................................................................... 24
Currency .......................................................................................................................................... 24
Available Languages ....................................................................................................................... 25
Customizing the Onscreen Help in Control Panel ...................................................................................... 25
Securing the Parallel s Business Automation - Standard Tools Using SSL ................................................. 26
Getting the SSL Certificate .............................................................................................................. 27
Enabling SS L for Parallels Business Automation - Standard Tools ................................................ 27
Managing Parallels Business Automation - Standard Services and Data Center 28
Registering Virtuozzo or Plesk Nodes ........................................................................................................ 30
Plesk Nodes Specific Settings ..................................................................................................................... 32
Virtuozzo Nodes Specific Settings ............................................................................................................. 35
Managing Parallels Server Nodes ............................................................................................................... 35
Registering Parallels Server Nodes ................................................................................................. 36
Managing Virtual Machines ............................................................................................................ 37
Managing Parallels Automation Services ................................................................................................... 38
Parallels Automation Integrati on Guidelines ................................................................................... 39
I. Configuring PA Node................................................................................................................... 39
II. Registering PA Node in PBAS. .................................................................................................. 39
III. Creating Service Template(s) in POA. ...................................................................................... 39
IV. Synchronizing POA Service Templates. ................................................................................... 39
V. Creating POA Hosting Plan. ....................................................................................................... 39
Managing Parallels Automation Nodes ........................................................................................... 40
Managing PA Subscriptions ............................................................................................................ 51
PA Synchro nization Setup ............................................................................................................... 52
Sitebuilder Management ............................................................................................................................. 52
Sitebuilder Services Provisioning .................................................................................................... 54
Connecting Sitebuilder Nodes ......................................................................................................... 56
Setting Up Sitebuilder ..................................................................................................................... 57
Managing Sitebuilder Nodes ........................................................................................................... 58
Managing Sitebuilder Plans ............................................................................................................. 59
Managing Sitebuilder Sites .............................................................................................................. 60
Managing Dedicated Servers ...................................................................................................................... 61
Registering Data Centers ................................................................................................................. 62
Registering Racks in Data Centers .................................................................................................. 62
Registeri ng Switches ....................................................................................................................... 63
Registering Dedicated Server .......................................................................................................... 64
Activating Dedicated Server Subscription ....................................................................................... 66
Managing Nodes by Groups ....................................................................................................................... 67
Selling Licenses .......................................................................................................................................... 68
Managing Key Administrator Plug-Ins............................................................................................ 69
Selecting License Classes to Provide .............................................................................................. 70
Managing Licenses .......................................................................................................................... 71
Allocating IP Addresses .............................................................................................................................. 76
Supervising Service Le vel .......................................................................................................................... 77
Configuri ng Traffic Classes ........................................................................................................................ 78
Setting Up Domains Registration 80
How to Start Registering Dom a ins Online ................................................................................................. 80
Configuri ng Domain Registratio n Plug-Ins ................................................................................................ 81
Top Level Domains Assignment ................................................................................................................ 82
Setting Registrar Prices ............................................................................................................................... 83
Selecting Both the Default Domain and the Domain for Trial Containers Hostnames ............................... 86
Allowing Domain Transfer P er Registrar TLDs ......................................................................................... 87
Configuri ng Default Records for Zone Files (DNS Templates) ................................................................. 88
Specifying Name Server Sets...................................................................................................................... 89
Registering Name Servers ............................................................................................................... 89
Managing Name Server ................................................................................................................... 90
Changing Name Server Type........................................................................................................... 90
Registering Internationalized Domain Names ............................................................................................ 92
Adjusting D NS General S ettings ................................................................................................................ 93
Managing Contacts Used for Domain Registration .................................................................................... 96
Specifying Whois Servers ........................................................................................................................... 97
Setting Up HTTP Whois Search ...................................................................................................... 97
Viewing Incoming and Outgoing Domain Registration E-mails ................................................................ 98
Setting Up Billing System 99
Understanding the Parallels B usiness Automation - Standard Billing System ......................................... 100
Calculations for the Services Provided .......................................................................................... 102
System-Wide Billing Settings ................................................................................................................... 102
Invoice Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 103
Consolidated Invoices Processing ................................................................................................. 105
Pricing and Discounts ............................................................................................................................... 107
Managing Prices ............................................................................................................................ 108
Setting Credit Terms ................................................................................................................................. 109
Configuri ng Taxation ................................................................................................................................ 111
Configuri ng Fraud Pr otection ................................................................................................................... 112
Adjusting Anti-Fraud Plug-ins General Settings ........................................................................... 112
Managing Accounts and Documents Held Up by Anti-Fraud Filters ............................................ 113
Configuri ng Credit Car d Payment Plug-ins .............................................................................................. 115
What Payment Plug-Ins are Available ........................................................................................... 115
How to Configure a Payment Plug-In ........................................................................................... 115
Activatin g Payment Plug-Ins and Making Them Available for Resellers ..................................... 115
Security With CVV and AVS ........................................................................................................ 116
Configuri ng Bank Tra nsfer Payment Plug-ins .......................................................................................... 117
Using Specific Accounting ....................................................................................................................... 118
Russian Accounting Options ......................................................................................................... 119
Managing Payment Methods 121
Configuri ng Encryption for Payment Methods ......................................................................................... 122
Managing Recurring P ayments ................................................................................................................. 123
How a Payment Method Can be Added .................................................................................................... 124
Managing Credit Cards ............................................................................................................................. 124
How to Start Accepting Credit Card s ............................................................................................ 125
Managing Bank Accounts ......................................................................................................................... 126
How to Start Accepting Bank Transfers ........................................................................................ 126
Adding Bank Account Manually ................................................................................................... 126
Changing Bank Account Attributes in Parallels Business Automation - Standard Database ........ 127
Viewing Transaction Log ......................................................................................................................... 128
Removing a Payment Method ................................................................................................................... 128
Managing Hosting Plans 129
Hosting Plans Categories .......................................................................................................................... 130
Hosting Plan Groups ................................................................................................................................. 131
Hosting Plan Types ................................................................................................................................... 133
Hosting Plan Resources ............................................................................................................................ 134
Creating Hosting Plans ............................................................................................................................. 135
Creating POA Hosting Plan ........................................................................................................... 138
Upgrading Hosting Pla ns .......................................................................................................................... 140
Adding Custom Services to a Ho sting Plan .............................................................................................. 142
Managing Hosting Pla ns by Versions ....................................................................................................... 144
Creating a Hosting Plan on the Basi s of an Existing One ......................................................................... 145
Promoting Hosting Plans .......................................................................................................................... 145
Calculations for the Hosting Plan Change ................................................................................................ 146
Managing Online Store 147
New Store Configuration Basics ............................................................................................................... 150
Hosting Plans Presentation and Purchase Wizard ......................................................................... 150
Domains Registration Feature s ...................................................................................................... 154
Opening the New Store.................................................................................................................. 154
Switching Between the Old and the New Store ............................................................................. 155
Enable New Store for Resellers ..................................................................................................... 155
Configuri ng and Opening Store ................................................................................................................ 156
Managing Resellers' Stores ....................................................................................................................... 156
For the Old Store: Customizing Store U sing File Manager ...................................................................... 157
Managing Accounts 163
Users ......................................................................................................................................................... 164
User Roles ................................................................................................................................................. 164
Permissions ............................................................................................................................................... 164
Creating Accounts .................................................................................................................................... 165
Entering Use r Agreeme nt ......................................................................................................................... 166
Assigning a Tax Zone ............................................................................................................................... 168
Granting a Discount .................................................................................................................................. 169
Adjusting Account Balance ...................................................................................................................... 170
Viewing the Account Billing History ....................................................................................................... 170
Managing the Set of Events a Customer Receives E-Mail Notifications .................................................. 171
Managing Account Contacts by Versions ................................................................................................. 172
Changing a Customer Billing Da y ............................................................................................................ 173
Managing Resellers 175
Entering Reseller Agr eement .................................................................................................................... 175
Managing Pre-Defined Reseller Configurations ....................................................................................... 176
Creating Reseller Account ........................................................................................................................ 177
Assigning Partner Discount to Reseller Account ...................................................................................... 180
Assigning Discount to Reseller Account .................................................................................................. 181
Hiding Reseller's URL .............................................................................................................................. 182
Creating Hosting Plan for Rese lle r ........................................................................................................... 183
Managing Receivables 184
Understanding Parallels B usiness Auto mation - Standard Billing Wor kflow .......................................... 185
Viewing and Operating Receivables ......................................................................................................... 186
Processing Offline P ayments and Changing Payment Method ..................................................... 187
Increasing Accounts Balance by Online Payment or Bank Transfer ............................................. 188
Editing Orders and Invoices .......................................................................................................... 189
Issuing Invoices Manua lly ............................................................................................................. 189
Reopening Cutoff Invoi ces ............................................................................................................ 190
Processing Documents Paid by Credit Cards ............................................................................................ 190
Setting Transactions Approval and Processing Mode .................................................................. 191
Processing Document s Paid by Bank Transfers........................................................................................ 193
Refunding Documents Paid by Credit Cards ............................................................................................ 194
Recreating Orders With Updated Tax Rates ............................................................................................. 194
Managing Statements ................................................................................................................................ 195
Printing out Documents ............................................................................................................................ 196
Managing Subscriptions 197
Understanding Subscription Types and Statuses ...................................................................................... 198
Renewing Subscriptions ........................................................................................................................... 200
Managing Subscription Grace Period ....................................................................................................... 201
Terminating Subscriptions ........................................................................................................................ 202
Changing Account for Subscription .......................................................................................................... 203
Upgrading Dedicated Third-Party Subscriptions ...................................................................................... 204
Sending Subscription Notification ............................................................................................................ 204
Synchronizing Customer System With Subscription ................................................................................ 205
Managing Resold Subscriptions ............................................................................................................... 205
Managing Subscription Attrib utes ............................................................................................................ 209
Managing Payables in Reseller Control Center 210
Viewing Balance of Reseller Account Payable ........................................................................................ 211
Increasing Reseller Account Balance ....................................................................................................... 211
Managing Financial Documents Issued by HSP ....................................................................................... 212
Managing Orders ........................................................................................................................... 212
Paying HSP Invoices ..................................................................................................................... 213
Viewing Payments ......................................................................................................................... 213
Viewing Adj ust me nts .................................................................................................................... 214
Viewing Statements Issued by HSP .......................................................................................................... 214
Viewing Billing Reports 215
Accountin g R eports .................................................................................................................................. 216
Taxation Reports ....................................................................................................................................... 217
Managing Containers 218
Managing Both OS and Application Templates for Containers................................................................ 218
Managing Standard Templates ...................................................................................................... 219
Managing EZ Templates ............................................................................................................... 220
Importing Templates from Hardware Nodes ................................................................................. 221
Removing Application Template from Hardware Node ................................................................ 221
Application Template Prop e rties ................................................................................................... 222
OS Templates ................................................................................................................................ 226
Managing Container Applications Upgrades ................................................................................. 227
Creating More Application T emplates .......................................................................................... 227
Setting Up Both Trial Containers and Co ntainers Backups Creatio n ....................................................... 228
Keeping Container Root Passwords in Parallels Business Automation - Standard Database ................... 228
Backups Management ............................................................................................................................... 229
Creating Container .................................................................................................................................... 230
Operating Co nta i ner .................................................................................................................................. 232
Migrating Container ...................................................................................................................... 234
Repairing Container ....................................................................................................................... 236
Recreating Container With Ability to Change OS ......................................................................... 237
Managing Plesk Clients and Domains 238
Setting Up Trial Plesk Do mains Cre a tion ................................................................................................. 239
Plesk Applications Vault Mana gement ..................................................................................................... 240
Creating a Plesk Domain .......................................................................................................................... 242
Creating a Plesk Client ............................................................................................................................. 243
Managing Domains 245
Configuri ng Domain Registratio n Plug-Ins .............................................................................................. 247
Understanding Domains Management in Parallels Business Automat ion - Standard............................... 249
Registeri ng a Domain fr om Control Center .............................................................................................. 251
Selecting Both the Default Domain and the Domain for Trial Containers Hostnames ............................. 252
Promoting Domains Registration .............................................................................................................. 253
Transferring or Registering Domains in Parallels Business Automation - Standard ................................ 254
Sorting Out D omains Transferred Away .................................................................................................. 257
Domain General Information .................................................................................................................... 258
Managing DNS Records Suppliers ........................................................................................................... 261
Managing a Domain Zone File ................................................................................................................. 261
Updating Domain Owner Contacts ........................................................................................................... 261
Managing SSL Certificates 262
Configuri ng SS L Cert i fica tes Plug-Ins ..................................................................................................... 263
Managing SSL Certificates Pro visioning .................................................................................................. 264
Editing or Re-Issuing Certifica te ................................................................................................... 265
Managing Certificate Contacts ...................................................................................................... 268
Viewing SSL Certificates Transaction Log .............................................................................................. 269
Support and Administration 270
Using the Problem Viewer ........................................................................................................................ 270
Trouble Ticket System .............................................................................................................................. 271
Configuri ng Parallels Business Automation - Standard Trouble Tic ket Syste m ........................... 271
Using the Screens Viewer ......................................................................................................................... 273
Using the Mass Mailer .............................................................................................................................. 273
Managing Parallels Business A utomation - Standard Objects Description Templates ............................. 274
Managing Events ...................................................................................................................................... 275
Service Logging In to Resellers and Customers Tools ............................................................................. 277
Using the Maintenance Mode for your Hardware Nodes ......................................................................... 277
Managing the User Password Strength ..................................................................................................... 277
Updating Parallels Business Automation - Standard ................................................................................ 278
Monitoring the Vital Services Status ............................................................................................. 280
Checking Paralle ls Business Automation - Standard Database Integrity .................................................. 281
Setting the Statistics Storage Per iod ......................................................................................................... 283
Tasks Management ................................................................................................................................... 283
Viewing Log Files .................................................................................................................................... 284
Log Level Set tings ......................................................................................................................... 284
Using the Action Log .................................................................................................................... 285
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Profiling ...................................................................... 286
XML-Based Data Import and Export........................................................................................................ 286
Resolving Data Conflicts 287
Resolving Container Subscript ions Registration Conflicts ....................................................................... 288
Synchronizing the Plesk Subscription on a Node and in Parallels Busi ness Auto mation - Standard
Database .................................................................................................................................................... 289
Resolving Parallels Automatio n Conflicts ................................................................................................ 290
Resolve PA Subscriptions not Registered in PBAS ...................................................................... 291
Resolve PA Subscriptions Registere d in PBAS but Absent in PA ................................................ 292
Marketing and Affiliate Programs 293
Managing Campaigns ............................................................................................................................... 293
Configuri ng Ca mpa i gns ................................................................................................................. 294
Managing Affiliates ....................................................................................................................... 299
Managing Affiliates Payment Requests ......................................................................................... 303
Viewing Campaigns Report ........................................................................................................... 304
Setting Up External Payments Li mitations .................................................................................... 305
Configuri ng your Store to Collect Referrals Statistics .............................................................................. 305
Customizing the Parallels Business Automation - Standard Tools Appearance ....................................... 306
Customizing Customer Control Panel Skin ................................................................................... 307
Customizing Provide r Control Center Skin ................................................................................... 308
Applying S kins .............................................................................................................................. 310
Integration and Customization Opportunities 311
Parallels Business Automation - Standard API and Customization .......................................................... 311
Application Templates Creati on ............................................................................................................... 312
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Internal Licensing 313
Installing License Certificates................................................................................................................... 314
PBAS License Details ............................................................................................................................... 315
Getting Technical Support 317
An Overvie w of Parallels Technica l Support............................................................................................ 317
Questions for Technical Suppor t .............................................................................................................. 317
How to Send Support Questions ............................................................................................................... 318
Index 319
10
About This Guide .................................................................................................................. 10
Items you must select, such
as menu options, command
Titles of chapters, sections,
C
HAPTER
1
Preface
In This Chapter
About This Guide
This Guide describes the most important and frequently-used Parallels Business Automation Standard working scenarios including initial settings for the system.
Note: The PDF-version of this Guide is an overview of the Parallels Business Automation Standard overall functionality and is not to be used as a thorough howto. For details see contextsensitive HTML help (the Help link at the upper right corner of every screen).
Audience
This gu ide is addressed to Hosting Service Providers and helps both to evaluate the product and
get acquainted with Parallels Business Automation - Standard.
T ypographical Conventions
Before you start using this guide, it is important to understand the documentation conventions
used in it.
The following kinds of formatting in the text identify special information.
Formatting convention Type of Information Example
Special Bold
buttons, or items in a list.
and subsect ions.
Go to the System tab.
Read the Basic Administration
chapter.
Preface 11
Italics
Used to emphasize the
importance of a point, to
introduce a term or to
designate a command line
is to be
The names of commands,
The license file is located in
Preformatted
other programming
# ls –al /files
Preformatted Bold
What you type, contrasted
screen computer
# cd /root/rpms/php
Names of keys on the
Key combinations for which
the user must press and hold
Monospace
placeholder, which
replaced with a real name or
value.
files, directories, and do main
names.
The system supports the so
called wildcard character
search.
the
http://docs/common/
licenses directory.
CAPITALS
KEY+KEY
On-screen computer output in
your command-line sessions;
source code in XML, C++, or
languages.
with onoutput.
keyboard.
down one ke y and the n press
another.
total 14470
SHIFT, C TRL, ALT
CTRL+P, ALT+F4
Feedback
If you have found a mistake in this guide, or if you have suggestions or ideas on how to improve
this guide, please send your feedback using the online form at
http://www.parallels.com/en/support/usersdoc/. Please include in your report the guide's title,
chapter and section titles, and the fragment of text in which you have found an error.
12
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Interface Features............................................... 16
Parallels Plesk Control Panel
and Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder
Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder
C
HAPTER
2
Meet the Parallels Business Automation Standard
Parallels Business Automation - Standard is an end-to-end solution for h os ting service providers
(HSPs) and Internet Data Centers covering full life-cycle of HSP/IDC operations. Parallels
Business Automation - Standard allows HSPs to drastically decrease the cost of operating
hosting business while increasing revenues, developing new reseller channels, and improving
usage of hardware and personnel resources.
In This Chapter
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Advantages ........................................................ 12
Parallels Business Automation - Standard Users .................................................................. 15
Browsers Compatible with Parallels Business Automation - Standard ................................ 15
Connecting to Parallels Business Automation - Standard Browser-Based Tools ................. 16
Parallels Business Automation Standard Advant ages
Parallels Business Automation - Standard includes everything a company needs to run a
successful and profitable hosting business from advanced technology and tools to manage your
servers and overall infrastructure to billing, sales channel management, and e-commerce
application:
The full range of services supported:
Domain registration
Plesk Domain hosting
Virtuozzo Container hosting
licenses
support
Dedicated servers for resellers
Dedicated or Co-location
Miscellaneous
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 13
Powerful Container
IPs allocation and DNS
Integrated trouble ticketing and
Maintenance automation and
Discounts, promotions, coupon
Customizable notifications and
Credit Cards processing through over 30 payment gateways (new added
Complete infrastructure management:
management
administration
Flexible self-provisioning
Integrated complete billing solution:
Customizable online store
Country-specific accounting
Automated recurring invoicing
Private label resellers
monthly):
Server-/client-side backups
External Helpdesks support
more
codes
Taxation with tax exemption
Automated upgrades/downgrades
more
integrated with fraud screening
flexible manual approval rules
refunds, reversals, credits
sensitive data is encrypted
delayed capture
CVV/AVS verification and more
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 14
source and commercial
Application templates creation
Bank transfer payments for German (DTAUS), Spanish (Norma 19), and Netherlands
(ClieOp3) standards: flexible batch management with approval queues.
Domain registrations through over 25 domain registrars (new added monthly):
Wide range of Operating Systems and Applications for Container hosting:
Centralized management
Automated upgrades
Over 50 applications
Easy customization and integration:
Customizable PHP based store
Notifications custom ization
Customizable menu items
Colors, logos, page content
Create your own plug-ins
Redhat, Fedora, Suse, Debian
Open-
applications
Game servers and more
guide
Powerful API
Advanced multi-language
support
XML data export/import tools
Everything in one box!
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 15
Parallels Business Automation Standard Users
The following Account types exist within Parallels Business Automation - Standard:
Provider Account (only one Account of such type can exist). This Account is registered
during Parallels Business Automation - Standard installation and it always has the ID=1. All
registered persons that have role in Provider Account are considered as Provider staff
members with particular access permissions to Parallels Business Automation - Standard
Provid e r C on trol Center. The number of Provider staff members that can concurrently log in
to the Provider Control Center is defined by the Parallels Business Automation - Standard
license.
Reseller Account. Reseller Accounts are registered using the Account Director > Reseller
Manager. The number of Reseller Accounts is defined in the Parallels Business Automation
- Standard License. All registered persons that have role in Reseller Account are considered
as Reseller staff members with particular access permissions to Parallels Business
Automation - Standard Reseller Control Center.
Customer Account. Customer Accounts are being registered using the Account Director >
Customer Manager. Customer Accounts can be of two types: personal or business. All
persons associated with Customer Account have access to Parallels Business Automation Standard Control Panels.
Browsers Compatible with Paral l els Business Automation - Standard
The following browsers are fully compatible with Parallels Business Automation - Standard
web-based tools:
Firefox 3.6 and above
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and above
Safari 5.0 and above for Mac
Google Chrome 8.0 and above
Note 1: Pop-up blocking in your browser should be disabled.
Note 2: Session and permanent cookies in your browser should be enabled.
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 16
Connecting to Parallels Business
Automation - Standard BrowserBased Tools
To connect to the Parallels Business Automation - Standard tools, enter into your browser the
Management Node hostname and append the tool index (http://hostname/index). If no
tool index is specified, then nothing to be appended to open the tool:
Tool Tool index
Public Site
Old Online Store hspc
New Online St ore shop
Provider Control Center pcc
Reseller Control Center rcc
Control Panel cp
My Control Panel mycp
The SSL protocol can be enabled separately for each of Parallels Business Automation Standard web-based tools. The SSL configuration is available both in Provider and Reseller
Control Centers.
Note: To connect to the My Control Panel, it is necessary to create a Container subscription, log
in to the Control Panel, then create a user (if System Administrator Control Panel Application is
installed inside Container) or a mailbox in multiple domains (if Workgroup Administrator
Control Panel is installed inside Container). After this you can log in to the My Control Panel
with the e-mail address as a login and a user regula r password.
Parallels Business Automation Standard Inter f ace Features
Navigation
To use one or another Parallels Business Automation - Standard component or tool, please use
the namespace tree located in the left pane.
Control Centers specific:
You can hide/display the namespace tree by clicking on the slider at the vertical bar that
separates the left and the right parts of the screen.
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 17
When you start your Parallels Business Automation - Standard session, the path (chain of links)
appears at the top of the screen. These links provide the "breadcrumb navigation" and show you
the path to your actual location within the Parallels Business Automation - Standard. By
clicking on these links, you can be one or more (depending on your location) levels up.
Main Screen
The right pane of Parallels Business Automation - Standard screen serves for operating
components selected from the namespace tree. The main screen shows the Parallels Business
Automation - Standard Directors' or Managers' dashboards, lists of objects, single objects'
properties, or other related data.
Each Parallels Business Automation - Standard component (Director or Manager) has its own
dashboard. Moreover, the Parallels Business Automation - Standard has its dashboard that may
be considered as 30,000-foot view of tools and operations. So, a dashboard is the Parallels
Business Automation - Standard component 'front-page' that provides you with the most
important statistics and a place to start including:
Shortcuts to the lists of objects.
Information about the number of objects with separate counters for the objects in different
states like Active Accounts, Accounts on Hold, Running Containers, etc.
Shortcuts for the creation of new objects that fall into the functionality of Parallels Business
Automation - Standard component selected.
To facilitate operating the lists of objects you can use:
Search particular item within the list or filter the items by a particular property. The Search
and filter bar is located at the top of each list.
Hide/Show search and filter bars, action bars, tables and create/edit forms sections. Their
hide/show status is retained throughout the session.
Change Sorting Order. To this effect, click on the column-heading you want to sort by. In
this case, the special pointer (small triangle) appears at the top of each column. This triangle
indicates current sorting order: peak-up or peak-down for ascending and descending order
respectively. Repeating click on the same link in column-heading changes sorting order
from ascending to descending (and conversely) within single property.
Change List Size. It is possible to set the listing to 20, 40, or 80 items per page. Appropriate
links are above the list, to the right. Special links for viewing pages (page numbers,
next,last) are also provided and you can find them both at the beginning and the end of the
list.
Export lists to Excel. Parallels Business Automation - Standard allows you to export data
from any list in Parallels Business Automation - Standard to Excel, thus facilitating data
operations. The information is exported from the whole list, not only from the visible part.
For example, if you have set the listing to 40 items per page and the whole list includes 100
entries, you will get an excel format document covering 100 items. The
icon is located above and under the lists.
Set columns visibility. You can choose the columns to be displayed in the list tables by
clicking on the
entries in the drop-down menu. You are also allowed to set the columns order by drag-anddropping the column titles.
icon above and under the list and enabling/disabling the corresponding
Export to Excel
Meet the Parallels Business Automation - Standard 18
In order to immediately bring the screen content in correspondence with actual state of affairs,
you can Refresh the screen using the button located at the upper right corner of the screen.
The Help button located at the upper right corner of each screen shows the context-sensitive
HTML help.
Screen ID is located at the upper-right corner of each screen. Screen ID allows to refer to a
screen for customization purposes or in the problem report. In addition, each screen ID is a
clickable link that leads the the Screens Viewer and allows getting a screen alias immediately.
Adding a Comment to the Parallels Business Automation - Standard Object
You can add a free-form comment to almost any of Parallels Business Automation - Standard
object. To this effect click on the Add comment link at the upper-right c orne r of an objec t vie w
form.
19
Securing the Parallels Business Automation - Standard Tools Using SSL ........................... 26
C
HAPTER
3
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard
When you log in to the Parallels Business Automation - Standard Provider or Reseller Control
Center first time, the Setup Wizard helps you to make the most important initial settings.
Please check the initial configuration of the Parallels Business Automation - Standard
installation:
Submit/edit the company name and sender e-mail address (messenger) used in notifications.
Set data retention rules both for system events (on page 275) and logs (on page 284).
Make the regional settings including the interface language, set the first day of week
(monday or sunday), the default time zone to bound system events and logs, select the
system-wide currency.
Set up secure communications (turn on SSL, generate CSR, install signed secure
certificate).
In addition, to facilitate the operations (like domain registration) performed on behalf of the
default Provider account created in Parallels Business Automation - Standard (for Provider
Control Center users only), it is necessary to check and adjust if needed, the contact information
containing in the default Provider account.
Note: The special Getting Started checklist is provided for Resellers.
In This Chapter
Checking Provider Account Contacts ................................................................................... 20
Setting Up Access Permissions for Parallels Business Automation - Standard Users .......... 21
Setting Up Messenger and S/MIME Signing for E-mail ...................................................... 23
Selecting Regional Settings................................................................................................... 24
Customizing the Onscreen Help in Control Panel ................................................................ 25
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 20
Checking Provider Account Contacts
Please fill all the fields in the default Accounts’ profile (contacts, etc.). This is necessary for
successful domains registration since the information from an Account profile is being
transferred to a Registrar if you, for example, decide to register a domain (on page 251) for one
of your own accounts.
Note: Editing the Account profile and contacts does not mean creation of new Parallels
Business Automation - Standard Users. In other words, it does not affect login credentials.
To edit the Provider Account contacts, click the topmost item in the Navigation tree (in the left
pane) and select the Company Profile tab and then click the Contacts tab.
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 21
Setting Up Access Permissio ns for
Parallels Business Automation Standard Users
To log in to Parallels Business Automation - Standard, a registered user must have a role in one
of accounts registered in Parallels Business Automation - Standard. This role gains a user
particular access permissions to particular Parallels Business Automation - Standard tools. It is
possible to set permissions only if a user is associated with a particular account. Users that are
not associated with an account cannot log in to Parallels Business Automation - Standard tools.
In Parallels Business Automation - Standard, editable access permissions are set for Control
Center users only. Customers that have access to Control Panel can gain only one role
(Customer Administrator) that allows working in Control Panel, and in this case the set of tools
available depends on the applications included in customer's subscription, but not on the role.
For the clean installation, there is a set of default roles both for Provider and Reseller staff
members (i.e., registered users under Provider or Reseller account).
Provider can edit access permissions for every role and add new roles both for Provider staff
members and Reseller staff m em bers.
Resellers can only view the access permissions set for each Reseller staff role.
Basic Notions
Users
Users (staff members, customers, and resellers) permissions are identified by Accounts. Each
person is associated with one Account and may have different sets of access permissions within
that Account. An Account can have multiple Users associated with it. Staff members are users
registered within the Provider Account.
User Roles
Roles are assigned to a User within the Account. A Role defines a set of access permissions to
the Parallels Business Automation - Standard tools. In the Parallels Business Automation Standard there are three customizable roles for Provider staff members and three for Reseller
staff members. The set of permissions in each Role is defined by Provider. Customers get the
default and non-customizable role of Control Panel Administrator.
Permissions
Permissions are assigned per Role, not per individual user. Permissions are assigned separately
to Roles available for HSP staff members and Resellers.
How Permissions Control is Organiz ed
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 22
Only Provider can edit access permissions from the Parallels Business Automation - Standard
Provid er contr ol Center. And the Reseller Control Center allows Resellers to view permissions
set for Reseller staff members roles (Operations Administrator, Sales and Marketing,
Accountant, etc.) by Provider.
Resellers can read this section to get acquainted with the Parallels Business Automation Standard security model and the mechanism of roles assignment.
Account is the basic Parallels Business Automation - Standard security notion. All operations
performed within the system are connected with different Accounts. A person registe red wit hin
an Account can gain the certain access permissions to Parallels Business Automation - Standard
tools, depending on the type of Account.
The following Account types exist in Parallels Business Automation - Standard system:
Provider Account (only one Account of such type can exist in your Parallels Business
Automation - Standard system). This Account is created during the Parallels Business
Automation - Standard installation. All persons associated with Provider Account are
considered as Provider staff members with particular access permissions to Parallels
Business Automation - Standard Provider Control Center. The number of Provider staff
members that can concurrently log in to the Provider Control Center is defined by the
Parallels Business Automation - Standard license.
Reseller Account. Reseller Accounts are registered using the Account Director > Reseller
Manager. The number of Reseller Accounts is defined in the Parallels Business Automation
- Standard License. All persons associated with Reseller Account are considered as Reseller
staff members and can be granted a particular role (i.e., access permissions) within Parallels
Business Automation - Standard Reseller Control Center.
Customer Account. Customer Accounts are registered using the Account Director >
Customer Manager. Customer Accounts can be of two types: personal or business. All
persons associated with Customer Account have access to Parallels Business Automation Standard Control Panels.
Access permissions per user role can be set in the Configuration Director > Security Manager.
Roles per account can be assigned registered persons in the Configuration Director > Security
Manager > All Users. Select a user and then select the Accounts tab.
Figure 1: PBAs Security Model
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 23
Setting Up Messenger and S/MIME Signing for E-mail
Parallels Business Automation - Standard provides an opportunity to automatically generate and
send e-mail notifications to Provider Administrator and other HSP staff members (for example,
about resources overusage or nodes outages) or to HSP Customers (for example, if Subscription
period is about to expire). The set of events that can be followed by e-mail notifications is readonly and defined in the Event Manager (on page 275). The component that automatically
generates and sends e-mail notifications is called 'Messenger'. Notifications themselves may be
configured for a certain number of events that take place within Parallels Business Automation Standard system and tracked by the Event Manager.
Each message (including automatically generated ones) shall have the 'From' field. For
automatically-sent messages (or notifications) the 'From' field should contain the sender name
and e-mail of a messenger. In addition, you can enable or disable e-mail notifications sending
and select the e-mail messages encoding (character set). Finally, you can configure e-mail
messages S/MIME signing. To set the messenger, go to the Configuration Director >
Miscellaneous Settings > E-Mail Setup.
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 24
Selecting Regional Settings
To make regional settings, go to the Configuration Director > Miscellaneous Settings > Regional
Settings.
The regional settings include:
The language;
The default time zone;
The calendar settings (the first day of week);
The system-wide currency.
Selecting languages available for your customers to switch the interface.
Language
The language setting allows you to set the system-wide language of the Parallels Business
Automation - Standard interface.
Default Time Zone
In respect to registration of the events that happen within the system, the Parallels Business
Automation - Standard database is bound to GMT. This means that automatically-generated
notifications and system messages (for example, about subscriptions expiration dates) may
occur to be hardly understandable for the customers that reside in the other time zones.
Thus, the Parallels Business Automation - Standard provides an opportunity of setting different
time zones for different Customers (or Resellers). This can be done during creation of a new
Account or later. The special time zone can be set for each user associated with an Account.
After this, all the time-related data (in Action Log, Event Manager, or automatically-generated
notifications) will be bound to the User’s time zone, without the need for him (or her) to
recalculate time.
However, if most of your prospect customers will reside in the single time zone, it is quite
reasonable to set default time zone for the newly registered persons.
First Day of Week
You can select the day a week starts. For example, this setting is used when setting the weekly
time interval in the Billing Reports (on page 216) view.
Currency
You can set the system-wide currency (for all financial documents and Hosting Plan prices).
Resellers can set the own currency and enter the cross rate between the Provider currency and
Reseller currency. This feature is very useful for selling through international channels as well
as having separate branches in different countries around the world.
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 25
Note: Parallels Business Automation - Standard is a single-currency system. In other words
automatic currency recalculations are not available. If you change the system-wide currency,
you will have the unified currency sign, fractional part format, etc., however you will need to
recalculate all prices manually. For example, most of domain-registration Plug-Ins support US
Dollar only as an accounting currency. Thus, in order to update domain-registration prices
correctly the system-wide currency should be US Dollar by prices update, otherwise the new
prices will not be used in Parallels Business Automation - Standard billing.
Available Languages
Check the boxes next to language names to allow your customers to switch the interface into
these languages. The list of languages in this section is comprised of the languages shipped
within separate language packs with Parallels Business Automation - Standard kit and installed
during the Parallels Business Automation system configuration.
Customizing the Onscreen Help in Control Panel
Each screen of the Parallels Business Automation - Standard Control Panels is provided with a
short onscreen help topic.
If needed, you can edit the onscreen help topics for each screen of the Control Panels your
customers use. To this effect, login to the Control Panel (yourcompany.com/cp) using one of the
logins of your Provider Account (as a staff member). In this case, on almost every Control
Panel screen (excluding dashboards) a special "question-mark" icon appears at the upper right
corner of the screen.
Click
text appears. Type the text and click the Update button.
From the Provider Control Center you can hide or show the onscreen help and show/hide in the
source HTML of each Parallels Business Automation - Standard screen the special metatags
used to mark the Parallels Business Automation - Standard screen elements (called controls).
Usage of these metatags is described in details in the Parallels Business Automation - Standard
SDK.
at the screen you want to add a help topic for. The popup window with the help bar
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 26
Securing the Par al l els Business Automation - Standard Tools Using SSL
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) provides a level of security and privacy for those wishing to
conduct secure transactions over the Internet. Introduced to the Internet market by Netscape
Communications, the SSL protocol protects HTTP transmissions over the Internet by adding a
layer of encryption . This insures that your transactions are not subject to "sniffing" by a third
party.
SSL provides visitors of your website with the confidence to communicate securely via an
encrypted session. For companies wishing to conduct secure e-commerce, such as receiving
credit card numbers or other sensitive information online, SSL is essential.
Important: SSL Setup for Resellers
SSL certificate is generated per vendor domain name. For provider, this domain name is
Management Node hostname, by default.
Resellers use the same domain as their provider until a reseller URL is not hidden (on page
182). Thus, if a reseller with not hidden URL tries to generate an SSL Certificate request, the
same domain as provider's one will be used. This can corrupt provider's SSL settings. That is
why Parallels Business Automation - Standard does not allow SSL setup for resellers with not
hidden URL - the SSL Setup item is not available in RCC menu in this case.
To make SSL Setup available for a reseller, provider should do the following:
1. Hide reseller URL (on page 182) to provide a reseller with own domain name, which makes
it possible to generate an SSL Certificate for this reseller.
2. Make sure that Reseller Administrator permissions allow managing SSL. To this effect, go
to the Configuration Director > Security Manager > Setup, select Reseller Permissions tab,
and then select Reseller Administrator role. Open the Configuration Director > Miscellaneous
settings item and make sure that the SSL Setup check box is selected. After this, SSL setup
will become available for all resellers in Reseller Control Center.
General Configuration of Parallels Business Automation - Standard 27
Getting the SSL Certificate
For SSL to work a valid signed SSL certificate is required. Certificates are a standard way of
binding a public key to a name. Public key encryption is a technique that uses a pair of
asymmetric keys for encryption and decryption. Each pair of keys consists of a public key and a
private key. The public key is made public by distributing it widel y. The private key is never
distributed; it is always kept secret. Data that is encrypted with the public key can be decrypted
only with the private key. Conversely, data encrypted with the private key can be decrypted
only with the public key. This asymmetry makes public key cryptography so useful.
You can generate a self-signed certificate and use it for some time until the certificate “signed”
by a trusted external authority: VeriSign (http://www.verisign.com) or Thawte
(http://www.thawte.com) will be ready.
Note: Netscape and Mozilla browsers automatically detect whether a website uses encryption of
transmitted data or not (as for Internet Explorer, please encourage your website visitors who use
IE to use Internet Explorer 5.0 or later). Thus, if you use a self-signed certificate, your website
visitors will be notified that your website uses encryption, but the authority that signed a
certificate is not recognized. So if you intend to conduct e-commerce at your website, it is better
to obtain an SSL certificate signed by VeriSign or Thawte
To obtain the SSL certificate:
1. Generate Certificate Request in the Configuration Director > Miscellaneous Settings > SSL
Setup > Certificate Request tab.
2. After the Certificate request is generated, you can do one of the following:
Copy the Certificate Request and send it to the Certificate Authority to obtain the signed
Certificate and import it later;
Generate self-signed Certificate and use it for som e time.
3. Restart Apache on your Management Node. Please note that in this case your Management
Node will be not available for some time. So if you already have customers by the moment
of importing the SSL Certificate, your customer's Containers will also become offline till
Apache on your Management Node restarts.
Enabling SSL for Parallels Business Automation - Standard T ools
You can enable the SSL protocol separately for the Provider Control Center and Reseller
Control Canter, Control Panels, website, and your online store.
To enable the SSL protocol, go to the Configuration Director > Miscellaneous Settings > SSL
Setup. Select the the Enable SSL tab. You can enable the SSL prot ocol by c hecking t he Enable
SSL in Parallels Business Automation > Standard Web Tools boxes next to the name(s) of the
web tools (Control Centers, Control Panels, store, etc.).
28
C
HAPTER
4
Managing Parallels Business Automation
- Standard Services and Data Center
The tools for your Data Center management are collected under the Service Director.
In spite of the fact that Parallels Business Automation - Standard operates the virtual-server
farm, a Data Center should be understood in common sense, i.e., as a centralized storage facility
to retain database information related to decision-making processes.
In general, Parallels Business Automation - Standard Data Center activity includes the
following:
Servers (Nodes) management.
DNS and IP addresses management.
Service level managem ent.
The hardware configuration to run Parallels Business Automation - Standard includes one
computer for Management Node and two or more computers for Hardware Nodes.
A Management Node is a computer (or a specially configured Virtuozzo Container) used for
management. It runs services for web-based management interface and the database containing
information about customers and services. The Management Node also establishes connection
with domain registrars and payment gates.
A Hardware Node is a computer that runs the software (Virtuozzo, Plesk, etc.) that provides
services for customers or a third-party software (server lease, collocation or dedicated hosting).
Dedicated third-party servers can be grouped into racks. A rack in Parallels Business
Automation - Standard is a logical container, it is just a record in the Parallels Business
Automation - Standard database. Logical racks can follow the actual servers grouping at your
Data Center.
The Parallels Business Automation - Standard Data Center management tools allow managing
the following servers:
Servers that run Parallels Plesk Control Panel that can be used for Plesk Domains or Clients
provisioning for customers and sold as dedicated servers. Plesk servers can also be installed
inside Virtuozzo Containers.
Servers that run Parallels Virtuozzo Containers that can be used for Virtuozzo Containers
provisioning for customers and sold as dedicated servers.
Servers that run Parallels Server Bare Metal that can be used for Virtual Machines
provisioning.
Servers that run Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder allowing a HSP to sell Sitebuilder services.
Managing Parallels Business Automation - Standard Services and Data Center 29
Third-party servers (server lease, collocation, dedicated servers). These servers cannot be
managed directly from the Parallels Business Automation - Standard web-based interface,
but in this case, the Parallels Business Automation - Standard takes care of all the billing
matters including creation of dedicated subscription, charging a customer, issuing the
renewal order, sending notifications, etc.
In Parallels Business Automation - Standard, the Virtuozzo, Plesk, or Sitebuilder servers are
called Nodes. And third-party servers are called Servers.
Nodes and third-party servers can be registered and managed using the Service Director and,
depending on a server designation, using the Plesk Manager, Virtuozzo Manager, Parallels Server
Manager, Sitebuilder Manager, or Servers Manager for Plesk, Virtuozzo, Parallels Server Bare
Metal, Sitebuilder, or third-party serv ers resp ec tively .
Virtual Plesk Nodes (Parallels Plesk Control Panel installed inside a Virtuozzo Container) are
registered automatically as the Plesk nodes, after the Plesk Virtual Node subscription is
activated.
In This Chapter
Registering Virtuozzo or Plesk Nodes .................................................................................. 30
Plesk Nodes Specific Settings ............................................................................................... 32
Virtuozzo Nodes Specific Settings ........................................................................................ 35
Managing Parallels Server Nodes ......................................................................................... 35
Managing Parallels Automation Services ............................................................................. 38
Sitebuilder Management ....................................................................................................... 52
Managing Dedicated Servers ................................................................................................ 61
Managing Nodes by Groups ................................................................................................. 67
Selling Licenses .................................................................................................................... 68
Allocating IP Addresses ........................................................................................................ 76
Supervising Service Level..................................................................................................... 77
Configuring Traffic Classes .................................................................................................. 78
Managing Parallels Business Automation - Standard Services and Data Center 30
Registering Virtuozzo or Plesk Nodes
When a Virtuozzo or Plesk node is registered in Parallels Business Automation - Standard, this
means that a connection is established to this node and a certain data exchange is possible
between a node and the Parallels Business Automation - Standard database. To make a node
registration possible, a node must be up and running and available over a network.
Beginning with PBAS 4.1 Virtuozzo 4.6 is fully supported without compatibility mode.
A registered node may become unavailable because of outages on a node itself or network
connection loss. When a registered node becomes available, the connection is re-established
automatically.
It is possible to break the connection to a node (i.e., unregister it) by one click. It this case
connection to a node will remain established, but events on a node will stop synchronizing with
Parallels Business Automation - Standard database and thus, creation of new Containers or
Plesk Clients/Domains from Parallels Business Automation - Standard web-based interface will
become impossible.
Registered Virtuozzo nodes allow a wider range of operations: manage applications installed,
operate Containers (create new, start, stop, delete, etc.), manage Containers backups, manage
trial Containers creation settings, adjust traffic shaping and allow name-based Containers
creation (on page 35). Registered Plesk nodes allow viewing and adding new Plesk Clients or
Domains and setting permissions for trial Plesk Domains creation.
If Plesk Virtual node is registered, it is necessary to:
Make sure that Virtuozzo node that hosts Container for a Plesk Virtual node is registered in
PBAS.
After Plesk Virtual node registration, go to Service Director > Plesk Manger > Nodes, select
the node and:
Select Virtuozzo node name for a Plesk Virtual node from Hardware Node list.
Enter the ID of Virtuozzo Container where Plesk is installed into the CTID field.
To view the list of Virtuozzo or Plesk nodes connected to Parallels Business Automation Standard, click Nodes either on Virtuozzo Manager or Plesk Manager submenu under the Service
Director.
The list of nodes displays the following:
ID - Numerical identifier, assigned to the Hardware Node.
Shortname - Hardware node friendly name.
IP Address - Current IP address assigned to a node.
The number of subscriptions on a Hardware Node:
For Virtuozzo Nodes - the Accts column shows the number of Containers on a node. If
the number of Containers is limited, then the current number and the maximal allowed
number of Containers will be shown, e.g., "40 of 100" means that a node runs 40
Containers of the 100 allowed.
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