Parallels Plesk Panel - 11.0 Installation Manual

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Parallels® Panel

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Parallels IP Holdings GmbH

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Switzerland

Phone: +41 526320 411

Fax: +41 52672 2010

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Phone: +49 (89) 450 80 86 0

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Singapore

Phone: +65 6645 32 90

This product is protected by United States and international copyright laws. The product’s

underlying technology, patents, and trademarks are listed at http://www.parallels.com/trademarks.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Windows NT, Windows Vista, and MS-DOS are registered

trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Mac is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.

All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Contents

Preface 6

Typographical Conventions ........................................................................................................... 6

Feedback ....................................................................................................................................... 7

About This Document 8

Introduction 9

Installing Panel 10

Before Installing Panel ................................................................................................................ 11

1. Check Installation Requirements .................................................................................. 12

2. Choose a Release Tier ................................................................................................. 14

3. Choose Panel Components .......................................................................................... 16

4. (Advanced) Use Alternative Package Repositories ...................................................... 19

Manual Installation....................................................................................................................... 20

Installation from the Web Interface ................................................................................... 21

Installation from the Command Line ................................................................................. 22

Typical Installation with One-Click Installer ....................................................................... 22

(Advanced) Automated Installation ............................................................................................. 23

Running Automated Installations ...................................................................................... 25

Installation Script Examples (Linux) .................................................................................. 27

(Advanced) Installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers .......................................................... 28

Linux PVC Templates ....................................................................................................... 29

Installation on PVC for Linux ............................................................................................. 32

Windows PVC Templates ................................................................................................. 35

Installation on PVC for Windows ....................................................................................... 36

Post-Installation Setup ................................................................................................................ 38

Manual Post-Installation Setup ......................................................................................... 39

(Advanced) Automated Post-Installation Setup ................................................................ 40

Installing Third-Party Services 51

Web Deploy 2.0 ........................................................................................................................... 52

1. Install Web Deploy ........................................................................................................ 52

2. Improve the Security Level ............................................................................................ 53

3. Secure the Service with a Valid Certificate ................................................................... 53

4. Activate Web Deploy in Hosting Plans and Subscriptions ............................................ 53

Manual Installation of Web Deploy.................................................................................... 53

Adobe ColdFusion (Linux) ........................................................................................................... 54

Google Services for Websites ..................................................................................................... 55

Providing Access to Google Services on Websites .......................................................... 57

UNITY Mobile Services for Mobile Sites ..................................................................................... 59

Miva E-commerce Applications (Windows) ................................................................................. 60

Miva E-commerce Applications (Linux) ....................................................................................... 60

Installing Panel Extensions (Linux) 62

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Preface 4

Installing Additional License Keys for Panel Add-ons ................................................................. 63

(Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server 64

What Upgrade Way to Choose 65

In-Place Panel Upgrading 66

Before Upgrading Panel .............................................................................................................. 68

1. Check Requirements ..................................................................................................... 69

2. Perform Pre-Upgrade Check-Up ................................................................................... 70

3. Choose a Release Tier ................................................................................................. 70

Manual Upgrade .......................................................................................................................... 71

Upgrade from the Panel GUI (Panel 10 and later) ............................................................ 72

Upgrade from the Web Interface ....................................................................................... 72

Upgrade from the Command Line ..................................................................................... 75

(Advanced) Automated Upgrade ................................................................................................. 76

Running Automated Upgrades .......................................................................................... 78

Upgrade Script Examples (Linux) ..................................................................................... 80

(Advanced) Upgrade in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers .............................................................. 81

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Linux ................................................................................... 82

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Windows ............................................................................. 83

Post-Upgrade Setup .................................................................................................................... 84

Installing a License Key .................................................................................................... 85

Configuring Connections to Remote Panels of Earlier Versions ...................................... 86

Upgrading Panel by Transfer 87

Upgrading with Migration & Transfer Manager ........................................................................... 88

Preparing for Upgrade ....................................................................................................... 89

Performing Upgrade .......................................................................................................... 98

Upgrading Through Backup Files .............................................................................................. 100

Completing Upgrade from Panel 9 and Earlier Versions 104

Conversion Schemes and Recommended Steps ..................................................................... 105

Reseller Accounts ........................................................................................................... 105

Administrator's Clients and Their Domains ..................................................................... 106

Resellers' Clients and Their Domains ............................................................................. 107

Domains Belonging to Administrator ............................................................................... 108

Domains Belonging to Resellers ..................................................................................... 108

Completing the Transition ......................................................................................................... 109

Associating New Accounts and Subscriptions with Plans ......................................................... 111

Execution of Scripts via Cron Task Scheduler (Linux Hosting) ................................................. 111

Transferring Panel Data 113

Transferring Data with Migration & Transfer Manager .............................................................. 114

Preparing for Transfer ..................................................................................................... 115

Performing Transfer ........................................................................................................ 124

Transferring Data Through Backup Files .................................................................................. 126

Migrating to Panel 129

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Preface 5

Preparing for Migration .............................................................................................................. 131

cPanel ............................................................................................................................. 132

Confixx ............................................................................................................................ 136

Parallels Pro Control Panel for Linux .............................................................................. 142

Helm ................................................................................................................................ 146

Performing Migration ................................................................................................................. 161

Migrating from Parallels Small Business Panel ......................................................................... 163

Important Facts about Migration ..................................................................................... 163

Migration Scenarios ........................................................................................................ 165

Preparing for Migration from SBP ................................................................................... 165

Performing Migration from SBP ...................................................................................... 167

Troubleshooting 171

Troubleshooting Installation and Upgrade Issues ..................................................................... 172

Troubleshooting Migration and Transfer Issues ........................................................................ 173

Troubleshooting on Linux Systems ................................................................................. 174

Troubleshooting on Windows Systems ........................................................................... 176

Appendix A: Parallels Installer Options 178

Appendix B: Configuring Panel for Linux to Access Vendor Updates 181

Appendix C: Enabling Support for SecureLVE 182

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6 Preface

In this section:

Typographical Conventions ............................................................................... 6

Feedback .......................................................................................................... 7

Formatting convention

Type of Information

Example

Special Bold

Items you must select, such as menu options, command buttons, or items in a list.

Go to the System tab.

Titles of chapters, sections, and subsections.

Read the Basic Administration chapter.

Italics

Used to emphasize the importance of a point, to introduce a term or to designate a command line placeholder, which is to be replaced with a real name or value.

The system supports the so called wildcard character search.

Monospace

The names of commands, files, and directories.

The license file is located in the

http://docs/common/licen ses directory.

Preface

Typographical 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.

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Preface 7

Formatting convention

Type of Information

Example

Preformatted

On-screen computer output in your commandline sessions; source code in XML, C++, or other programming languages.

# ls –al /files

total 14470

Preformatted Bold

What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output.

# cd /root/rpms/php

CAPITALS

Names of keys on the keyboard.

SHIFT, CTRL, ALT

KEY+KEY

Key combinations for which the user must press and hold down one key and then press another.

CTRL+P, ALT+F4

Feedback

If you have found an error 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.

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This document describes how to deploy Parallels Plesk Panel on physical and virtual

C H A P T E R 1

About This Document

servers. Parallels Plesk Panel (hereinafter referred to as Panel) is a complete hosting automation solution. Panel allows hosting customers to manage their websites, mail addresses, and other services through a user-friendly web interface. For hosting providers, Panel offers powerful tools for configuring hosting services and delivering these services to their customers.

This guide is intended for all categories of users considering Panel deployment: users who want to perform a new Panel installation, switch to an updated version of Panel from earlier versions, or switch to Panel from another hosting panel.

The sections of this guide cover all common scenarios of Panel deployment: installing to a clean environment, upgrading, transferring hosting accounts from one server to another, or migrating from other hosting solutions. The sections concerning more complex deployment scenarios (such as automated installation to a group of servers) are marked with the (Advanced) prefix. Such advanced sections are intended mainly for companies with a large server park that want to cut costs by automating Panel deployment.

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There are four ways to perform Panel deployment: installation, upgrade, transfer, and

C H A P T E R 2

Introduction

migration. Depending on your needs, you should choose the scenario that suits you best. For users of other hosting panels, migration is the only way to switch to Panel

11.0. Let us take a closer look at the possible deployment scenarios:

 Installation.

If you want to deploy to a single server, you should download and run the installer utility from the official Parallels website. The installation wizard will guide you through all the steps that are necessary to successfully install Panel. This scenario is called "manual" because you interact with the installer. If you have a larger park of servers, we recommend that you install Panel in an automated, unattended, manner. This is done by providing the installer utility with all necessary details as command-line arguments. For mass Panel deployments, we recommend that you install Panel instances to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers. Learn more in the chapter Installing Panel (on page 10).

 Upgrade.

If you use an earlier Panel version, you can upgrade it to a later version when it is available. There are two ways of upgrading Panel:

 In-place upgrade is a process of updating Panel components on a server. As

well as installations, in-place upgrades can be performed manually or automatically on a number of Panel servers. Learn more in the chapter In-Place Panel Upgrading (on page 66).

 Upgrade by transfer implies transferring of Panel data from your current Panel

server (source server) to a server with a clean installation of the latest Panel version (destination server). Learn more in the chapter Upgrading Panel by Transfer (on page 87).

Each way of upgrade is better in certain cases: In-place upgrade is faster and does not require preparing an additional server, while upgrade by transfer supports a wider list of Panel versions and allows you, for example, to move from a server with a currently unsupported operating system. To find out which way is the most suitable for you, refer to the chapter What Upgrade Way to Choose (on page 65).

 Transfer.

Panel supports transferring hosting data (for example, service plans, subscriptions with content, and so on) from one Panel server to another. This allows you, for example, to seamlessly move your Panel to a more productive server. To learn how to transfer Panel data, see the chapter Transferring Panel Data (on page 113).

 Migration.

Migration is the only way to switch to Panel from other hosting solutions (CPanel, Confixx, and other). This is done by transferring hosting data from a source server to Panel. To learn from what hosting solutions you can migrate to Panel and how to do it, see the chapter Migrating to Panel (on page 129).

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There are three main installation scenarios that you choose from, depending on your

C H A P T E R 3

Installing Panel

environment: Manual, automatic, and installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers.

Manual Installation

This is the best way if you want a new single installation of Panel. Manual means that the installation requires user input. The wizard will prompt you to enter various installation settings such as Panel version, installed components, and so on. Manual installation is performed by the Parallels Installer utility that you should download from the official Parallels website and run either in the GUI or in the command-line mode. For those who want to quickly install Panel in the most typical configuration, we offer the One-Click Installer utility. Learn more about it in the section Manual Installation (on page 20).

Automated Installation

A manual Panel installation is time-consuming when it comes to handling a large number of hardware nodes or physical servers. To facilitate these complex deployments, we offer the automated type of installation. The main idea is to run the installation without any user input. This is done by setting up all installation parameters with the help of Parallels Installer command-line options. Moreover, on Linux systems we suggest that you write a script that copies and simultaneously runs the Installer utility on a number of servers. Learn more in the section (Advanced) Automated Installation (on page 23). Note that automated installations can be significantly speeded up if you create a local mirror of the Parallels updates server. Learn more in the chapter (Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server (on page 64).

Installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers

Parallels Virtuozzo Containers (PVC) is a virtualization solution employed by a large number of service providers. If you need to install Panel into Virtuozzo Containers, the best way to do it is to use PVC app templates. A PVC app template is a package containing app data and configuration scripts that are necessary for installation. The main benefit of PVC templates is that you install an app template to your server just once, and then install the app from the template to a number of containers simultaneously. Further app upgrades are also applied through templates.

When installing Panel with a PVC template, you do not need to use the Installer utility. You just apply a certain template to a container (or a number of containers) using the Virtuozzo commands. If you need a number of containers with Panel, you can clone the container with the installed template as many times as you need. Learn more in the section (Advanced) Installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers (on page 28).

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Installing Panel 11

Installation Steps

In this chapter:

Before Installing Panel ...................................................................................... 11

Manual Installation ............................................................................................ 20

(Advanced) Automated Installation .................................................................... 23

(Advanced) Installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers .................................. 28

Post-Installation Setup ...................................................................................... 38

In this section:

1. Check Installation Requirements ................................................................... 12

2. Choose a Release Tier .................................................................................. 14

3. Choose Panel Components ........................................................................... 16

4. (Advanced) Use Alternative Package Repositories ........................................ 19

Every installation begins with some preliminary steps (checking requirements, choosing the proper Panel version, and so on) and ends with some post-installation configuration (initializing Panel, installing a license key, and so on). Most of these steps are the same for all installation types. The only difference is that in manual installations, postinstallation steps should be performed through the GUI, while for automated installations we suggest using Panel API to automatically perform the post-installation configuration.

Note that Panel supports many third-party services that are not installed by default (such as support for Google Services, UNITY Mobile Services, Microsoft Web Deploy, and others). If you want Panel to provide such services, you must install them after all post-installation steps are finished. Learn more in the chapter Installing Third-Party Services (on page 51).

Moreover, you can significantly extend Panel functionality on Linux systems by installing Panel extensions. You can access such extensions directly from the Panel GUI and gain control over many additional and handy features, such as a file server, firewall, and others. Learn how to install additional Panel extensions in the chapter

Installing Panel Extensions (Linux) (on page 62).

Before Installing Panel

There are a few preliminary steps that you might need to perform before installing Panel. These steps apply to all installation scenarios.

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12 Installing Panel

1. Check Installation Requirements

Before you install Panel on a server, make sure you meet the following requirements.

Requirements for Linux Systems

We recommend that you install Panel on a clean operating system. Before installing Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux, make sure that the following requirements are met:

 A static IPv4 address is preliminarily configured. If you have an environment that

uses only IPv6 addresses, ensure the proper address translation to the IPv4 segment of the Internet.

 Certain ports should be opened. For details, see http://kb.parallels.com/en/391.

 PHP 5 is required for the brand new Web Presence Builder component.

 The disk space allocated to the /tmp directory exceeds three gigabytes.

 A user who runs the installer is able to execute files in the /tmp directory. This

makes it possible to install the system packages required for the Panel. When the installation is completed, we recommend that you mount /tmp with the noexec option. For details on how to do it, see http://kb.parallels.com/en/1410 (http://kb.parallels.com/en/1410).

 If you run Debian, CloudLinux, or Ubuntu, add updates and security repositories to

your apt (package manager) configuration.

 Your hard drive must be properly partitioned. For instructions, see the article on

partitioning tips at http://kb.parallels.com/article_17_819_en.html.

 On Debian and Ubuntu operating systems, the path /usr/local/psa is reserved

for system needs. We highly recommend that you neither manually create this directory nor mount a separate partition to this location. Instead, if you want to use a separate partition for Panel, mount the partition to /opt/psa/, the commonly used path for Debian and Ubuntu installations. If you do not follow this recommendation, Panel will not be able to apply updates.

If you wish to install Panel with the Business Manager component, you should preliminarily check that the MySQL server configuration option sort_buffer_size is set to 2 megabytes (sort_buffer_size=2M) or more. This option is set in the /etc/my.cnf file. After the configuration change, restart the mysqld service:

service mysqld restart

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Installing Panel 13

Requirements for Windows Systems

Before installing Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows, back up all your server data and make sure that the following requirements are met:

 Your server is not working as a Windows Domain Controller (neither primary nor

backup). If this requirement is not fulfilled, a system crash may occur during the creation of domains with certain names.

 Internet Information Services (IIS) should be installed on the server. Particularly,

the following components are required:

 On Windows Server 2003, World Wide Web (WWW) Service and File Transfer

Protocol (FTP) Service.

 On Windows Server 2008, the default components of the Web Server Role.

 A static IPv4 address should be configured in the OS prior to the Panel installation.

If you have an environment that uses only IPv6 addresses, ensure the proper address translation to the IPv4 segment of the Internet.

 Certain ports should be opened. For details, see http://kb.parallels.com/en/391.

 The installation path of the Panel must contain only ASCII symbols.

 Panel can be installed only on NTFS partitions.

 If you plan to use Microsoft SQL Server support in the Panel, the SQL Server

should be installed and configured to use standard or mixed security mode. If the SQL Server is not installed, you can select it to be installed with the Panel and configured with administrator name 'sa' and a random password.

 Prior to upgrading Panel, ensure that you have the latest version of the Microsoft

Visual C++ Redistributable Package.

Note: To install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 as a part of Plesk installation, preliminarily install Microsoft Installer 4.5 and .NET Framework 2.0 SP 2. If you are running Windows 2003 server, install the Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003 before installing Panel.

If you want to install Panel with the Business Manager component, you should preliminarily check that the MySQL server configuration option sort_buffer_size is set to 2 megabytes (sort_buffer_size=2M) or more. This option is set in the %plesk_dir%\Databases\MySQL\Data\my.ini file. After the configuration change, restart the mysqld service by running these two commands from shell:

net stop mysql net start mysql

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2. Choose a Release Tier

One more step before installing Panel is to choose the proper Panel version depending on its release tier.

Each major version of Panel passes through a number of development stages. It is natural that on earlier stages, some of newly implemented features may not be in their

final state and may require some further modification. The functionality of suсh features

in subsequent Panel versions is improved as they receive more customer feedback over time. To indicate the stage of the current Panel version, we assign one of the following release tiers to it: Testing release, Early Adopter release, General release, and Late Adopter release. The decision on what tier to use is absolutely up to you. For example, consider installing the early adopter release if you want to try new features before the general availability of Panel. On the other hand, if you want to get the solution that received all major updates and is successfully used by a number of service providers, wait until Panel gets the late adopter release status (it may be a couple of months after the general release).

Choose one of the following:

 Testing release.

We start each release cycle with publishing a number of testing releases for preview purposes and let you sequentially upgrade from the first one to the last, and then upgrade to higher release tiers. We do not provide technical support for such builds even if they were upgraded to higher tiers. Thus, avoid using this build in a production environment.

Notes:

1. By default, testing builds are not shown as available for installation. You can install the testing Panel version only by running Parallels Installer with one of the special options. Learn more in the chapter Manual Installation.

2. Upgrade to the next testing release is available only to the users of a testing build. Subsequent Panel builds do not have the corresponding option in the GUI.

 Early Adopter release.

An early adopter release has all claimed features and previous versions successfully upgrade to it. The quality of this version is eventually improved by updates. By selecting the early adopter release you become the first to see the new features and receive the freshest updates.

 General release.

A general release has passed all quality tests. Minor issues are promptly fixed by updates. We recommend that you always upgrade Panel to general release versions.

 Late Adopter release.

A late adopter release has received all major updates issued for the current Panel version, and a number of service providers have successfully used it for some time.

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Installing Panel 15

During the manual installation, selection of a release tier is one of the installation wizard steps. If an installation is automated by a script, you should specify a certain tier using Installer options. For users of PVC templates, the general release is the only option.

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16 Installing Panel

3. Choose Panel Components

Panel employs a number of interchangeable components for providing its services. For example, mail services on Linux can be provided by either Postfix or Qmail. The decision about what component to choose is made during Panel installation. Also, some components that you may find useful are not installed by default. Before installing Panel, acquaint yourself with available Panel components and choose the ones to include in your final Panel configuration. Next in this section, we will give recommendations on which components to choose under various circumstances. The components from the list below are not installed by default unless explicitly stated.

Note: Some components may be unavailable to you due to the limitations of your Panel license key.

Billing Automation

 Customer & Business Manager

Customer & Business Manager is a billing automation solution available with Panel out of the box. This automates the subscribing of customers to hosting services, along with all attendant business operations. Do not install the component if you want to use a third-party solution or if you do not need billing automation at all.

Web Hosting

Web hosting components are used to switch the support for a certain web hosting service. For example, support for a certain scripting language or support for FTP connections.

 Apache mod_fcgid module

(Installed by default). Install this component if you want to turn on FastCGI support

for the Apache web server.

 Apache mod_perl module

(Installed by default). Install this component if you want to turn on support for Perl

scripts by the Apache web server.

 ProFTPD FTP server

(Installed by default). Install this component if you want to allow users to connect to Panel using FTP.

 Bandwidth Limiter for Apache support (mod_bw)

Install this component if you want to manage bandwidth limiting for incoming connections.

 Apache ASP support

Install this component if you want to turn on support for ASP scripts by the Apache web server.

 Tomcat Java Servlets support

Install this component if you want to turn on support for Java servlets.

 Apache mod_python module

Install this component if you want to turn on support for Python scripts by the Apache web server.

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Installing Panel 17

 Ruby on Rails support

Install this component if you want to turn on support for Ruby on Rails scripts.

 ColdFusion support for Plesk

Install this component if you want to turn on support for ColdFusion scripts.

 MIVA Empresa support

Install this component if you want to turn on support for MIVA scripts.

 Webalizer web statistics package

(Installed by default). This component allows users to collect site visit statistics by

means of the Webalizer software.

 AWStats web statistics package

(Installed by default). This component allows users to collect site visit statistics by

means of the AWStats software.

Apache Web Server Versions (Linux Hosting)

Choose one of the following options:

 Apache web server support

Typical Apache web server used to deliver websites to Internet users.

 Apache web server with SNI support

(Installed by default). Server Name Indication (SNI) is a feature that extends the

SSL protocol. Install this component if you want to use separate SSL certificates for websites with a shared IP address.

Mail (Linux Hosting)

Choose one of the following mail servers that best suits your needs:

 Qmail mail server  Postfix mail server

(Installed by default).

Specify the webmail software that allows Panel users to access their mail accounts through a browser:

 Horde webmail support

Free webmail software that offers basic webmail functionality.

 AtMail webmail support

Commercial webmail software with many handy features.

Select the additional mail services Panel should provide:

 Mailman mailing list manager support

This component adds mailing list functionality to Panel.

 Kaspersky antivirus

Install this component if you want to use Kaspersky antivirus software for checking mail.

 Parallels Premium antivirus

Install this component if you want to use Parallels Premium antivirus software for checking mail.

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18 Installing Panel

 SpamAssassin support

Install this component if you want to use SpamAssassin software to effectively stop e-mail spam.

Databases (Linux Hosting)

 PostgreSQL server support

The default database server in Panel is MySQL. Nevertheless, if you require support for PostgreSQL databases (for example, this may be a requirement of certain web apps), select this option to install PostgreSQL to your Panel server.

System Monitoring

 Health monitor

Install this component if you want to track all main server health parameters, such as: Memory and CPU usage by different services, hard disk utilization, number of running processes, and so on.

Backup / Migration

 Plesk Migration & Transfer Manager

Install this component if you want to perform data transfer from another Panel or migration from another hosting platform. Install this component to a destination server.

 Plesk Backup Manager

(Installed by default). This is an essential component that allows you to create Panel backups and restore them in case of any issues.

 Backup Manager PVC reinstall support

Extensions (Linux Hosting)

You can extend Panel functionality by installing additional extensions. Note that these extensions require post-installation configuration. Learn more in the chapter Installing Panel Extensions (Linux) (on page 62).

 Plesk Counter-Strike game server extension

Install this component if you want to run a Counter-Strike game server on a Panelmanaged server.

 Plesk Firewall extension

Install this component if you want to protect a Panel server and private network from unauthorized access with a firewall.

 Plesk VPN extension

Install this component if you want to set up a VPN connection between a Panel server and a remote host through the Panel GUI.

 Plesk File Server extension and SMB file server package

Install this component if you want to share files on your Panel server.

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Installing Panel 19

 Watchdog (System monitoring extension)

Install this component if you want to use the Watchdog software to monitor your system. This ensures that your server is clean from malware, that all services are up and running, and that there is enough free disk space on the server.

4. (Advanced) Use Alternative Package Repositories

This topic applies only if you are going to install Panel on CentOS operating systems. In Panel 10.2 and earlier versions, Parallels Installer fetched the packages required for Panel installation or upgrade from the Parallels Updates server. This server also contained upgrades to these packages. Hence, there was no way to use custom package versions when installing or upgrading Panel. In 10.3 and later, you do have this option if you tune the Installer configuration.

The tuned Installer works this way: it checks that you have the yum package manager and that it is configured to use alternative repositories. If these checks succeed, the Installer uses the latest versions of packages it finds in all available repositories when installing or upgrading Panel. For example, if Parallels Updates contains MySQL v.5.0.84, and the other repository (say, IUS) contains MySQL v.5.0.93, the most current version (5.0.93) will be installed.

To turn this feature on, edit the /root/.autoinstallerrc file by adding the USE_YUM='yes' line to it.

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Manual Installation

In this chapter:

Installation from the Web Interface .................................................................... 21

Installation from the Command Line .................................................................. 22

Typical Installation with One-Click Installer ........................................................ 22

C H A P T E R 4

Once you have completed the steps described in the section Before Installing Panel (on page 11), you can proceed directly to the Panel installation.

To install Panel on Linux- or Windows-based servers, use the Parallels Installer utility. The Parallels Installer utility is available for download from

http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/. There are several distributions of

Parallels Installer created for different operating systems and platforms, so be sure to obtain the Parallels Installer version that matches your host's operating system. Normally, Parallels Installer binaries are distributed under names in the following format: parallels_installer_v<installer version>_os_<operating system version>_<platform>. Parallels Installer can be used either via a browser-based user interface or the command line.

If you run Linux and want to quickly install the latest version of Panel in the typical configuration, we recommend that you use our separate utility called One-Click Installer. It is available at http://autoinstall.plesk.com/one-click-installer.

Once the installation is finished, complete the post-installation setup. This includes Panel initialization and installation of a license key. See the section Manual Post-

Installation Setup (on page 39) for details.

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Installing Panel 21

Installation from the Web Interface

To install Panel through the web interface:

1. Download the Parallels Installer utility that suits your operating system from http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/.

2. (Only for Linux) Set the execution permission for Parallels Installer:

chmod +x parallels_products_installer_file_name

3. Run the Parallels Installer.

On a Linux/Unix server: ./parallels_products_installer_file_name --

web-interface

On a Windows server: parallels_products_installer_file_name (Only for Linux) Open your browser and enter https://host-name:8447/ or https://IP-address:8447/ in the address bar. The Parallels Installer Web interface opens.

(Only for Windows) Parallels Installer wizard opens in a new browser window. When the installer starts, an additional console window opens. This window displays the operations performed by the utility. It is closed upon the successful installation, or after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Note: As described in the section Before Installing Panel (on page 11), you can select what Panel build to install depending on its release tier. By default, Installer shows you only the latest general and late adopter releases as available for installation. To be able to install other Panel releases, use the following Installer options:

--all-versions to view all available Panel versions.

--tier <release_tier> to view the latest available versions with the specified release tier.

4. Log in to the web interface.

 If you are running Windows, type the administrator's username ("Administrator"),

administrator's password, and click Log In.

 If you are running Linux, type the root username and password, and click Log

In.

5. Follow the installation steps.

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22 Installing Panel

Installation from the Command Line

To install Panel from the command line:

1. Download the Parallels Installer utility that suits your operating system from http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/.

2. (Only for Linux) Set the execution permission for Parallels Installer:

chmod +x parallels_products_installer_file_name

3. Run the Parallels Installer.

On a Linux/Unix server:

./parallels_products_installer_file_name

On a Windows server:

parallels_products_installer_file_name --console

Note: As described in the section Before Installing Panel (on page 11), you can select what Panel build to install depending on its release tier. By default, Installer shows you only the latest general and late adopter releases as available for installation. To install other Panel releases, use the following Installer options:

--all-versions to view all available Panel versions.

--tier <release_tier> to view the latest available versions with the specified release tier.

4. Follow the installation steps.

Typical Installation with One-Click Installer

Use the One-Click Installer utility to perform a clean installation of Panel in one step. The utility automatically determines your operating system and installs the latest version of an appropriate distribution package in the typical configuration. One-Click Installer works only on Linux operating systems.

To install Panel, run one of the following commands on behalf of the superuser.

 If you have the wget utility, run

wget -O - http://autoinstall.plesk.com/one-click-installer | sh

 If you have the curl utility, run

curl http://autoinstall.plesk.com/one-click-installer | sh

 If you have the fetch utility, run

fetch -o - http://autoinstall.plesk.com/one-click-installer | sh

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Installing Panel 23

(Advanced) Automated Installation

Once you have completed the steps described in the section Before Installing Panel (on page 11), you can proceed directly to the Panel installation.

To install Panel on Linux- or Windows-based servers, use the Parallels Installer utility. The Parallels Installer utility is available for download from

http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/. There are several distributions of

Parallels Installer created for different operating systems and platforms, so be sure to obtain the Parallels Installer that matches your host's operating system. Normally, Parallels Installer binaries are distributed under names in the following format:

parallels_installer_v<installer version>_os_<operating system version>_<platform>.

How to Automate Panel Installation

The typical manual installation takes a long time when it comes to mass deployment of Panel, so we recommend that you automate this process. The automatic process is based on using the command line options of the Parallels Installer utility that allow you to predefine all installation parameters. Thus, you can run an installation that does not require any user input. To learn how to run such installations, refer to the section Running Automated Installations (on page 25).

Moreover, if you are going to perform mass deployment of Panels for Linux, you can write a script that automatically copies and runs Installer on a specified group of servers. See the script examples in the section Installation Script Examples (Linux) (on page 27). On Windows systems, scripts with the remote commands execution are also possible but require additional tools such as PsExec. Thus, we do not give examples of such scripts for Windows.

Automating Post-Installation Steps

After a typical manual installation is finished, you should log in to Panel to perform some post-installation operations (initialize Panel, install a license key, and so on). If you have multiple Panels, this process can be automated as well. If you want to avoid user input in the Panel interface, the best approach is to perform the same operations either from the command-line interface or with the remote API (also known as API RPC). To learn more about how to complete Panel installation in an automated manner, refer to the section (Advanced) Automated Post-Installation Setup (on page 40).

Speeding Up Automated Installations

Note that you can significantly speed up multiple installations if you create a local mirror of the Parallels Updates server. This will allow you to save time and bandwidth, and to secure your installations. Learn how to set up a custom mirror in the chapter (Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server.

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24 Installing Panel

In this section:

Running Automated Installations ....................................................................... 25

Installation Script Examples (Linux) ................................................................... 27

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Installing Panel 25

Running Automated Installations

To install Parallels Plesk Panel without requiring any user input, run the command:

parallels_installer <packages source options> --select-release-id <ID> <components installation options> [other options]

where

 packages source options define the location where the installer should obtain the

Panel packages for installation

<packages source options> =

--source <URL> if using a mirror of the Parallels Updates server OR

--source <path> if using local file system OR none if installing from the Parallels Updates server

 --select-release-ID option define what Panel version should be installed.

<ID> is a unique Panel version identifier, like PLESK_10_1_0. You can get the list of available Panel version IDs by running Installer with the -show-releases option. Note that by default, Installer shows you only IDs of the

publicly released production versions (learn more about Panel release tiers in the section Before Installing Panel (on page 11)). If you want to obtain a full list of available Panel versions including those intended for product preview and testing purposes, add the --skip-branch-filter option.

 components installation options define what Panel components should be installed

<components installation options> =

--install-everything OR

--install-component component1 [--install-component component2 [... [--install-component componentN]]]

You can get the full list of components available for a certain release by running Installer with the following options: --select-release-id <ID> --show- components

 other options include those that define proxy settings, installation logging and so

on. For full details, please refer to the Appendix A: Parallels Installer Options (on page

178).

Modifying Default Installation Paths (Windows)

Panel provides extra flexibility for installations on Windows: It lets users modify its default installation paths from command-line. The customization is granted by the -set-option key. The --set-option value should be a "key=value", where key is a constant that specifies one of the parts of Panel's data, and the value is the path where you want these data to be located. Currently, the following keys are available:

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26 Installing Panel

 PLESK_INSTALLDIR. This key designates the part of Panel data that insignificantly

change over time. This includes the application code, configuration files, utilities, and so on.

 PLESK_DATADIR. This key designates the part of Panel data that significantly

change over time. This includes customer databases, APS packages, log files, and so on.

 PLESK_VHOSTSDIR. This key designates the path where the content of all your

customers' domains will be stored. This is typically the largest part of the Panel content.

This sample demonstrates how to use the --set-option key:

ai.exe --select-product-id panel --select-release-id PANEL_10_4_0_WIN

--install-component base --install-component management --install-

component spamassassin --install-component webalizer --installcomponent drweb --set-option "PLESK_INSTALLDIR=C:\Plesk Dir" --setoption "PLESK_DATADIR=C:\Plesk Data" --set-option "PLESK_VHOSTSDIR=C:\Plesk Vhosts"

Examples, Linux/Unix

1. The following command installs Parallels Plesk Panel 10 (release ID is

PANEL_10_1_0) from the mirror set up on the server mirror.example.com available via HTTP. Installation files will temporarily be stored at /tmp/panel, and the installation status will be reported to the e-mail admin@example.com. The installed components are base Panel packages, PostgreSQL server, and SpamAssassin spam filter.

./parallels_installer --source http://mirror.example.com/ --target /tmp/panel --select-release-id PLESK_10_1_0 --install-component base -

-install-component postgresql --install-component spamassassin --

notify-email admin@example.com

2. The following command performs the complete installation (all available product

components are installed) of Parallels Plesk Panel 10 (release ID is PANEL_10_1_0) from the Parallels Update server. All installer output will be redirected to an XML file.

./parallels_installer --select-release-id PLESK_10_1_0 --installeverything --enable-xml-output

Examples, Windows

1. The following command installs Parallels Plesk Panel 10 (release ID is

PANEL_10_1_0_WIN) from the mirror set up on the server mirror.example.com available via HTTP. Installation files will temporarily be stored at the %SystemDrive%\Parallels\ folder, and the installation status will be reported to the e-mail admin@example.com. The installed components are base Panel packages, Bind name server, MailEnable mail server, PHP scripting engine, Web Presence Builder, and Horde Webmail.

parallels_installer.exe --source http://mirror.example.com/ --target %SystemDrive%\Parallels --select-release-id PANEL_10_1_0_WIN -install-component base --install-component dns --install-component mailenable --install-component php5 --install-component sitebuilder -install-component webmail --notify-email admin@example.com

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Installing Panel 27

2. The following command performs the complete installation (all available product

components are installed) of Parallels Plesk Panel 10 (release ID is PANEL_10_1_0_WIN) from the Parallels Update server. All installer output will be redirected to an XML file.

parallels_installer.exe --select-release-id PANEL_10_1_0_WIN -install-everything --enable-xml-output

Installation Script Examples (Linux)

This section provides notes on implementation and execution of an installation script, and also presents a couple of installation script samples.

Implementation and Execution Notes

 To avoid being prompted for password each time you connect via SSH to the

servers where the Panel should be installed, place your public key to the list of authorized keys of a user on whose behalf the script is run on each server (see SSH documentation for details on the procedure).

 If you have a local mirror of the Panel updates server (as described in the chapter

(Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server), use the following option:

--source <mirror URL>

 By default, all downloaded packages are stored in the /root/psa directory. To

use another directory, use the following option:

--target <directory-name>

Sample Scripts

1. This sample script is applicable in cases when Parallels Installer is previously

uploaded to the target server and the execution bit is set in its permissions.

#!/bin/sh SERVERS_LIST="node1.example.com node2.example.com" for current_server in $SERVERS_LIST; do scp parallels_installer root@$current_server: ssh -f root@$current_server "parallels_installer --source http://updates.example.com/ --target /tmp/panel --select-release-id PLESK_10_0_0 --install-component base --install-component postgresql -

-install-component asp --notify-email admin@example.com"

done

2. This sample script is applicable in cases when the Parallels Installer binary is

obtained directly from a network location (the sample URL http://example.com/type_parallels_installer_name_here should be substituted with a valid installer download link).

#!/bin/sh SERVERS_LIST="node1.example.com node2.example.com" for current_server in $SERVERS_LIST; do

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28 Installing Panel

ssh -f root@$current_server 'wget

In this section:

Linux PVC Templates ........................................................................................ 29

Installation on PVC for Linux ............................................................................. 32

Windows PVC Templates .................................................................................. 35

Installation on PVC for Windows ....................................................................... 36

http://example.com/type_parallels_installer_name_here -o parallels_installer;chmod 755 ./parallels_installer;./parallels_installer --source http://updates.example.com/ --target /tmp/panel --select-release-id PLESK_10_0_0 --install-component base --install-component postgresql -

-install-component spamassassin --notify-email admin@example.com'

done

(Advanced) Installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers

Parallels Virtuozzo Containers is a container-based virtualization solution that is employed by a large number of service providers. Each Virtuozzo container is a separate virtual server that acts exactly like a stand-alone one. Parallels Virtuozzo Containers exist in both Linux and Windows versions.

If you want to deploy Panel on Virtuozzo containers, we recommend that you use the following procedure:

1. Create a container.

2. Install Panel into the container.

Though you can perform a typical manual or automated installation, we recommend that you use PVC templates for this purpose. A PVC app template is a package containing everything an app needs to be installed to a server. The main benefit of PVC templates is that you install an app template to your physical server just once and then add the app from the template to a number of containers simultaneously.

3. Clone the container as many times as you need. This step is optional. If you have a number of already created containers where Panel should be installed, the best option is to deploy Panel there using a Panel PVC template.

4. Perform post-installation setup. The post-installation setup for Panel in a Virtuozzo container is absolutely the same as for other types of installation. It includes Panel initialization, installation of a license key, and so on. You can either perform it manually or automate the process using the Panel API. Learn more in the section Post-Installation Setup (on page 38).

Details on how to perform these operations are provided next in this section.

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Linux PVC Templates

PVC application templates are RPM packages which, when installed on a node, allow easy deployment of an application in as many Containers as required, saving a lot of critical system resources like disk space. You may obtain the Panel templates at the Parallels website (http://www.parallels.com), or download them using the PVC command-line utility call "vzup2date -z" (PVC 4 and later).

Major-version and version-free templates

Starting with Parallels Plesk Panel 10.4, Parallels ships two sets of EZ templates for each Panel release: major-version templates, and version-free templates. Both provide the same software components, the only difference between them is that template updates are installed when a Container is updated:

 Major-version templates get all the latest updates and upgrades released for the

major version of the Panel. For example, if the major-version base template of the Panel 10 (pp10) is installed

in a Container, the vzpkg update <CT_ID> command will update it to the latest released version of the Panel 10.x.x, be it 10.0.1 or 10.1.0. More specifically, major-version templates perform upgrades allowed by a typical Panel license. This license allows you to perform upgrades within the second major version number. For example, from 10.1 to 10.2, but not from 10.4 to 11.0.

 Version-free templates get all updates and upgrades regardless of the Panel

license key. In other words, such templates update to the last available Panel version regardless of its number. For example, this can be an upgrade from 10.3 to

10.4 or from 10.4 to 11.0. Note that if your Panel license does not allow complex upgrades, you will need to obtain a new license key after each such upgrade.

For example, if the version-free base template of the Panel (pp) is installed in a Container (for example, 10.x.x), the vzpkg update <CT_ID> command will update it to the latest released version of the Panel x.x.x, be it 10.x.x or 11.x.x.

You can tell major-version templates and version-free ones apart from their names: The name prefix of the first type contains the major version (pp10), while the latter does not contain any version numbers (pp).

Toggling auto detection of EZ templates

PVC 4.0 and later versions can discover EZ templates in a container and perform automatic actions depending on the templates. This feature provides opportunities for business automation software (like PBAs) to automatically find products installed in a container and start billing the container owner.

The discovery algorithm is straightforward: If the system finds all packages included in an EZ template, it considers the template to be installed. The major drawback of this approach is that Panel 9.x and SMB are very close to each other in terms of packages, so the auto-detection engine can make incorrect decisions. For example, if only one of the applications is present in a container, the system considers that both templates are installed. The most noticeable outcome of this detection problem is that the system fails to update both applications and set proper billing for them.

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30 Installing Panel

It is possible to stop the auto-detection if you use the billing automation software or if

pp11

The Panel core template. Contains base components, backup manager, and Web Presence Builder.

pp11-antivirus

Parallels Premium Antivirus 5.

pp11-billing

Customer and Business Manager, and SSO (single sign-on) components.

pp11-cf-support

ColdFusion support: libraries necessary to run ColdFusion with the Panel.

pp11-gameservers

The Panel game server extensions: Counter-Strike and Battlefield

pp11-kav

Kaspersky Antivirus extension.

pp11-mailman

Mailman mailing list manager.

pp11-migration

The Panel Migration & Transfer Manager, allows transferring hosting data from other Panels and migrating from other hosting platforms.

pp11-panel-addons

The Panel extensions: Firewall, VPN and File Server.

pp11-postfix

Postfix mail server. Alternate to Qmail.

pp11-qmail

Qmail mail server. Alternate to Postfix.

pp11-spamassassin

SpamAssassin spam filtering tool.

pp11-tomcat

Tomcat support.

you want to install tightly bound Parallels products. To do this, modify the /etc/vztt/vztt.conf file by setting APP_TEMPLATE_AUTODETECTION=no.

Shipped templates

Since both major-version and version-free sets of templates provide the same components, we will list only the major-version ones for the simplicity sake.

The following EZ templates are shipped for Parallels Plesk Panel 11:

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Installing Panel 31

pp11-vpsoptimized

VPS-optimized configuration. Configures Container to consume the minimum resources. Note that some hosting features will be disabled. For details, refer to the section Optimize Panel for Operation in VPS (on page 47).

pp11-watchdog

Watchdog system monitoring extension.

pp11-webhostingaddons

Hosting features support: mod_bw, MIVA, perl-Apache-ASP, and Ruby on Rails.

pp11-webmail

Horde and Atmail Open webmail tools.

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Installation on PVC for Linux

Deploying Parallels Plesk Panel in a Parallels Containers environment implies the following two stages:

1. Installing the Panel application template on a hardware node.

2. Creating a Container and deploying the application from the template.

For further details on Parallels Container CLI, or the Parallels Containers API (XML or SOAP) functionality, refer to the Parallels Containers developer documentation (http://www.parallels.com/ptn/documentation/virtuozzo/).

The first stage is performed on each hardware node only once: As soon as an application template is installed on a hardware node, it can be deployed to as many Containers as required. Instead of creating a new Container every time you need to deploy a Container with the Panel, you can clone an existing Container where the Panel is installed, which acts as a sort of Template Container.

When the template is being installed on a hardware node, the core set of files is deployed, which includes defining of the application packages repository. Then, when the application is installed in a container, Parallels Containers communicates with the repository (the default one resides at http://autoinstall.plesk.com), retrieves the application packages, and installs them in the container. The packages are stored in the node cache until it is cleaned up, and then the packages are retrieved from the repository again when the application is installed in the Container.To save time and bandwidth, you may want to use a custom mirror of the Panel repository. For details, see (Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server.

 To install a Panel template on a Parallels Containers hardware node using

the vzup2date utility:

1. Connect to the target Parallels Containers hardware node over SSH.

2. Install the application template by running a command in t he following

format:

for EZ templates:

vzup2date -z

for standard templates:

vzup2date -z

3. Select the required operating system and application templates and click Next to start installation.

 To install a Panel template on a Parallels Containers hardware node

manually:

1. Obtain the template from the Parallels website and upload it to the target Parallels Containers hardware node.

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Installing Panel 33

2. Install the application template by running a command in the following format:

rpm -Uvh <absolute path to the template>

For example, the following command installs Qmail:

rpm -Uvh pp10-centos-5-x86_64-ez-3.0.0-

35.prl.293476.noarch.rpm

 To use a custom mirror:

1. Set up a mirror as explained in the section (Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server.

2. On the hardware node, edit the file defining the repository URL.

The file for editing is /vz/template/<os>/<os-

version>/<platform>/config/app/<app-templatename>/default/repositories. For example: /vz/template/<os>/<osversion>/<platform>/config/app/pp10/default/repositories.

3. Replace the Parallels Updates server URLs with the corresponding ones of your mirror and save the file.

4. Clean or re-fetch the packages metadata.

You can do this, for example, with the vzpkg clean command. For details, refer to the Parallels Containers for Linux Reference Guide located at the Parallels Technology Network (http://www.parallels.com/ptn/documentation/virtuozzo/).

 To create a new Container and install Panel to it:

1. Create a container and configure it.

Issue the following commands:

vzctl create <CTID> [options] vzctl set <CTID> <setting_name> <value> [--save]

where

 <CTID> defines an arbitrary container ID number higher than 100, which is

unique on the hardware node

 --save switch tells vzctl whether to save changes into the Container

configuration file

Note: For details on the Container creation and configuration options, refer to the Parallels Containers for Linux Reference Guide located at the Parallels Technology Network (http://www.parallels.com/ptn/documentation/virtuozzo/).

The commands below do the following:

1. Create a Container with ID 444 and IP 10.100.1.2, based on the Debian 5 operating system template.

2. Set a barrier and limit for unswappable kernel memory, private (or potentially private) memory, number of files opened by all Container processes, disk space and the total number of disk inodes (files, directories, symbolic links) a Container can allocate.

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34 Installing Panel

3. Save the barrier/limit values to the Container configuration file.

4. Enable Power Panel on the vzpp port with the "--offline_management yes

--offline_service vzpp" options.

# vzctl create 444 --ostemplate debian-5.0-x86_64 # vzctl set 444 --ipadd 10.100.1.2 --hostname example.com -save # vzctl set 444 --save --kmemsize 24299200:26429120 -privvmpages 362144:392912 --numfile 12000:12000 --diskspace 5117880:5242880 --diskinodes 350000:370000 # vzctl set 444 --save --offline_management yes -offline_service vzpp

Important: It is mandatory to use exactly these values for the options to ensure the Panel compatibility with the Virtuozzo environment.

Important: The Panel needs the container to be configured with an IPv4 address in order to work properly.

2. Start the newly created Container:

# vzctl start <CTID>

3. Install the Panel template into the container:

 with EZ templates:

vzpkg install <CTID> <ppp_template_name> ...

For example, the following command installs the Panel base components, Customer and Business Manager, and Kaspersky antivirus:

# vzpkg install 444 pp10 pp10-billing pp10-kav

 To clone a Container:

Issue a command in the following format:

vzmlocal -C {CT List} {CT List} = <source_CTID>:<dst_CTID>[:[<dstCT_private>][:<dstCT_root>]] [...]

You should specify the source Container ID (<source_CTID>) and the destination Container ID (<dst_CTID>). Specifying the destination Container private area path (<dstCT_private>) and root path (<dstCT_root>) is optional allowing you to override the default paths - /vz/private/<dst_CTID> and /vz/root/<dst_CTID>, respectively. For details on the command options, refer to the Parallels Containers for Linux Reference Guide located at the Parallels Technology

Network (http://www.parallels.com/ptn/documentation/virtuozzo/).

For example, to clone the Container with the Panel created during the previous procedure, run the following command:

# vzmlocal -C 444:445

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Installing Panel 35

Windows PVC Templates

PVC application templates are packages which, when installed on a node, allow easy deployment of the application in as many containers as required, saving a lot of critical system resources like disk space. You may obtain the Panel templates at the Parallels website (http://www.parallels.com).

Shipped Templates

The following templates are shipped for Parallels Plesk Panel 11:

PANEL_11.0.0

The main template, includes the essential set of components:

 Base: the Panel core components, such as Control Panel, Backup Manager, MySQL

admin, and so on.

 Web Presence Builder

 Migration Manager

 SpamAssassin

 AWStats, Webalizer

 BIND DNS Server

 Parallels Premium Antivirus 5

 FastCGI

 MailEnable mail server, Atmail Open, webmail tools

 MySQL Client, MySQL ODBC

 Microsoft SQL Web Admin, myLittleAdmin, phpMyAdmin,

 Perl, Python, PHP4, PHP5

 Stunnel

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36 Installing Panel

Installation on PVC for Windows

This section covers only the essential steps that must be taken to deploy Parallels Plesk Panel inside Parallels Containers for Windows. Before proceeding with installation, please familiarize yourself with Parallels Containers documentation available at

http://www.parallels.com/products/virtuozzo/docs/.

Deploying Parallels Plesk Panel in a Parallels Containers environment implies the following two stages:

1. Installing the Panel application template on a hardware node.

2. Creating a Container and deploying the application from the template.

The first stage is performed on each hardware node only once: As soon as an application template is installed on a hardware node, it can be deployed to as many Containers as required.

Instead of creating a new Container every time you need to deploy a Container with the Panel, you can clone an existing Container where the Panel is installed, which acts as a sort of Template Container.

Note: If your operating system is Microsoft Windows 2008 and the container offline management is turned on, you can log in to the Panel by visiting https://host-name:8443/ or https://IP-address:8443/ and providing your local administrator credentials, or by visiting http://host-name:8880/ or http://IP-address:8880/ and providing global administrator credentials.

 To install Panel in Parallels Containers for Windows:

1. Obtain the Panel template from the Parallels website (http://www.parallels.com) and upload it to the target Parallels Containers hardware node.

2. Install application templates of the Panel. If you are installing on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, also install Microsoft .NET Framework v.2.0 or later on the hardware node by issuing a command of the following format:

vzpkgdeploy [-q|-v] -i <template-file>

where

 -q disables logging to the display and to the log file

 -v sets the log level to the maximum possible value for this vzpkgdeploy session

For example,

vzpkgdeploy -i dotnet3.5_frmwk-3.5/20080609 vzpkgdeploy -i PANEL_10.0.0/20100804.10

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 To create a new Container and install Panel into it:

1. Create a container and configure it according to you r needs.

Issue the following commands:

vzctl create <CT_ID> --pkgset name [options] vzctl set <CT_ID> <setting_name> <value> [--save]

where

 <CT_ID> defines an arbitrary container ID number higher than 100, which is unique

on the hardware node

 --pkgset name denotes the operating system template to be used for Container

creation

 --save switch tells vzctl whether to save changes into the Container configuration

file

Note: For details on the Container creation and configuration options, refer to the Parallels Containers for Windows Reference Guide located at the Parallels Technology Network (http://www.parallels.com/ptn/documentation/virtuozzo/).

The commands below do the following:

 Create a Container with ID 444 and IP 192.0.2.44, based on the OS template w2k3.

 Set a disk space limit to 4+ gigabytes, private memory limit to 1 gigabyte and

Administrator's password to "P4$$w0rd".

 Enable Power Panel on the vzpp port with the "--offline_management yes --

offline_service vzpp" options.

Important: It is mandatory to use exactly these values for the options to ensure the Panel compatibility with the Virtuozzo environment.

Important: The Panel needs the container to be configured with an IPv4 address in order to work properly.

vzctl create 444 --pkgset w2k3 --ipadd 192.0.2.44 vzctl set 444 --save --diskspace 4500000 --vprvmem 1024 -userpasswd Administrator:P4$$w0rd vzctl set 444 --save --offline_management yes --offline_service vzpp

2. Start the newly created Container:

vzctl start <CT_ID>

3. Install the Microsoft .NET framework version 2.0 or later into your Container:

vzpkgadd <CT_ID> <dotnet_template_name>

For example,

vzpkgadd 444 dotnet2.0_frmwk-2.0.50727.42/20070613

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38 Installing Panel

4. Install the Panel template into the Container:

In this section:

Manual Post-Installation Setup .......................................................................... 39

(Advanced) Automated Post-Installation Setup ................................................. 40

vzpkgadd <CT_ID> <plesk_template_name>

For example,

vzpkgadd 444 PANEL_10.0.0/20100804.10

 To clone a Container:

Issue a command in the following format:

vzmlocal -C <CT_List> <CT_List> = <source_CTID>:<dest_CTID>[:<dest_private>] [options]

You should specify the source Container ID (<source_CTID>) and the destination Container ID (<dest_CTID>). Specifying the destination Container private area path (<dest_private>) is optional; it allows you to override the default path of

X:\vz\private\<CT_ID>. For details on the command options, refer to the Parallels Containers for Windows Reference Guide located at the Parallels Technology Network

(http://www.parallels.com/ptn/documentation/virtuozzo/).

For example, to clone the Container with the Panel created during the previous procedure, issue the following command:

vzmlocal -C 444:445

Post-Installation Setup

The post-installation setup is an obligatory sequence of steps that is required to prepare Panel for work. As well as the installation, this setup can be performed either manually (the administrator should do it through the GUI) or automatically in an unattended manner. The manual type of setup should be performed in the case of a single Panel deployment. The automated setup is recommended for multiple Panel deployments as this can save significant time.

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Installing Panel 39

Manual Post-Installation Setup

In this section:

Initialize Panel ................................................................................................... 39

Install a License Key ......................................................................................... 40

After the Panel installation is finished, you must perform a number of obligatory steps through the Panel GUI:

 Panel initialization.  Installing a Panel license key.

Other optional steps considered to be the part of basic configuration (such as changing the Panel locale, running Panel behind a firewall, and so on) are covered in the Administrator's

Guide, Panel Configuration.

Initialize Panel

The Panel initialization - also known as initial configuration - is the first thing you need to do in Panel after installing it. Until Panel is initialized, any other operations are prohibited. Initialization sets the Panel administrator password, e-mail, and contact information.

When Parallels Plesk Panel is installed, a random password is generated for the user 'admin', which replaces the old scheme when the same default password was used on all installations. This change was done to protect servers with freshly installed Panel from hacking by bots that use the default password.

After the installation is finished, you can set the admin's password being authenticated in Panel with credentials of the server system power user, which is "root" on Linux systems, and "Administrator" on Windows systems.

 To initialize Panel:

1. Log in to Panel at https://<host-name-or-IP>:8443 using the server power user credentials.

2. Specify e-mail, new password, contact info and click OK.

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40 Installing Panel

Install a License Key

Right after the installation, Panel uses a trial license key. To get a new license key, proceed to the Parallels online store (Tools & Settings > License Management > Order New Key).

Once you purchase the key, you will receive an activation e-mail with your activation code and a license key file. You can install a Panel license key either by entering the activation code or by uploading the file from this e-mail.

 To install a license key using an activation code:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Parallels Panel License Key and click Install Key.

2. Enter the code you received in the e-mail to the Enter an activation code field and click OK.

 To install a license key using a license key file:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Parallels Panel License Key and click Install Key.

2. Choose Upload a license key file.

3. Specify the path to the key file you received in the e -mail and click OK.

If you experience any problems, please contact sales@parallels.com.

(Advanced) Automated Post-Installation Setup

After the Panel installation is finished, a user must complete a number of obligatory steps to prepare Panel for work. You can automate these steps if you want to set some particular values in the Panel configuration and free users from making choices that may seem complex. The post-installation setup of multiple Panel deployments can be automated with the help of:

 Command-line utilities.

Executed with power user privileges. Upon successful execution, the utilities return the 0 code. If an error occurs, the utilities return the code 1 and display the description of the encountered problem on stderr. For details of the command line utilities, see the Command Line Reference (for Windows or for Linux).

 Remote API, also known as API RPC.

For details, refer to the API RPC Developer's Guide.

The automated setup does not require interaction with the Panel GUI, thus it can be carried out more quickly than the manual setup.

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Installing Panel 41

Note: You may notice that the section (Advanced) Automated Post-Installation Setup (on page 40)

In this section:

Initialize Panel ................................................................................................... 42

Install a License Key ......................................................................................... 42

Define Panel View ............................................................................................. 43

Specify Administrator's Password ...................................................................... 45

Set Up Panel Locale .......................................................................................... 46

Optimize Panel for Operation in VPS ................................................................. 47

Hide Power Panel Controls for PVC Installations ............................................... 49

Set Up Upgrade Notifications ............................................................................ 50

Change or Hide Web Interface Elements........................................................... 50

includes few more topics than the Manual Post-Installation Setup (on page 39). This is because the Panel Administrator's Guide considers these additional steps to be a part of the basic configuration but does not give instructions on how to perform them remotely through CLI or API.

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42 Installing Panel

Initialize Panel

After installation, you should perform the Panel initialization (also known as the initial configuration). During the initialization, you set the Panel administrator password, e-mail, and contact information.

Note: After you initialize Panel, the Service Provider view will be automatically selected and the Panel administrator will not see the page offering to select a Panel view.

 To initialize Panel via API RPC:

Send to the server a request packet that satisfies the following conditions:

1. The server power user credentials are specified as the HTTP_AUTH_LOGIN and HTTP_AUTH_PASSWD values in HTTP header of the packet.

2. The packet content is as follows:

<packet version="1.6.3.0"> <server> <initial_setup> <admin> <admin_cname>JohnDoe BV.</admin_cname> <admin_pname>John Doe</admin_pname> <admin_phone>+49 89333333</admin_phone> <admin_fax>+49 893333303</admin_fax> <admin_email>john@example.com</admin_email> <admin_address>Theatinerstrasse 96</admin_address> <admin_city>Muenchen</admin_city> <admin_state>Bavaria</admin_state> <admin_pcode>80333</admin_pcode> <admin_country>DE</admin_country> <send_announce>true</send_announce> </admin> <password>Qwerty1234</password> <server_name>example.com</server_name> </initial_setup> </server> </packet>

 To initialize Panel via CLI:

Run the following command (you should have the power user privileges):

 On Linux/Unix:

/usr/local/psa/bin/init_conf --init -passwd jskekekHTD -email johndoe@example.com

 On Windows:

%plesk_cli%\init_conf.exe --init -passwd jskekekHTD -email johndoe@example.com

Install a License Key

A Panel license key can be installed either using an activation code or using a license key file. The Panel command-line interface supports both types of license key installation.

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Installing Panel 43

To install a license key through the command-line interface: license <-install|-i> <path-to-key-file | activation-code>

For example,

On Linux using a key file:

./license -i /tmp/pp10key.xml

On Linux using an activation code:

./license -i AB1C23-4DEF56-7GHI89-JK1L23-MNP456

On Windows using a key file:

license.exe -i "D:\keys\pp10key.xml"

On Windows using an activation code:

license.exe -i AB1C23-4DEF56-7GHI89-JK1L23-MNP456

Define Panel View

Right after installation, you can choose what Parallels Panel view to use, depending on what tasks the prospective Panel administrator is going to accomplish. The following views are available to choose from: Service Provider and Power User. The first view, Service Provider, is the best for reselling hosting accounts. In this view, you are able to manage service plans, subscriptions, and customer accounts. Power User view is convenient when you use Panel for personal purposes (run a portal, a mail server, and so on).

Power User view has a subtype, Custom View, which allows you to simplify the GUI by hiding the tools that may seem too complex for inexperienced administrators. In addition, you can prohibit such administrators to switch Panel back to Power User view or make any changes in Custom view settings. In means of Panel, this is called to lock Custom view.

To define administrator permissions in Custom view and the list of available Panel tools, use the admin utility. Learn more about the utility options in Parallels Plesk Panel 11.0 for Linux (Windows): Reference for Command Line Utilities.

Note: To switch from Service Provider to Power User, Panel should not have customer or reseller accounts.

For more information on Panel views, see Administrator's Guide, section The Panel GUI.

 To switch Panel to Power User view via Panel command line utility:

 On Linux systems, run the command:

/usr/local/psa/bin/poweruser --on -ip <ip-address> -domain <domain_name>

 On Windows systems, run the command:

"%plesk_dir%\bin\poweruser.exe" --on -ip <ip-address> -domain <domain_name>

where

 <ip-address> is the IP address allocated to administrator's default hosting account.

This option is required in case there are no subscriptions belonging to administrator.

 <domain_name> is the domain name to be linked to the specified IP address. If the -

domain option is not specified, the server's host name will be used. The option makes sense only when used together with the -ip option.

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44 Installing Panel

 To switch Panel in Power User view to Custom view and lock it via Panel

command line utility:

 On Linux systems, run the command:

/usr/local/psa/bin/poweruser --on -simple true -lock true

 On Windows systems, run the command:

"%plesk_dir%\bin\poweruser.exe" --on -simple true -lock true

If you do not want to lock Custom view, do not use the -lock option.

 To switch Panel to Service Provider view via the command line utility:

 On Linux systems, run the command:

/usr/local/psa/bin/poweruser --off

 On Windows systems, run the command:

"%plesk_dir%\bin\poweruser.exe" --off

For details, see the section Using Command Line Utilities > Power User View: poweruser Utility of Panel command line reference.

 To switch Panel to Power User view through API RPC:

Send the following request packet to the server:

<packet version="1.6.3.0"> <server> <set> <mode>poweruser</mode> </set> </server> </packet>

Note that the poweruser command of API RPC does not create a default webspace. To be able to switch Panel to the Power User view through API RPC, create the default webspace first.

 To switch Panel back to Service Provider view through API RPC:

Send the following request packet to the server:

<packet version="1.6.3.0"> <server> <set> <mode>standard</mode> </set> </server> </packet>

For details, see the section Supported Operations > Managing Plesk Server of API RPC Manual.

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Installing Panel 45

Specify Administrator's Password

When Parallels Plesk Panel is installed, a random password is generated for the user admin, which replaces the old scheme when the same default password was used on all installations. This change was done to protect servers with freshly installed Panel from hacking by bots that use the default password.

After the installation is finished, you can set the admin's password being authenticated in the Panel with credentials of the server system power user, which is "root" on Linux systems, and "Administrator" on Windows systems. Such authentication with administrator's system account works in both cases of logging in to the Panel GUI and using API RPC.

The admin's password can be set up during the Panel initialization (this is the best way) or afterwards.

Specify Password During the Panel Initialization

Setting up administrator's password is an essential part of the Panel initialization. For details on setting up the password during the Panel initialization, refer to the section Initialize Panel (on page 42).

In case your Panel instance has already been initialized, refer to the following section for instructions on how to set up the administrator's password.

Specify Password After the Panel Initialization

In case your Panel instance has already been initialized, it is still possible to set the administrator's password being authenticated as the server power user.

 To set up the administrator's password using API RPC:

Send to the server a request packet satisfying the following conditions:

1. The server power user credentials specified as the HTTP_AUTH_LOGIN and HTTP_AUTH_PASSWD values in HTTP header of the packet.

2. The packet content is as follows:

 To set up the administrator's password using CLI:

Issue the following command (you should have the power user privileges):

On Linux/Unix:

PSA_PASSWORD=<new_password> /usr/local/psa/bin/init_conf --set-adminpassword -passwd "

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46 Installing Panel

On Windows:

%plesk_cli%\init_conf.exe --set-admin-password -passwd <new_password>

 To set up the administrator's password using GUI if you do not know the

current administrator's password:

1. Log in to the Panel using the server power user credentials.

2. If you have at least one own subscription, skip this step. Otherwise, create a

subscription:

a. In the left frame, click Hosting Services > Subscriptions.

b. Click Add New Subscription.

c. Specify a domain name and subscription info and click OK.

3. Go to the Control Panel: click the Control Panel link next to your subscription.

4. Go to the Users tab.

5. Click the 'Admin' link in the list of user account.

6. Under Panel Preferences, type in the new password, confirm it, and click OK.

Set Up Panel Locale

 To change the default en-US locale:

1. Log in to the Parallels Plesk Panel server via SSH.

2. Change the locale by running the utility:

On Linux:

/usr/local/psa/bin/admin --update -locale en-US

On Windows:

%plesk_cli%\admin --update -locale en-US

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Installing Panel 47

Optimize Panel for Operation in VPS

If you deploy Parallels Plesk Panel in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for Linux, consider switching the Panel to a special mode of operation - optimized for virtual environments. The mode switches off InnoDB engine in MySQL database server, and Apache web server modules that are not critical for hosting services. This makes the Panel use less memory than other control panels available on the market, which ensures better utilization of hardware resources and increased density of virtual environments per server.

The only disadvantages of using the optimized mode are as follows:

 Web applications requiring InnoDB will not work.  Perl, python and ASP scripts will not work because the required Apache modules will be

switched off (see the list below).

 PHP will be available only through CGI.

Note: The optimized mode can be switched on only on the clean Panel installations. It is not applicable to the Panel installations upgraded from earlier versions.

 To switch to the VPS-optimized mode:

Install the pp10.1.0-vps-optimized EZ template. The template applies the necessary configuration.

Important: The optimized mode can only be enabled on fresh installations of the Panel which have not yet been initialized, or, in other words, have not undergone the initial configuration.

 If you need to switch the Panel back to the normal mode of operation, perform

the following steps:

1. Switch on the InnoDB engine.

a. Open for editing the file /etc/my.cnf.

b. Locate the lines containing entries skip-innodb and remove them,

or comment them out.

c. Save the file.

d. Restart MySQL server.

2. Switch on the required Apache modules.

On Debian Linux, use the a2enmod utility to switch on all required modules. For example, if you want to switch on the PHP module, issue the following command:

a2enmod php5

On other distributions of Linux, edit the main Apache configuration file, which, in most Linux installations, is located in /etc/httpd/conf/.

a. Open for editing the file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf.

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48 Installing Panel

b. Locate the lines LoadModule <module_name> corresponding to

the modules that you want to switch on, and uncomment the lines.

c. Save the file.

d. Restart Apache.

3. Switch the Panel back to normal operation mode by issuing the following

SQL query:

mysql -uadmin -p`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` psa -e "update misc set val='0' where param='vps_optimized_mode_status';"

Apache Modules Switched Off in VPS-Optimized Mode

The following Apache modules are switched off in the optimized mode:

 authn_alias  authn_anon  authn_dbm  authn_default  authz_user  authz_owner  authz_groupfile  authz_dbm  authz_default  ldap  authnz_ldap  ext_filter  mime_magic  deflate  usertrack  dav_fs  vhost_alias  speling  proxy_balancer  cache  disk_cache  file_cache  mem_cache  version  asis  bw  proxy_ajp  auth_ldap  perl  python

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Installing Panel 49

 php5  php4

The list of the modules can vary depending on the operating system distribution and architecture. When Parallels Plesk Panel is installed and the optimized mode is switched on, you can check the list in the following files:

 On 32-bit operating systems - /usr/lib/plesk-

9.0/vps_optimized_aspects/apache-modules-all

 On 64-bit operating systems - /usr/lib64/plesk-

9.0/vps_optimized_aspects/apache-modules-all

Hide Power Panel Controls for PVC Installations

When Panel is installed to PVC, administrators refer to Panel when performing web hosting operations and to Parallels Power Panel (PPP) when managing their container. The PPP becomes available when the administrators turn on offline-management mode. When this mode is on and Panel is installed, some controls and menus of PPP become available on top and left navigation panes of Panel. In other words, PPP partially builds into Panel in offlinemanagement mode.

Since Panel 10, the integration between panels leads to unexpected results. For example, some icons in Panel might not be displayed or layout might be broken when the offline management is on. To resolve these problems, we recommend that you do not use the integration and access the panels on different ports (4643 and 8443).

 To make PPP and Panel operate on different ports, do the following:

 On Linux servers, connect to the hardware node over SSH and run the following

command:

vzctl set CT_ID --offline_management yes --offline_service vzpp -save

 On Windows servers, connect to the hardware node over Remote Desktop and run the

following commands:

vzctl set CT_ID --offline_management yes --save vzcfgt set CT_ID offlineservices vzpp

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Set Up Upgrade Notifications

Each new Panel build is given one of the four release tiers - testing, pre-release, release, stable. The purpose of these tiers is to notify Panel administrators when the next version of

the desired quality is released so that they can schedule upgrading to this version. To prohibit Panel administrators from upgrading to unstable Panel versions, you can make Panel show only releases or updates complying with the desired quality levels. If you are new to release tiers, read Before Installing Panel (on page 11).

Hiding Release Tiers

You can explicitly configure Panel to show only upgrades that are of equal or higher quality than a certain tier (from testing to stable). For this, add the following lines to the panel.ini file:

[updates] releaseTier = <release-tier>

where <release-tier> is one of the following: testing, current, release, stable.

On Linux, panel.ini is located in $PRODUCT_ROOT/admin/conf.

On Windows, panel.ini is located in %plesk_dir%\admin\conf\ (%plesk_dir% is an environment variable denoting the Panel installation directory).

Change or Hide Web Interface Elements

A freshly installed Panel may include promotional items, for example, an invitation to install Web Presence Builder or a link to the Parallels store where customers can order domain names and SSL certificates. If, for some reason, you do not want to display these options to Panel users (for example, if you use competitive software and alternative partner programs to resell domain names), Panel provides means for changing or hiding these promotional items. To know which items are customizable and how to manage them, refer to the following documents:

 (Linux) http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/PP11/11.0/Doc/en-US/online/plesk-linux-

advanced-administration-guide/68617.htm

 (Windows) http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/PP11/11.0/Doc/en-US/online/plesk-win-

advanced-administration-guide/68617.htm

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Panel supports a number of third-party services that are not installed by default:

In this chapter:

Web Deploy 2.0 ................................................................................................. 52

Adobe ColdFusion (Linux) ................................................................................. 54

Google Services for Websites ........................................................................... 55

UNITY Mobile Services for Mobile Sites ............................................................ 59

Miva E-commerce Applications (Windows) ........................................................ 60

Miva E-commerce Applications (Linux) .............................................................. 60

C H A P T E R 5

Installing Third-Party Services

 Microsoft Web Deploy (Windows).

Allows customers to publish their sites using WebMatrix®.

 Adobe ColdFusion (Linux).

Adds support for ColdFusion scripts.

 Google Services for Websites.

Adds support for many Google services, such as participation in the AdSense program, improving site visibility for search engines, and others.

 UNITY Mobile Services.

Allows customers to optimize their sites for mobile devices.

 Miva E-Commerce Applications.

Adds support for Miva applications.

This chapter gives details on how to install these services and include them in your hosting offers.

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52 Installing Third-Party Services

Web Deploy 2.0

Web Deploy (Web Deployment Tool) is a Microsoft's tool that significantly simplifies migration, management, and deployment of IIS web servers, web applications, and websites.

Here are two reasons to have Web Deploy on your server:

 Simple applications publishing. Web developers who write code in Visual Studio® (IDE)

and WebMatrix® (development tool) can use Web Deploy to publish their applications to a production server. If you would like to give your customers this time-saving and easy-touse publication method, install Web Deploy on your server.

Note: You should not install Visual Studio® and WebMatrix® on Panel servers. This software is installed by customers themselves on their PCs.

 New market for your hosting plans. WebMatrix® helps its users find a suitable hosting

plan in Microsoft Web Hosting Gallery, a catalog where hosting providers advertise hosting offers. If you want your hosting plans to be present in the gallery, one of the requirements is to have Web Deploy.

1. Install Web Deploy

There are two ways of installing Web Deploy - as a Panel component, the recommended way, or manual installation. The first way assumes that you install Web Deploy as any other Panel component, from Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades > Add / Remove Components. If you use Panel 10.4 and earlier versions, the component installation is unavailable, so you should perform manual installation. For the installation instructions, see the Manual Installation of Web Deploy section below.

Note: Microsoft Windows Powershell is required for proper installation of Web Deploy. Ensure that it is installed on server. (It should be available automatically in Windows 2008 R2). Learn how to install the component at http://www.microsoft.com/powershell.

After the successful installation, you are able to check that Web Deploy is discovered by Panel. To do this, log in as the Panel administrator and go to Tools & Settings > Server Components. The new component, Web Publishing, will appear in the list. Additionally, the ability to use web publishing will be added to all existing subscriptions, to the Hosting Parameters tab, and set as not provided by default.

If your customers use MySQL databases for their applications, you should additionally install the MySQL Connector/Net component from Microsoft Web Platform Installer.

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Installing Third-Party Services 53

2. Improve the Security Level

During the installation, Web Deploy adds a number of delegation rules to IIS that allow nonadministrators to perform operations on databases and files on their IIS sites. Panel automatically adds an exception from one of the rules, namely, from appPoolPipeline. This exception prevents Panel from changing the .NET version of application pools in IIS. But for this automatic amendment, the version change will lead to malfunctioning of .NET applications that are not compatible with the updated version. Say, if the version has changed from 2.0 to 3.5, some apps that required 2.0 will not run.

In addition to this rule change, we recommend that you set IIS to run applications of each subscription in a separate pool. This setting will guarantee that other pools will continue to operate even if a certain app damages a pool on a certain subscription. You can specify to use separate pools in plan settings, the Performance tab > Dedicated IIS application pool.

3. Secure the Service with a Valid Certificate

During its installation, Web Deploy installs (as needed) and activates IIS Manager service that secures connections to Web Deploy. We highly recommend that you provide IIS Manager with a valid SSL certificate to let your customers verify your server's identity before transferring their data to your server. Learn how to do it in

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/144/how-to-set-up-ssl-on-iis-7/. If you choose not to do it, your

customers will fail to publish their sites if they specify to use a secure connection in publication settings of Visual Studio® or WebMatrix®.

4. Activate Web Deploy in Hosting Plans and Subscriptions

Now when you have successfully installed and configured Web Deploy, activate this feature in Hosting Parameters of hosting plans and existing unsynced subscriptions as needed.

Manual Installation of Web Deploy

To successfully install Web Deploy, you should meet the following requirements:

 The target operating system must be Windows Server 2008 or later.  The server must have Windows PowerShell installed. Windows Server 2008 does not

have this component by default (though 2008 R2 has it). Learn how to install the component at http://www.microsoft.com/powershell.

 The server must have the Management Service role service (Server Manager > Web

Server > Add Role Services, under Management Tools).

The installation procedure is straightforward: In Microsoft Web Platform Installer, find the Web Deployment Tool product and add it to the server. For more information about the

installer, see http://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/platform.aspx.

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54 Installing Third-Party Services

Alternatively, you can download the Web Deploy binary and run it as administrator. The download link is available at http://www.iis.net/download/WebDeploy.

Note: You should select either the complete installation or select the custom installation and specify the Configure for Non-Administrator Deployments option.

Adobe ColdFusion (Linux)

If you want to support ColdFusion scripts on the server, you should obtain a distribution package from Adobe and then install it on the server. Parallels Plesk Panel supports Adobe ColdFusion versions 6, 7, and 8.

 After you have installed Adobe ColdFusion on your server, do the following:

1. Log in to Parallels Plesk Panel as administrator.

2. Go to Tools & Settings > Updates.

3. Click a link corresponding to the appropriate release version.

4. Select the checkbox corresponding to the ColdFusion support for Parallels Panel

item, and click Install. Confirm the installation when prompted.

5. Once the selected components are installed, go to Tools & Settings > ColdFusion Settings (in the Applications group).

6. Specify the path to ColdFusion installation directory and click OK.

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Installing Third-Party Services 55

Google Services for Websites

Parallels Plesk Panel provides hosting companies with the means to easily integrate with Google Services for Websites.

Participation in the Google Services for Websites program offers the following benefits for hosting providers and their customers:

 Providers can receive referral fees when their customers enroll in the Google AdSense

program or subscribe to paid Google Site Search services.

 Site owners can use Google tools to improve site visibility, add a high quality search

function and widgets that will engage and retain visitors, and monetize the traffic to websites with relevant ads.

To learn more about the program, visit

http://www.google.com/webmasters/provider/overview.html and http://www.google.com/webmasters/provider/faq.html.

 To integrate Parallels Plesk Panel-managed servers with Google Services for

Websites:

1. Visit http://services.google.com/feedback/webmaster_provider_signup and sign up for a Google Apps account (Premier Edition), a Google AdSense account, and a Google Affiliate Network account.

For every hosting server managed by Parallels Plesk Panel you need to create a separate Google Apps account that is connected to Google AdSense and Google Affiliate Network accounts.

Once your application is processed by Google and your company is approved for the program, you will receive access credentials by e-mail.

2. Generate an RSA private key and a digital self -signed certificate by using the free OpenSSL utility. This is included in your Linux distribution or can be downloaded from http://www.openssl.org/related/binaries.html and installed on Windows-based computers.

a. Issue the command openssl genrsa -out

rsaprivatekey.pem 1024.

This command generates a 1024-bit private key and stores it in the file rsaprivatekey.pem. The resulting private key should be kept secret.

b. Issue the command openssl req -new -x509 -key

rsaprivatekey.pem -out rsacert.pem.

After you answer a number of questions, the certificate will be created and saved as rsacert.pem. This is the file you will need to upload to Google Apps via the Google Apps Control Panel when configuring SSO.

3. Log in as the administrator to your Google Apps Control Panel at http://www.google.com/a/<your-google-apps-domain>.

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56 Installing Third-Party Services

4. Select Advanced Tools, and then Set up single sign-on (SSO).

5. Do the following:

a. Select the Enable Single Sign-on checkbox.

b. In the Sign-in page URL field, specify the URL https://<your-panel-

server>:8443/plesk/gapps-identity-provider/.

c. In the Sign-out page URL field, specify the URL https://<your-panel-

server>:8443/.

d. In the Change password URL field, specify the URL https://<your-panel-

server>:8443/.

e. In the Verification certificate field, upload your certificate.

f. Click Save changes.

6. Log in to your Parallels Plesk Panel as the administrator.

7. Click the Tools & Settings link in the navigation pane, and then click Settings of

Google Services for Websites.

8. Specify the following settings:

 Google Apps domain name.

 Google Apps domain administrator's username.

 Google Apps domain administrator's password.

 Google Affiliate Network ID.

 Private key file. If you created a private key file on a computer other than your hosting

server, use this field to upload the key file to the server.

 Google AdSense API developer account e-mail.

 Google AdSense API developer account password.

9. Click OK.

Now Parallels Plesk Panel is connected to your Google Apps domain account, and you can create user accounts in the Panel and associate them with Google Apps user accounts. These operations are described in the following section.

For information about using the Google Services for your own websites, see the Control Panel

User's Guide, section Using Google Services for Websites.

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Installing Third-Party Services 57

Providing Access to Google Services on Websites

After you create a new user account in Parallels Plesk Panel, you need to associate that account with a Google Apps user account.

 To create a Google Apps user account and associate it with a user account in

Parallels Plesk Panel:

 For the Parallels Plesk Panel administrator's account, run the admin command-line utility

with the option --create-gapps-account. The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/admin on Linux systems, and

C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\admin.exe on Windows systems.

 For a Parallels Plesk Panel reseller's account, run the reseller command-line utility

with the option --create-gapps-account <reseller's-username-in-the- panel>.

The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/reseller on Linux systems, and C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\reseller.exe on Windows systems.

 For a Parallels Plesk Panel customer's account, run the client utility with the option --

create-gapps-account <customer's-username-in-the-panel>. The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/client on Linux systems, and

C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\client.exe on Windows systems.

Now the user account in the Panel is associated with the newly created Google Apps user account, and the following items appear in the user's Control Panel:

 The Google Services for Websites links on the Home page and on the Websites & Domains tab.  The Google Services for Websites page accessible via the aforementioned links.

This page enables users to add Custom Search engines to websites, create a new Google AdSense account, and provides links to webmaster tools and useful resources on the Google website. When users of Parallels Plesk Panel click these links they are taken to their Google accounts where they are logged in automatically.

 To associate a user account in Parallels Plesk Panel with an already existing

Google Apps user account:

 For the Parallels Plesk Panel administrator's account, run the admin command-line utility

with the options --link-gapps-account -gapps-login <google-apps- account-username> -gapps-passwd <google-apps-account-password>.

The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/admin on Linux systems, and C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\admin.exe on Windows systems.

 For a Parallels Plesk Panel reseller's account, run the reseller command-line utility

with the options --link-gapps-account <reseller's-username-in-the-

panel> -gapps-login <google-apps-account-username> -gapps-passwd <google-apps-account-password>.

The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/reseller on Linux systems, and C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\reseller.exe on Windows systems.

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58 Installing Third-Party Services

 For a Parallels Plesk Panel customer's account, run the client utility with the options -

-link-gapps-account <customer's-username-in-the-panel> -gappslogin <google-apps-account's-username> -gapps-passwd <google-apps-

account's-password>. The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/client on Linux systems, and

C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\client.exe on Windows systems.

If you need to remove a user account from the Panel, then you must first remove the Google Apps account associated with this user, and then remove the user account from the Panel.

 To remove a Google Apps account associated with a user:

 For the Parallels Plesk Panel administrator's account, run the admin command-line utility

with the option --remove-gapps-account. The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/admin on Linux systems, and

C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\admin.exe on Windows systems.

 For a Parallels Plesk Panel reseller's account, run the reseller command-line utility

with the option --remove-gapps-account <reseller's-username-in-the- panel>.

The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/reseller on Linux systems, and C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\reseller.exe on Windows systems.

 For a Parallels Plesk Panel customer's account, run the client utility with the option --

remove-gapps-account <customer's-username-in-the-panel>. The path to the utility is /usr/local/psa/bin/client on Linux systems, and

C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk\bin\client.exe on Windows systems.

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Installing Third-Party Services 59

UNITY Mobile Services for Mobile Sites

Parallels Plesk Panel offers integration with UNITY Mobile online service, which enables website owners to create and manage copies of their sites optimized for viewing on mobile devices.

UNITY Mobile hosts the optimized site copies on their own servers. All subscription fees and charges for UNITY Mobile services are covered by an additional license key for Parallels Plesk Panel, which you can purchase from Parallels Online Store.

How it works:

1. A user creates a website with the domain name example.com and clicks the link Create Mobile Site in Control Panel.

2. The user is prompted to specify a domain name for access to the mobile site copy. The user specifies mobile.example.com.

3. The Panel connects to the UNITY Mobile hosting servers, sets up an account with UNITY Mobile for the domain name mobile.example.com.

4. The user’s browser opens the UNITY Mobile website, where the user is automatically logged in to their account and prompted to import their website from the Panel-managed server.

5. After the site is imported and optimized for mobile viewing, it becomes accessible by the address mobile.example.com. The Panel’s DNS server keeps a CNAME record pointing to the site on a UNITY Mobile server.

The user can now perform the following operations on mobile site using links in Control Panel:

 Open site editor.

 Remove mobile site.

 If you want to provision this service to your customers, do the following:

1. Purchase an additional license key at Parallels online store (https://shop.marketplace.parallels.com ) and install it to Parallels Plesk Panel.

a. Go to Server Administration Panel > Tools & Settings > License

Management > Additional License Keys tab.

b. Click Upload Key.

c. Browse to the file and select it by clicking OK.

2. When setting up a reseller plan or a hosting plan, go to the Resources tab and

in the Mobile sites box, specify a number of sites that can be created and hosted with the UNITY Mobile service.

For more information about UNITY Mobile services, visit their website at

http://www.unitymobile.com.

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60 Installing Third-Party Services

For instructions on managing mobile sites through Control Panel, refer to Administrator's Guide, section Setting Up Mobile Sites.

Miva E-commerce Applications (Windows)

To allow your customers to use Miva e-commerce solutions, you need to install the Miva Empresa package on your server and enable support for Miva applications in hosting plans. Note that your customers will need to obtain a license from Miva and specify a serial number during the installation of Miva applications.

 To install the support for Miva e-commerce applications on your server:

1. Download the Miva Empresa package from the Miva website and install it on your server. The installation instructions can be found at

http://docs.smallbusiness.miva.com/enUS/merchant/WebHost/webhelp/web_host_resources.htm.

2. Run Parallels Plesk Panel Reconfigurator, and then run the Correct disk permissions task.

After Miva support is switched on in hosting plans, the customers can install and use the required Miva applications. The installation instructions for Miva applications can be found at

http://docs.smallbusiness.miva.com/enUS/merchant/WebHost/webhelp/web_host_resources.htm.

To learn more about Miva solutions, refer to http://smallbusiness.miva.com.

Miva E-commerce Applications (Linux)

To allow your customers to use Miva e-commerce solutions, you need to install on the server the Miva Empresa package shipped with Parallels Plesk Panel distribution (if you did not install it during installation of Parallels Plesk Panel), and then switch on support for Miva applications in hosting plans.

The Miva Fasttrack and Miva Merchant online store applications are shipped with Parallels Plesk Panel as standard web applications, which you or your customers can install from the Control Panel.

To learn more about Miva solutions, refer to http://docs.smallbusiness.miva.com/en-

US/merchant/WebHost/webhelp/web_host_resources.htm.

 To install the Miva Empresa package:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > Updates.

2. Click the link corresponding to your version of Parallels Plesk Panel. For

example, Parallels Panel 11.

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Installing Third-Party Services 61

3. Locate the Miva Empresa Support item and select the checkbox on the left.

4. Click Install. Now the Miva Empresa server environment is installed.

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Using additional extensions is another way of extending the functionality of your Panel.

C H A P T E R 6

Installing Panel Extensions (Linux)

Extensions are functional components (such as a file server, firewall, or system monitor) developed by Parallels or third parties.

Parallels Extensions (only on Linux)

Parallels provides the following extensions for Panel on Linux:

 Counter-Strike game server extension. Used to deploy Counter Strike game

servers.

 File Server extension. Used to share directories on a network directly from Panel.  Firewall extension. Used to protect the Panel server and private network from

unauthorized access.

 Watchdog extension. Used for system monitoring.  VPN extension. Used for establishing communications between geographically

distributed LAN segments over public networks.

If your Panel license provides extension support, you can add these extensions during Panel installation (see the section 3. Choose Panel Components (on page 16)). If you have not included extensions in Panel installation, you can add them to Panel at any time later in Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades > Add Components.

Learn how to configure and use extensions developed by Parallels in the Administrator's Guide, section Using Panel Extensions (Linux).

Third-Party Additional Extensions

Parallels partners offer a large number of additional Panel extensions, which include antivirus protection software, advanced backup solutions, VOIP services, and much more.

To obtain add-ons developed by Parallels partners, visit our online store at

http://www.parallels.com/store/plesk/partners/.

Typically, third-party extensions are delivered as packages and can be easily installed, removed, and configured directly from Panel (Extensions > Manage Extensions).

If an extension requires an additional license key, you can obtain it from Parallels as described in the section Installing Additional License Keys for Panel Add-ons (on page 63). In some cases, you must obtain license keys for extensions from the extension developers.

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Installing Panel Extensions (Linux) 63

Installing Additional License Keys for Panel Add-ons

Typically, Panel add-ons (like Panel extensions, web apps, and so on) are associated with a Panel license key. That is why, when you purchase Panel add-ons at the Parallels online store, you are prompted to enter the number of your license key. Once you purchase a key, you will receive an activation e-mail.

 To install an add-on license key:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Additional License Keys and click Retrieve Keys.

2. The Panel's License Manager will retrieve the upgraded license key from the Parallels licensing server and automatically install it to your Panel.

If your activation e-mail contains an activation code or a license key file, you should install the key manually.

 To install an add-on license key using an activation code:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Additional License Keys and click Install Key.

2. Enter the code you received in the e-mail to the Enter an activation code field and click OK.

 To install an add-on license key using a license key file:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Additional License Keys and click Install Key.

2. Choose Upload a license key file.

3. Specify the path to the key file you received in the e -mail and click OK.

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When it comes to deployment of a number of Panels, we strongly recommend creating

C H A P T E R 7

(Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server

a local mirror of the Parallels Updates server for Panel distributions. This will allow you to significantly speed up Panel deployments due to faster downloads. To create a local mirror, use the Plesk Mirror Setup Tool. For instructions on creating local mirrors of Parallels updates server, see the article http://kb.parallels.com/en/113337.

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If you are using one of the earlier Panel versions, you can choose between two ways of

In-place upgrade

Upgrade by transfer

Supported Panel versions

Panel 8.x and later.

Panel 7.5 and later.

Supported operating systems

In-place upgrade cannot be performed on servers with operating systems that Panel 11.0 does not support.

Upgrade by transfer allows you to move Panel from servers with currently unsupported operating systems.

Time costs

Not significant as:

 Upgrade is performed within

one server.

 User input and the number of

preparation steps are minimal.

 If you have to upgrade a

number of Panel servers, you can automate this process.

Time-consuming as:

 All data is transferred from one

server to another.

 Transfer requires a separate

destination server with a clean Panel installation.

 Upgrade by transfer cannot be

automated for a number of servers.

Safety

Issues arising during an in-place upgrade (for example, a hardware failure) may lead to partial Panel inoperability.

Safe because a source server is not affected by such upgrades in any way. Even if an upgrade is unsuccessful, the source server continues working.

Custom configurations

In-place upgrade preserves all custom configurations of system services. All third-party services and Panel extensions remain intact.

Custom configurations of system services, third-party services, and Panel extensions are not transferred to the destination server.

C H A P T E R 8

What Upgrade Way to Choose

upgrading to Panel 11.0: in-place upgrade or upgrade by transfer. While in-place upgrade is the updating of Panel components within one server, upgrade by transfer implies the moving of data from your current Panel server (source) to a server with the clean Panel 11 installation (destination). Use the table below to choose the way that suits you best.

To learn how to perform each way of upgrade, see the corresponding chapters: In-Place Panel Upgrading (on page 66) and Upgrading Panel by Transfer (on page 87). Note that if you upgrade from Panel 9 or earlier, you should perform additional steps to complete transition to the new business model used in Panel since version 10. The instructions on what to do after upgrading from Panel 9 and earlier are provided in the chapter Completing Upgrade from Earlier Panel Versions (on page 104).

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In-place upgrade is a process of updating Panel components on a server. After an

Panel Version

Upgrade Through...

8.x, 9.x

Parallels Installer

10.x, 11.x

Panel GUI (Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades), Parallels Installer

Note: Since 10.4, you can set up Panel to apply upgrades automatically once they become available. Learn more in the Administrator's Guide, section Panel Updates and Upgrades.

C H A P T E R 9

In-Place Panel Upgrading

upgrade, Panel increases its major or minor version, for example, from 10.3 to 10.4 or from 10.4 to 11.0.

There are three main scenarios of in-place upgrade: Manual, automated, and upgrade in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers. In this chapter, you will learn which of them to choose depending on your environment and how to perform in-place upgrades.

Manual Upgrade

This is a typical scenario if you want to upgrade a single Panel installation. Manual means that user input is required during the upgrade. The wizard prompts you to enter various upgrade settings such as the Panel version, select the components to be upgraded, and so on. If you use Panel 10 and later, you can start an upgrade directly from Panel. Users of earlier Panel versions should use the Parallels Installer utility. You can download it from the official Parallels website and run it either in the GUI or in the command-line mode. The table below shows the possible ways of upgrading a particular Panel version to the latest one.

Learn how to manually upgrade Panel in the section Manual Upgrade (on page 71).

Important: If you upgrade from earlier Panel versions (7.x, 8.x, or 9.x), you should perform additional Panel configuration steps once data transfer is finished. These steps are required for successful switching of all your Panel objects to the new business model. Learn more in the chapter Completing Upgrade from Panel 9 and Earlier Versions (on page 104).

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 67

Automated Upgrade

If you maintain a large number of Panel installations, we recommend two main ways of keeping them up-to-date:

 Set up each Panel to automatically perform upgrades once they become available.

Before turning on such automatic upgrades, keep in mind that you cannot control the time when an upgrade will be performed. This is inconvenient in some cases, as upgrades may require significant server downtime and increase traffic. Also, note that Panel can automatically upgrade itself only to the latest publicly released production version (self-upgrade to the testing and early adopter versions is not supported).

 If you want to run upgrades on your servers at a specific time, and have full control

over upgrade parameters, use the Parallels Installer utility. This utility accepts all upgrade parameters as command-line options, so you can fully automate Panel upgrades by writing custom upgrade scripts. Learn more in the section (Advanced) Automated Upgrade (on page 76). On Linux systems, you can upgrade all Panels at the same time by running a script that copies and simultaneously runs the Installer utility on a number of servers. See the script examples in the section Upgrade Script Examples (Linux) (on page 80). On Windows systems, scripts with remote command execution are also possible but require additional tools such as PsExec. Thus, we do not give examples of such scripts for Windows. Note that automated upgrades can be significantly speeded up if you create a local mirror of the Parallels updates server. Learn more in the chapter (Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server.

Upgrade in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers

Parallels Virtuozzo Containers is a virtualization solution employed by a large number of service providers. Virtuozzo Containers support apps installation via PVC templates. A PVC app template is a package containing everything that an app needs to be installed to a server. You install an app template to your server just once and then install the app from the template to a number of containers simultaneously. This is true for upgrades as well. Apps can be upgraded simultaneously in a number of containers by using Virtuozzo commands. If Panel was installed to a container via a PVC template, we strongly recommend that you perform all further Panel upgrades via templates. If you have a number of Panel containers, this will allow you to keep all Panel installations consistent within your hardware node. Learn more in the section (Advanced) Upgrade in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers (on page 81).

In-Place Upgrade Steps

Before upgrading a Panel installation, you should perform a number of preliminary steps. Basically, this procedure includes checking upgrade requirements and choosing a particular Panel version for upgrade. Users of Panel 8.x and 9.x who want to upgrade to the latest Panel version should also check their systems with a special utility. Learn more in the section Before Upgrading Panel (on page 68).

Note that after an upgrade is completed, you may be asked to provide a new license key. The license key can be installed either manually through the Panel GUI or in unattended manner via the Panel API commands. Learn more in the section Installing a

License Key (on page 85).

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68 In-Place Panel Upgrading

In this chapter:

Before Upgrading Panel .................................................................................... 68

Manual Upgrade ................................................................................................ 71

(Advanced) Automated Upgrade ....................................................................... 76

(Advanced) Upgrade in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers ..................................... 81

Post-Upgrade Setup .......................................................................................... 84

In this section:

1. Check Requirements ..................................................................................... 69

2. Perform Pre-Upgrade Check-Up ................................................................... 70

3. Choose a Release Tier .................................................................................. 70

Before Upgrading Panel

There are a few preliminary steps that you might need to perform before upgrading Panel. These steps apply to all in-place upgrade scenarios.

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 69

1. Check Requirements

Before you start in-place upgrading, make sure you meet the following requirements.

Requirements for Linux Systems

Before upgrading Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux, back up your server data and make sure that the following requirements are met:

 PHP 5 is required for the brand new Web Presence Builder component.  The disk space allocated to the /tmp directory exceeds three gigabytes.

 A user who runs the installer is able to execute files in the /tmp directory. This

makes it possible to install the system packages required for the Panel.

 If you run Debian, CloudLinux, or Ubuntu, add updates and security repositories to

your apt package manager configuration.

If you wish to install the Business Manager component during the Panel upgrade, you should preliminarily check that the MySQL server configuration option sort_buffer_size is set to two megabytes (sort_buffer_size=2M) or more. This option is set in the /etc/my.cnf file. After the configuration change, restart the mysqld service by using the following command:

service mysqld restart

Requirements for Windows Systems

Before upgrading Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows, back up your server data and make sure that the following requirements are met:

 If you plan to use Microsoft SQL Server support in the Panel, the SQL Server

should be installed and configured to use standard or mixed security mode. If the SQL Server is not installed, you can select it to be installed with the Panel upgrade and configured with administrator name 'sa' and a random password.

 Prior to upgrading Panel, ensure that you have the latest version of the Microsoft

Visual C++ Redistributable Package.

Note: To install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 during the Panel upgrade, preliminarily install Microsoft Installer 4.5 and .NET Framework 2.0 SP 2. If you are running Windows 2003 server, install the Service Pack 2 for Windows 2003 before installing Panel.

If you wish to install the Business Manager component during the Panel upgrade, you should preliminarily check that the MySQL server configuration option sort_buffer_size is set to 2 megabytes (sort_buffer_size=2M) or more. This option is set in the %plesk_dir%\Databases\MySQL\Data\my.ini file. After the configuration change, restart the mysqld service by running these two commands from shell:

net stop mysql net start mysql

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70 In-Place Panel Upgrading

2. Perform Pre-Upgrade Check-Up

If you use Parallels Plesk Panel 8.x or 9.x and want to upgrade it to Panel 11.0, you may encounter problems due to changes in the business model of Panel 11.0. In particular, it might be impossible to transfer some settings and business objects.

To efficiently prevent or resolve the problems, we offer a tool called plesk101_preupgrade_checker.php. It checks potential business logic and other issues of upgrading to Panel 11.0 and returns recommendations that will help you fix them. You can download the tool and find the descriptions of the report messages at

http://kb.parallels.com/9436.

3. Choose a Release Tier

One more step before upgrading a Panel installation is to choose a proper Panel version depending on its release tier.

Each major version of Panel passes through a number of development stages. It is natural that on earlier stages, some of newly implemented features may not be in their final state and

may require some further modification. The functionality of suсh features in subsequent

Panel versions is improved as they receive more customer feedback over time. To indicate the stage of the current Panel version, we assign one of the following release tiers to it: Testing release, Early Adopter release, General release, and Late Adopter release. The decision about what tier to use is absolutely up to you. For example, consider upgrading to the early adopter release if you want to try new features before the general availability of Panel. On the other hand, if you want to have the solution that received all major updates and is successfully used by a number of service providers, wait until Panel achieves the late adopter release status (it may be a couple of months after the general release).

Choose one of the following:

 Testing release.

Notes:

2. Upgrade to the next testing release is available only to the users of a testing build. Subsequent Panel builds do not have the corresponding option in the GUI.

 Early Adopter release.

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 71

 General release.

In this section:

Upgrade from the Panel GUI (Panel 10 and later) ............................................. 72

Upgrade from the Web Interface ....................................................................... 72

Upgrade from the Command Line ..................................................................... 75

A general release has passed all quality tests. Minor issues are promptly fixed by updates. We recommend that you always upgrade Panel to general release versions.

 Late Adopter release.

A late adopter release has received all major updates issued for the current Panel version, and a number of service providers have successfully used it for some time.

During the manual in-place upgrade, selection of a Panel version is one of the installation wizard steps. If an upgrade is automated by a script, you should specify a certain Panel version using Installer options. For users of PVC templates, a release Panel version is the only option.

Manual Upgrade

Once you have completed the steps described in the section Before Upgrading Panel (on page

68), you can proceed directly to the Panel upgrade.

If you use Panel 10 or later, you can perform the upgrade directly from Panel. Details on how to do this are provided later in this section.

If you want to upgrade from earlier Panel versions, use the Parallels Installer utility. The Parallels Installer utility is available for download from

http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/. Several distributions of Parallels Installer

have been created for different operating systems and platforms, so be sure to obtain the Parallels Installer version that matches your host operating system. Parallels Installer binaries are usually distributed under names in the following format:

parallels_installer_v<installer version>_os_<operating system version>_<platform>. Parallels Installer can be used either via a browser-based user

interface or command line. Learn more in the corresponding sections below.

Some Panel licenses do not grant permission to perform complex upgrades (upgrades that change a major version number: for example, from 10.3.1 to 10.4.0). On attempting to perform such an upgrade, Panel will warn you about license limitations. Nevertheless, you will still be able to perform the upgrade. When it is finished, you will need to obtain and install a license key for the new Panel version. For more information about installing a license key after upgrade, refer to the section Installing a License Key (on page 85).

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72 In-Place Panel Upgrading

Upgrade from the Panel GUI (Panel 10 and later)

Starting from Panel 10, you can apply upgrades directly from Panel in Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades.

We recommend that you set up Panel to notify you when upgrades to the chosen version (early adopter, general, or late adopter release) become available. After you select the desired release tier in Tools & Settings > Update and Upgrade Settings, Panel will check for upgrades once a day. When an upgrade with the selected release tier becomes available, Panel will notify you on the Home > System Overview.

Upgrade from the Web Interface

To upgrade 8.x or 9.x versions of Parallels Plesk Panel to the latest version via the Web interface, follow the instructions given below.

Important: Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 is not upgraded. Alternatively, the new version of Web Presence Builder (former Sitebuilder) installs beside the previous one. Hence, you have the opportunity to manage existing sites in Sitebuilder 4.5 and create new sites either in Web Presence Builder or in Sitebuilder 4.5. The upgrade of existing sites to the new format is performed manually.

Important: If you used Parallels Plesk Billing, add the Customer & Business Manager component to the list of components to upgrade.

 To upgrade Panel from the Web interface:

1. Download the Parallels Installer utility that suits your operating system from

http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/ .

2. (Only for Linux) Set the execution permission for Parallels Installer.

chmod +x parallels_products_installer_file_name

3. Run Parallels Installer.

On a Linux/Unix server:

./parallels_products_installer_file_name --web-interface

On a Windows server:

parallels_products_installer_file_name

(Only for Linux) Open your browser and enter https://your-host-name-or-IP-address:8447/ in the address bar. The Parallels Installer Web interface opens.

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 73

Note: As described in the section Before Upgrading Panel (on page 68), you can select a Panel build for an upgrade depending on its release tier. By default, Installer shows you only the latest general and late adopter releases. To be able to upgrade to other Panel releases, use the following Installer options:

--all-versions to view all available Panel versions.

--tier <release_tier> to view the latest available versions with the specified release tier.

4. (Only for Windows) Select the language for the installation wizard.

5. Log in to the web interface.

 If you are running Windows, type the administrator's username ("Administrator"),

administrator's password, and click Log In.

 If you are running Linux, type the system root user and password, and click Log In.

6. Click Updates source and installation settings and specify the source of Parallels Plesk Panel distribution package:

 By default, the Official Parallels Updates server is selected. Specify the location where the

installation files will be stored.

 If you select Mirror server, specify the .inf3 file location in the URL to the directory with .inf3

file field. Specify the location where the installation files will be stored.

 If you select Local media, specify the .inf3 file location in the Absolute path to the .inf3 file

field.

7. If you use a proxy server, select the Connect using a proxy checkbox and specify the following settings:

 Specify proxy host name and port number in the Proxy address and port fields.

 If this proxy server requires authentication, select the Require authentication checkbox

and specify username and password.

8. (Only for Linux) Select the installation language and click Save to save the installation preferences and proceed to installation.

9. Click Install or Upgrade Product. You are taken to the products list.

10. Select the checkbox corresponding to Parallels Plesk Panel and the Parallels

Plesk Panel product versions to which you want to upgrade. By default, the latest product versions are selected.

11. To review the components that will be installed, select the Preview components selection checkbox and click Continue. You can see the list of available

components. To select or deselect a component, select or clear the corresponding checkbox. To select or deselect all the components, click Select all or None respectively.

12. To start the upgrade, click Continue.

The packages will be downloaded and installed. When the upgrade is finished, you will see a notification saying "All products and components have been successfully installed and upgraded." Click OK.

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74 In-Place Panel Upgrading

Forcing integration with Business Manager

If you upgrade Panel with Business Manager, the components require some time (not more than five minutes) to set up integration after the upgrade is completed. During this period, you may not see Business Manager links in Panel, Business Manager may require your password to log in, and you may see a message about invalid credentials when logging in.

If you want to force the integration, log in to Business Manager and reconnect Panel manually. To do this, go to Home, group Sync Statistics, click the corresponding link, select Panel ID, and click Reconnect.

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Upgrade from the Command Line

To upgrade 8.x or 9.x versions of Parallels Plesk Panel to the latest version via the command line, follow the instructions given below.

Important: Parallels Plesk Sitebuilder 4.5 is not upgraded. Alternatively, the new version of Web Presence Builder (former SiteBuilder) installs beside the previous one. Hence, you have the opportunity to manage existing sites in Sitebuilder 4.5 and create new sites either in Web Presence Builder or in SiteBuilder 4.5. The upgrade of existing sites to the new format is performed manually.

Important: If you used Parallels Plesk Billing, add the Customer & Business Manager component to the list of components to upgrade.

 To update or upgrade your Panel through the command line:

1. Download the Parallels Installer utility that suits your operating system from

http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/ and save it on your

server’s hard drive.

2. (Only for Linux) Set the execution permission for Parallels Installer:

chmod +x parallels_products_installer_file_name

3. Run Parallels Installer.

On a Linux/Unix server:

./parallels_products_installer_file_name

On a Windows server:

parallels_products_installer_file_name --console

--all-versions to view all available Panel versions.

--tier <release_tier> to view the latest available versions with the specified release tier.

4. To confirm upgrade, type 'y' and press ENTER.

5. Specify the source of Parallels Plesk Panel distribution package.

You can choose to upgrade from a local medium, the official Parallels Updates server, or another site. By default, the official server is selected. If you wish to retrieve installation files from a local medium or network storage:

a Type 's' and press ENTER.

b To choose a local medium, type 1. To choose a network storage device, type 3. Press

ENTER.

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76 In-Place Panel Upgrading

c If you chose a local medium, specify the location of psa.inf configuration file. If you

chose a network storage, specify the address. For example, http://example.com, http://192.168.10.10, ftp://192.168.10.10.

Note:If you are running Windows, it is possible to use local system paths when specifying the source. Network shares cannot be used directly, only if you preliminarily map a network drive to a local drive.

6. If you use a proxy server, specify the following settings:

a Proxy host name and port number. To specify them, type 's', type the host name, type the

port number, and press ENTER to continue.

b User name and password. If this proxy server requires authentication, type 'a', press

ENTER, specify username and press ENTER, type password and press ENTER.

c When finished with specifying proxy settings, type 'n' and press ENTER to continue.

7. Select the product version to which you want to upgrade: type the number

corresponding to the product version you need and press ENTER, then type 'n' and press ENTER to continue.

8. Select the components that you want to install or upgrade.

Tip: The selected packages are marked with [*] symbols. The packages that are already

installed and do not require updating are marked with [=] symbols. The component groups that contain selected components are marked with [.]. To select or deselect a package, type the corresponding number and press ENTER..

9. To continue with the upgrade, type 'n' and press ENTER. When prompted, confirm upgrading: type 'n' and press ENTER again.

The packages will be downloaded and installed.

Forcing integration with Business Manager

(Advanced) Automated Upgrade

Once you have completed the steps described in the section Before Upgrading Panel (on page

68), you can proceed directly to the Panel upgrade.

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 77

To upgrade Panel on Linux- or Windows-based servers, use the Parallels Installer utility. The

In this section:

Running Automated Upgrades .......................................................................... 78

Upgrade Script Examples (Linux) ...................................................................... 80

Parallels Installer utility is available for download from

http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/download/. Several distributions of Parallels Installer

have been created for different operating systems and platforms, so be sure to obtain the Parallels Installer that matches your host operating system. Normally, Parallels Installer binaries are distributed under names in the following format:

parallels_installer_v<installer version>_os_<operating system version>_<platform>.

How to Automate Panel Upgrade

If you need to simultaneously upgrade a large number of Panel servers, we recommend that you automate this process.

 If you use Panel 10.4 and later, you can turn on automatic upgrades for each Panel in

Tools & Settings > Update and Upgrade Settings. Do this with caution because upgrades will be applied once they become available and Panel does not have any tools to schedule them at a specific time. This may be inconvenient in case of complex upgrades that require significant server downtime. Also, note that Panel can automatically upgrade itself only to the latest publicly released production version (self-upgrade to the testing and early

adopter versions is not supported). Learn more in the Administrator's Guide, section Panel Updates and Upgrades.

 If you want to perform upgrades on your servers at a specific time and have full control

over upgrade parameters, use the Parallels Installer utility automation capabilities. The automation is based on using the command line options of the Parallels Installer utility that allows you to predefine all upgrade parameters. Thus, the upgrade can be carried out

without user input. To learn how to perform such upgrades, refer to the section Running Automated Upgrades (on page 78).

Moreover, if you plan to upgrade a number of Panels for Linux, you can write a script that automatically copies and runs Installer on a specified group of servers. See the script examples in the section Upgrade Script Examples (Linux) (on page 80). On Windows systems, scripts with remote command execution are also possible but require additional tools such as PsExec. For this reason, we do not give examples of such scripts for Windows.

Note that after an upgrade, you may be asked to install a new license key. This may happen with those Panel license keys that do not grant permission to perform complex upgrades (upgrades that change the major version number, for example, from 10.3.1 to 10.4.0). For this reason, when the upgrade is finished, you will need to obtain and install a license key for the new Panel version. You can automate this process as well. For more information about installing a license key after upgrade, refer to the section Installing a License Key (on page 85).

Speeding Up Automated Upgrades

You can significantly speed up multiple upgrades if you create a local mirror of the Parallels Updates server. This will save time and bandwidth. Learn how to set up a custom mirror in the chapter (Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server.

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Running Automated Upgrades

To upgrade Panel without needing to supply any information in the process, run the command:

parallels_installer <packages source options> --select-release-id <ID> -upgrade-installed-components <components installation options> [other options]

where

 packages source options define the location where Installer should obtain the Panel

packages for upgrade

<packages source options> =

--source <URL> if using a mirror of the Parallels Updates server OR

--source <path> if using a local file system OR none if installing from the Parallels Updates server

 --select-release-ID option defines Panel version for the upgrade. <ID> is a

unique Panel version identifier, like PLESK_10_1_0. You can get the list of available Panel version IDs by running Installer with the --show- releases option. Note that by default, Installer shows you only IDs of the publicly released production versions (learn more about Panel release tiers in the section Before Installing Panel (on page 11)). If you want to obtain the full list of available Panel versions including those intended for the product preview and testing purposes, add the --skip- branch-filter option.

 components installation options define which Panel components should be additionally

installed during an upgrade

<components installation options> =

--install-everything OR

--install-component component1 [--install-component component2 [... [--install-component componentN]]]

You can get the full list of components available for a certain release by running Installer with the following options: --select-release-id <ID> --show-components

 other options include those that define proxy settings, installation logging and so on. For

full details, please refer to the Appendix A: Parallels Installer Options (on page 178).

Examples, Linux/Unix

1. The following command upgrades Panel to the 10.4.4 release version (ID is

PANEL_10_4_4) from the mirror set up on the server mirror.example.com available via HTTP. Installation files will temporarily be stored at /tmp/panel, and the installation status will be reported to the e-mail admin@example.com. The PostgreSQL server component is additionally installed.

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 79

./parallels_installer --source http://mirror.example.com/ --target /tmp/panel --select-release-id PLESK_10_4_4 --upgrade-installed-components

--install-component postgresql --notify-email admin@example.com

2. The following command performs the upgrade to the Panel 10.4.4 release version (ID is

PANEL_10_4_4) from the Parallels Updates server. All Installer's output is redirected to an XML file.

./parallels_installer --select-release-id PLESK_10_4_4 --upgrade-installedcomponents --enable-xml-output

Examples, Windows

1. The following command upgrades Panel to the 10.4.4 release version (ID is

PANEL_10_4_4_WIN) from the mirror set up on the server mirror.example.com available via HTTP. Installation files will temporarily be stored in the %SystemDrive%\Parallels\ folder, and the installation status will be reported to the email admin@example.com. The Bind name server component is additionally installed.

parallels_installer.exe --source http://mirror.example.com/ --target %SystemDrive%\Parallels --select-release-id PANEL_10_4_4_WIN --upgradeinstalled-components --install-component dns --notify-email admin@example.com

2. The following command performs the upgrade to the Panel 10.4.4 release version (ID is

PANEL_10_4_4) from the Parallels Updates server. All installer output is redirected to an XML file.

parallels_installer.exe --select-release-id PANEL_10_1_0_WIN --upgradeinstalled-components --enable-xml-output

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Upgrade Script Examples (Linux)

This section provides notes on implementation and execution of an upgrade script, and also presents a couple of script samples.

Implementation and Executions Notes

 To avoid being prompted for password each time you connect via SSH to the servers

where the Panel should be installed, place your public key to the list of authorized keys of a user on whose behalf the script is run on each server (see SSH documentation for details on the procedure).

 If you have a local mirror of the Panel updates server (as described in the chapter

(Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server), use the following option:

--source <mirror URL>

Sample Scripts

1. This sample script is applicable in cases when Parallels Installer is previously uploaded to

the target server and the execution bit is set in its permissions.

#!/bin/sh SERVERS_LIST="node1.example.com node2.example.com" for current_server in $SERVERS_LIST; do scp parallels_installer root@$current_server: ssh -f root@$current_server "parallels_installer --source http://updates.example.com/ --target /tmp/panel --select-release-id PLESK_10_4_4 --update-installed-components --notify-email admin@example.com" done

2. This sample script is applicable in cases when the Parallels Installer binary is obtained

directly from a network location (the sample URL http://example.com/type_parallels_installer_name_here should be substituted with a valid installer download link).

#!/bin/sh SERVERS_LIST="node1.example.com node2.example.com" for current_server in $SERVERS_LIST; do ssh -f root@$current_server 'wget http://example.com/type_parallels_installer_name_here -o parallels_installer;chmod 755 ./parallels_installer;./parallels_installer -

-source http://updates.example.com/ --select-release-id PLESK_10_4_4 --

update-installed-components --notify-email admin@example.com' done

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(Advanced) Upgrade in Parallels Virtuozzo

In this section:

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Linux .................................................................... 82

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Windows .............................................................. 83

Containers

Parallels Virtuozzo Containers is a container-based virtualization solution employed by a large number of service providers. Each Virtuozzo container is a separate virtual server that acts exactly like a stand-alone one.

The main way of installing an app to Virtuozzo Containers is to use a PVC template. A PVC app template is a package containing everything an app needs to be installed to a server. You install an app template to your server just once and then install the app from the template to a number of containers simultaneously. The main benefit of using PVC templates is that the software installed in containers is unified - you have one PVC template that is applied to all containers on your hardware node. If Panel was installed to a container via a PVC template, we strongly recommend that you perform all further Panel upgrades via templates. If you have a number of Panel containers, this will allow you to keep all Panels consistent within your hardware node.

Upgrade via PVC templates is performed in two steps: you install the latest available Panel template to your hardware node and then start an upgrade with the help of Virtuozzo commands.

As in the other upgrade scenarios, after the upgrade in Virtuozzo Containers, Panel may require the installation of a new license key. You can do this either manually or automatically. For more information about installing a license key after upgrade, refer to the section Installing a License Key (on page 85).

In the following section, we will describe how to perform an upgrade of Panel installed to a Virtuozzo container via a PVC template on both Linux and Windows platforms.

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82 In-Place Panel Upgrading

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Linux

This section explains how to upgrade Panel operating in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for Linux to the latest version.

Notes:

 Before upgrading, you do not need to remove Panel PVC templates from the container.  During upgrade to a newer version of Parallels Plesk Panel, ensure that you upgrade all

installed components. This is required to avoid conflicts caused by outdated components.

 Parallels Plesk SiteBuilder 4.5 is not upgraded. Alternatively, the new version of

SiteBuilder (Web Presence Builder since Panel 10.3) installs beside the previous one. Hence, you have the opportunity to manage existing sites in SiteBuilder 4.5 and create new sites either in Web Presence Builder or in SiteBuilder 4.5. The upgrade of existing sites to the new format can be performed manually.

 To upgrade Panel installed with EZ templates in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers

environment:

1. Upgrade all previously installed templates to the latest available version with the following command:

vzup2date -m batch -z install <list of templates>

Note: For more information about shipped templates, refer to the section Linux PVC Templates (on page 29).

2. Install the latest versions of the Panel templates to the container with the following command:

vzpkg install <CTID> <list of selected templates>

For example:

vzpkg install 444 pp10 pp10-kav

Note: Mail server templates pp10-qmail and pp10-postfix must not be installed at the same time.

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Upgrading Panel on PVC for Windows

This section explains how to upgrade Panel operating in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for Windows to the latest version.

Notes:

 During upgrade to a newer version of Parallels Plesk Panel, ensure that you upgrade all

installed components. This is required to avoid conflicts caused by outdated components.

 Parallels Plesk SiteBuilder 4.5 is not upgraded. Alternatively, the new version of

 To upgrade Panel installed with standard templates in Parallels Virtuozzo

Containers environment:

1. Upload new versions of all previously installed templates from the Parallels website (http://www.parallels.com) to the target Parallels Containers hardware node.

Note: For more information about shipped templates, refer to the section Windows PVC Templates (on page 35).

2. Install the templates trimming trailing timestamps in template names. To install specific versions of templates, use commands of the following syntax.

vzpkgadd <CTID> <panel_template_name>

For example, if you have Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 installed with the plesk_9.3.0_20091224 template, to upgrade to version 10.0.0 with the PANEL_10.0.0_20100923.19 template, run the following command:

On Virtuozzo 3.5.x:

vzpkgadd 444 PANEL_10.0.0_20100923.19

On PVC 4:

vzpkgadd 444 PANEL_10.0.0/20100923.19

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Post-Upgrade Setup

In this section:

Installing a License Key ..................................................................................... 85

Configuring Connections to Remote Panels of Earlier Versions ........................ 86

Post-upgrade setup includes two steps that may be required after an upgrade:

 Installing a Panel license key.

Some Panel licenses do not grant the permission to perform complex upgrades (upgrades that change a major version number: for example, from 10.3.1 to 10.4.0). On attempt to perform such an upgrade, Panel will warn you about license limitations. Nevertheless, you will still be able to perform the upgrade. When it is finished, you will need to obtain and install a license key for the new Panel version.

 Configuring Business Manager Connections to Remote Panels of earlier versions (on

page 86).

Parallels Customer and Business Manager 11.0 uses the new improved protocol for communications with remote Panels. Therefore, if you upgraded Business Manager to the 11 version, we strongly recommend that you upgrade all connected Panels to the 11 version as well. Nevertheless, if for some reasons you wish to continue using earlier versions of Panel with your Business Manager 11.0, you should manually configure connections to them to use the new improved protocol. Note that in this case, some of Business Manager features will not work on these Panels.

 Complete switching to the new business model after upgrading from Panel 9 or earlier.

(on page 104) Due to changes in Panel business model introduced in version 10, if you upgrade from

Panel 9 or earlier, you should perform additional configuration steps to complete the upgrade.

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In-Place Panel Upgrading 85

Installing a License Key

Once the upgrade is finished, Panel may ask you to install a new license key. This may happen with those Panel license keys that do not grant the permission to perform complex upgrades (upgrades that change the major version number: such as, for example, from

10.3.1 to 10.4.0).

You can install an existing license key either manually from the GUI or remotely from the command-line interface. The latter way is recommended when upgrading multiple Panel installations.

To get a new license key, proceed to the Parallels online store (Tools & Settings > License Management > Order New Key). Once you purchase the key, you will receive an activation e-mail with your activation code and a license key file. You can install a Panel license key either by entering the activation code or by uploading the file from this e-mail.

 To install a license key using an activation code:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Parallels Panel License Key and click Install Key.

2. Enter the code you received in the e-mail to the Enter an activation code field and click OK.

 To install a license key using a license key file:

1. Go to Tools & Settings > License Management > Parallels Panel License Key and click Install Key.

2. Choose Upload a license key file.

3. Specify the path to the key file you received in the e -mail and click OK.

 To install a license key through the command-line interface:

To install a Panel license key, use the license utility:

license <--install|-i> <path-to-key-file | activation-code>

For example,

On Linux using a key file:

/usr/local/psa/bin/license -i /tmp/pp10key.xml

On Linux using an activation code:

/usr/local/psa/bin/license -i AB1C23-4DEF56-7GHI89-JK1L23-MNP456

On Windows using a key file:

"%plesk_dir%\bin\license.exe" -i "D:\keys\pp10key.xml"

On Windows using an activation code:

"%plesk_dir%\bin\license.exe" -i AB1C23-4DEF56-7GHI89-JK1L23-MNP456

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Configuring Connections to Remote Panels of Earlier Versions

In order to improve Panel security, in version 11.0, we changed the protocol of interaction between Business Manager and connected Panels. By default, after upgrading to this version, Business Manager continues using the old protocol for interaction with connected Panels of 10.4 and earlier versions. To switch the connections between Business Manager and such Panels to the new improved protocol, you should perform additional configuration steps described below.

 To restore the connection between Business Manager 11.0 and a remote Panel

10.4 or earlier:

1. Go to Business Setup > All Settings > Hosting Panels.

2. Find the remote Panel in Panel Groups. This Panel will have a warning icon (

) near its name. Click Edit.

3. Re-enter the administrator's password.

4. Specify the Business Manager IP address - an IP address that Panel will use to

communicate with Business Manager. Usually, this address is the IP address of Business Manager server in its local network. However, this address may be different, for example, if Business Manager communicates with this Panel through a firewall or a NAT router.

5. Click OK.

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Upgrade by transfer is a process of switching to the latest Panel version by moving all

C H A P T E R 10

Upgrading Panel by Transfer

hosting data (service plans, accounts, subscriptions with content, and so on) from your current Panel server (source) to a server with a later Panel version (destination server). This way of upgrade is appropriate, for example, if the latest Panel version does not support in-place upgrade from your Panel or does not support the operating system you use on the server. In addition, you can use this type of upgrade if you want not only to update your Panel, but also to move it to a more productive server or new operating system.

Upgrade by transfer is possible only for Panel versions shown in the table below.

You can perform upgrade by transfer in the following ways:

 Upgrade using the Migration & Transfer Manager utility (recommended).

We recommend that you perform upgrade by transfer using the Migration & Transfer Manager utility. This utility runs on a destination server and automatically copies hosting data from your source Panel. Learn how to upgrade your Panel using Migration & Transfer Manager in the section Upgrading with Migration & Transfer Manager (on page 88).

 Upgrade through backup files.

If for some reason, Migration & Transfer Manager cannot connect to the source server (for example, due to firewall restrictions), you can transfer data from the source to destination server using backup files. To perform such an upgrade, you should back up data on the source server, transfer the resulting archive file to the destination server manually, and restore the data on this server. You can back up and restore Panel data either through the Panel GUI, or by means of the commandline utilities pleskbackup and pleskrestore. Learn how to perform upgrade using backup files in the section Upgrading Through Backup Files (on page 100).

Transferred Objects and Settings

After you perform an upgrade by transfer, the destination Panel will contain service plans, add-ons, customer accounts, and subscriptions that existed on the source server before the upgrade. The majority of Panel settings will be transferred as well. However, there are objects and settings that are not transferred to the destination Panel, namely:

 Panel settings from the list below:

 The list of connected databases and their settings (Tools & Settings > Database

Servers)

 The settings of Apache modules (Tools & Settings > Apache Modules)

 Backup settings (Tools & Settings > Backup Settings)

 Customers' backup files and FTP repository settings (Control Panel > Websites &

Domains > Backup Manager > Personal FTP Repository Settings).

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88 Upgrading Panel by Transfer

 Panel extensions.

Source

Destination

Plesk for Unix v. 7.5 and later

Linux-based Parallels Plesk Panel 10.0 or later

Plesk for Windows v. 7.5.6 and later

Windows-based Parallels Plesk Panel 10.0 or later

In this chapter:

Upgrading with Migration & Transfer Manager .................................................. 88

Upgrading Through Backup Files ...................................................................... 100

In this section:

Preparing for Upgrade ....................................................................................... 89

Performing Upgrade .......................................................................................... 98

 Third-party software and services, for example, Adobe ColdFusion or Google

services.

Administrators and customers should configure these settings and add missing objects manually.

Supported Upgrades

Upgrading with Migration & Transfer Manager

The steps of transferring Panel data using the Migration & Transfer Manager utility are the following:

1. Install Migration & Transfer Manager on the destination server and prepare both servers to transfer according to instructions in the section Preparing for Upgrade (on page 89).

2. Run the Migration & Transfer Manager tool and go through the wizard steps. See the section Performing Upgrade (on page 98) for details on how to do it.

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Upgrading Panel by Transfer 89

Preparing for Upgrade

In this section:

Preparing to Transfer Data from Panel for Windows .......................................... 90

Before you can transfer data to Parallels Plesk Panel, you need to do the following:

1. Install Migration & Transfer Manager on the destination server. You can do this in one of the following ways:

 Through the Server Administration Panel.

To install it through the Server Administration Panel, go to Tools & Settings > Updates and Upgrades. The Parallels Installer web interface will open in a new window or tab. In the Installer window, click Add Components, select the checkbox corresponding to the Migration & Transfer Manager component, and click Continue.

 From the command line.

To install Migration & Transfer Manager from the command line, run the Parallels Installer on the destination server as described in the section Upgrade from the Command Line (on page 75) and add this component.

2. If a source or a destination server is protected by a firewall, configure the firewall to allow the data exchange between the servers.

When migrating from Windows platforms, allow TCP connections to the ports 6489 (Migration & Transfer Manager). When migrating from Linux, allow TCP connections to the port 22 (SSH).

3. If you are going to migrate from Windows-based platforms, install the Migration & Transfer Agent utility on the source server, as described in the section Preparing to

Transfer Data from Panel for Windows (on page 90).

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90 Upgrading Panel by Transfer

Preparing to Transfer Data from Panel for Windows

In this section:

Installing Migration & Transfer Agent ................................................................. 91

Configuring Migration & Transfer Agent on the Source Server .......................... 92

Configuring Migration & Transfer Manager on the Destination Server ............... 96

Automatic transfer of data from one Windows server to another is possible only when a specific connection is established between the servers. The connection is established by Migration & Transfer Manager installed on a destination server and the Migration & Transfer Agent utility on a source server, provided that they are configured identically.

Migration & Transfer Agent is a utility which transfers data from a source to a destination server. To learn how to install Migration & Transfer Agent on the server, see the section Installing Migration & Transfer Agent (on page 91). If the default settings of Migration & Transfer Agent conflict with your network configuration (for example, you already use the default utility's port for some other purposes), you can change them as described in the section Configuring Migration & Transfer Agent on the Source Server (on page 92). If you change the Migration & Transfer Agent settings, you should do the corresponding changes to the Migration & Transfer Manager configuration as described in the section Configuring Migration & Transfer Manager on the Destination Server (on page 96).

The following settings are used by Migration & Transfer Agent by default:

 Port - number of the port that is used by the Panel for connecting to Migration &

Transfer Agent. (The default is 6489.) When changing the port, consider the following:

 It can be any number from 1 to 65535.

 It must be free on the server from which data will be migrated, that is, this port

should not be used by any other programs or services on both servers.

 It must be allowed by firewall on the source server.

 Channel type - protocol communication between Migration & Transfer Manager

and Migration & Transfer Agent. (The default is HTTP.) When selecting the channel type, consider the following characteristics:

 TCP provides better performance than HTTP.

 HTTP is more public as it uses HTTP protocol, which is allowed by most

firewalls.

Note: If these connection parameters are not the same in Migration & Transfer Manager and Migration & Transfer Agent configurations, migrations will fail.

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Upgrading Panel by Transfer 91

Installing Migration & Transfer Agent

 To install Migration & Transfer Agent:

1. Log in to Server Administration Panel on the destination server.

2. Go to Tools & Settings > Migration & Transfer Manager (in the Tools & Resources

group).

3. To obtain the latest version of the Migration & Transfer Agent, click Download Migration & Transfer Agent.

4. Upload the file to the source server.

5. Log in to the source server over Remote Desktop, and run the

installation file.

6. Click Next several times to complete installation.

Once you have installed Migration & Transfer Agent, it starts automatically with the default settings. So, you can proceed to transferring data.

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92 Upgrading Panel by Transfer

Configuring Migration & Transfer Agent on the Source Server

Migration & Transfer Agent is fully operable with the default settings, so there is no need to change them. However, if you want to change the port or protocol used by the agent, you can do so by following the instructions provided in this section.

Changing Migration & Transfer Agent configuration includes the following:

 Changing parameters of the Migration & Transfer Agent connection with Migration

& Transfer Manager (port and channel type). This can be done using either Migration & Transfer Agent interface or Migration &

Transfer Agent configuration file.

 Changing the location of data files on the source server.

This is necessary if, for example, there is not enough space on the disk where Migration & Transfer Agent is installed.

 To change the connection parameters using Migration & Transfer Agent

GUI:

1. Run the WINAgentMng.exe file. If Migration & Transfer Agent was installed in the default location, you can access it by clicking Start > Programs > Parallels > Panel > Plesk Migration Agent, or browsing to

C:\Program Files\Parallels\Plesk Migration Agent\WINAgentMng.exe.

The Migration & Transfer Agent window opens.

2. Click Stop.

This makes changing Migration & Transfer Agent settings available.

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Upgrading Panel by Transfer 93

3. Enter the desirable value next to Port to change the port number.

4. To change Migration & Transfer Agent channel type:

a. Click Advanced.

The advanced options window opens.

b. Select an appropriate item in the Channel Type menu to set up a

channel type.

c. Click OK.

This applies the changes made to advanced options and closes the advanced options window.

5. Click Start.

This applies changes made to the port number and starts Migration & Transfer Agent with new settings.

Editing Migration & Transfer Agent Configuration File

You can edit the Migration & Transfer Agent configuration settings manually. For the changes to take effect after manual editing, restart Migration & Transfer Agent.

 To change the connection parameters by editing configuration file:

1. Open for editing the <migration-agent-installation- directory>\WINAgentMng.exe.config file and locate the "/configuration/appSettings" element.

By default, Migration & Transfer Agent is installed in C:\Program Files\Parallels\PleskMigrationAgent.

Warning: It is strongly recommended that you do not change anything beyond the contents of the <appSettings> node, as doing this will most probably crash Migration & Transfer Manager and make migrations impossible.

2. To change port number, enter a desired value in the <add key="Port" value="6489" /> string instead of 6489.

For example, if you want port 7788 to be used, this string should be <add key="Port" value="7788" />.

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3. To change channel type, enter a desired value in the <add key="ChannelType" value="HTTP" /> instead of HTTP.

For example, if you want to use TCP, this string should be <add key="ChannelType" value="TCP" />.

4. To change the Migration & Transfer Agent's IP address, enter the IP address value in the string <add key="IPAddress" value="" />.

This will allow Migration & Transfer Manager to connect to Migration & Transfer Agent through the specified IP address only. Type 0.0.0.0 or remove the string from the file altogether to allow Migration & Transfer Manager to connect to Migration & Transfer Agent through any IP address available on the source server.

5. Save file.

6. Restart Migration & Transfer Agent.

 To change the location of data files gathered by Migration & Transfer

Agent:

1. Open for editing the <migration-agent-installation- directory>\WINAgentMng.exe.config file and locate the "/configuration/appSettings" element.

By default, Migration & Transfer Agent is installed in C:\Program Files\Parallels\PleskMigrationAgent.

Warning: It is strongly recommended that you do not change anything beyond the contents of the <appSettings> node, as doing this will most probably crash the Migration & Transfer Manager and make migrations impossible.

2. Add the full path (starting with the drive root) to folder where the file should be stored into the <add key="DumpDirectory" value="" /> string.

For example, if you want the migration dump to be stored in folder

H:\Store\Plesk_migration, this string should be <add key="DumpDirectory" value="H:\Store\Plesk_migration" />. If such

directory does not exist on disk H, it will be created.

3. Save file.

4. Restart Migration & Transfer Agent.

The default content of the configuration file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <configuration> <startup> <supportedRuntime version="v2.0.50727" /> <supportedRuntime version="v1.1.4322" /> </startup> <system.runtime.remoting> <customErrors mode="off" />

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Configuring Migration & Transfer Manager on the Destination Server

Important: Change settings of Migration & Transfer Manager connection to Migration & Transfer Agent only if you did the same changes to the Migration & Transfer Agent configuration.

 To change parameters of Migration & Transfer Manager connection to

Migration & Transfer Agent:

1. Open for editing the

%plesk_dir%\PMM\Migration\migrmng.exe.config file and locate the "/configuration/appSettings" element.

%plesk_dir% is the system variable defining the folder where PPP is installed.

2. To change the port number, enter the required value in the string <add key="Port" value="6489" /> instead of 6489.

For example, if you want port 7788 to be used, this string should be <add key="Port" value="7788" />.

3. To change Migration & Transfer Agent URI, enter the required value in the string <add key="ObjectUri" value="WinAgentURI" /> instead of WinAgentURI.

For example, if you want "MigrationAgent325" to be used as the Migration URI, the string should be <add key="ObjectUri" value="MigrationAgent325" />.

4. To change channel type, enter the required value in the string <add key="ChannelType" value="HTTP" /> instead of HTTP.

For example, if you want to use TCP, this string should be <add key="ChannelType" value="TCP" />.

5. Save the file.

The default content of the migrmng.exe configuration file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <configuration> <configSections> <section name="Platforms" type="ForeignMigratorEngineCore.Configuration.PlatformsSectionHandler, ForeignMigratorEngineCore"/> </configSections> <startup> <supportedRuntime version = "v2.0.50727" /> <supportedRuntime version = "v1.1.4322" /> </startup>  <appSettings> <add key="Port" value="6489" /> <add key="ObjectUri" value="WinAgentURI" />

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Performing Upgrade

 To transfer accounts and websites with applications from other hosting

servers:

1. Log in to Parallels Plesk Panel on the destination server.

2. Go to Tools & Settings > Migration & Transfer Manager (in the Tools & Resources

group).

3. Click Synchronize to check if there are any updates for Migration & Transfer Manager components.

4. Click Start New Migration.

5. Leave the Transfer data from another server option selected, and specify the

following:

 The source server's address and port number (on Linux/Unix systems). Specify

either the IP address or the host name of the server, from which you want to transfer data.

If the source server is on an IPv6 address, then you should specify the server's host name instead of IP address.

 The username and password of the administrator of the source server.

Note: The option Transfer data already processed by the migration agent and located

on the local host can be used to import data from a file, as described in the

section Troubleshooting Migration and Transfer Issues (on page 173). This is another way to transfer data, which can be used in cases when the source server is offline, and you have previously gathered data from it.

6. If you use Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux, you can also specify the directory on the source server where the migration agent should be uploaded.

7. Specify the path to the directory where temporary files will be stored.

8. Specify whether you want to transfer all data related to user accounts,

domains, and services configuration from the source server, or only specific items. In case you choose to perform the full server transfer, you can configure Migration & Transfer Manager to transfer a license key from the source server. The option is useful if the license key suits the Panel version installed on the destination server and you want to use it instead of the current one.

9. If some of Panel objects from the source server (such as user accounts, domains, and so on) are already present on the destination server, you can replace them by choosing the Replace existing objects checkbox.

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10. If you use Parallels Plesk Panel for Linux, select the Use rsync transport checkbox. This reduces the amounts of disk space, bandwidth, and time required to transfer data.

11. Click Next. Migration & Transfer Manager will connect to the specified server and gather information about the business objects of the source hosting platform.

12. If you have chosen to transfer only specific items, at this step, select the checkboxes corresponding to the user accounts and domains that you want to transfer. Also, specify what types of data should be transferred:

 All settings and content.

 All settings and content except mail.

 Only mail accounts with e-mail messages.

13. Click Next.

14. Once the data are retrieved from the source server, specify the new IP

addresses that should be used. If you have a great number of IP addresses, at this step, you can download the current IP mapping file, correct it in a text editor or by running a custom find -and-replace script, and then upload it back to the server.

The syntax of the IP mapping file is shown in the following example:

10.10.10.10 192.168.1.2

Where 10.10.10.10 is an IP address used on the source server and

192.168.1.2 is a new IP address that should be used on the destination server.

There is a white space between the two IP addresses. When compiling the list of addresses, place each mapping entry on a separate line.

15. Click Next. The data transfer process will start immediately.

Important: If you transfer data from Panel 9 or earlier, you should complete the

transfer according to instructions provided in the chapter Completing Upgrade from Panel 9 and Earlier Versions (on page 104).

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Upgrading Through Backup Files

In addition to using Migration & Transfer Manager, you can back up data on a source server, transfer the resulting archive file to the destination server, and restore the data there. Backing up and restoring can be performed through the Panel user interface or by means of command-line utilities pleskbackup and pleskrestore. The utilities are located in the /usr/local/psa/bin/ directory on Linux systems, and

%plesk_cli% on Windows systems.

Important: The backup and restore utilities and the corresponding functions in Panel are available only if you install the optional Panel components that are not included in typical installations. You can install these components by using the web-based installation and update wizard: in Server Administration Panel, go to Tools & Settings >

Updates and Upgrades > Add Components, and select Plesk Backup Manager in the Server backup solutions group.

The backup format changes from version to version, so it may be impossible to restore data from a backup through command line due to compatibility problems. Therefore, if you want to transfer data from earlier Panel versions, do it through the Panel user interface: In this case, the destination Panel will automatically convert the backup file to the appropriate format.

 To back up data on a source server by means of Parallels Plesk Panel

user interface:

Follow the instructions in the Administrator's Guide for your Plesk version:

 Parallels Plesk Panel 10:

http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/PP10/10.4.4/Doc/en-US/online/pleskadministrator-guide/59256.htm.

 Plesk 9.5: http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/PPP9/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.5-

administrators-guide/59256.htm.

 Plesk 8.6: http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk8.6/Doc/en-US/plesk-8.6-unix-

administrators-guide/17391.htm.

If you have a Plesk version earlier than 8.6, use the Help link in the navigation pane to access the Administrator's Guide.

 To back up all data on a source server by means of command-line utilities,

issue the following command:

 On a Linux-based server - /usr/local/psa/bin/pleskbackup all

<backup_file_name>.

 On a Windows-based server running Plesk 9 and 10 -

"%plesk_cli%\pleskbackup.exe" all <backup_file_name>.

 On a Windows-based server running Plesk 8.6 and earlier -

"%plesk_cli%\backup.exe" all <backup_file_name>.

Parallels Plesk Panel - 11.0 Installation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Preface

Typographical Conventions

Feedback

About This Document

Introduction

Installing Panel

Before Installing Panel

1. Check Installation Requirements

2. Choose a Release Tier

3. Choose Panel Components

4. (Advanced) Use Alternative Package Repositories

Manual Installation

Installation from the Web Interface

Installation from the Command Line

Typical Installation with One-Click Installer

(Advanced) Automated Installation

Running Automated Installations

Installation Script Examples (Linux)

(Advanced) Installation to Parallels Virtuozzo Containers

Linux PVC Templates

Installation on PVC for Linux

Windows PVC Templates

Installation on PVC for Windows

Post-Installation Setup

Manual Post-Installation Setup

Initialize Panel

Install a License Key

(Advanced) Automated Post-Installation Setup

Initialize Panel

Install a License Key

Define Panel View

Specify Administrator's Password

Set Up Panel Locale

Optimize Panel for Operation in VPS

Hide Power Panel Controls for PVC Installations

Set Up Upgrade Notifications

Change or Hide Web Interface Elements

Installing Third-Party Services

Web Deploy 2.0

1. Install Web Deploy

2. Improve the Security Level

3. Secure the Service with a Valid Certificate

4. Activate Web Deploy in Hosting Plans and Subscriptions

Manual Installation of Web Deploy

Adobe ColdFusion (Linux)

Google Services for Websites

Providing Access to Google Services on Websites

UNITY Mobile Services for Mobile Sites

Miva E-commerce Applications (Windows)

Miva E-commerce Applications (Linux)

Installing Panel Extensions (Linux)

Installing Additional License Keys for Panel Add-ons

(Advanced) Mirroring Parallels Updates Server

What Upgrade Way to Choose

In-Place Panel Upgrading

Before Upgrading Panel

1. Check Requirements

2. Perform Pre-Upgrade Check-Up

3. Choose a Release Tier

Manual Upgrade

Upgrade from the Panel GUI (Panel 10 and later)

Upgrade from the Web Interface

Upgrade from the Command Line

(Advanced) Automated Upgrade

Running Automated Upgrades

Upgrade Script Examples (Linux)

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Linux

Upgrading Panel on PVC for Windows

Post-Upgrade Setup

Installing a License Key

Configuring Connections to Remote Panels of Earlier Versions

Upgrading Panel by Transfer

Upgrading with Migration & Transfer Manager

Preparing for Upgrade

Preparing to Transfer Data from Panel for Windows

Installing Migration & Transfer Agent