Windows Server 2012 - Plesk 12 Hosting Control Panel
- 31/12/1969 7:00 PM
Applicable Plans - All Cloud Hosting Plans
Using Plesk 12 Hosting Control Panel on Windows Server 2012
Overview
The Plesk Hosting Control Panel is a complete web hosting system that offers system administration and web hosting management features in an easy to use web interface. With Plesk you can manage everything from one website to an entire web hosting business.
Plesk 12 comes in four editions (Web ADMIN, Web APP, Web PRO, and Web HOST), each geared toward a specific audience. All editions come with access to the APS Standard library of applications, and the Plesk Security Core package which includes Cloudflare ServerShield (with website reputation monitoring and CDN), and Outbound Antispam.
The default installation for Plesk is the Web ADMIN Edition, but you can easily upgrade to the Web APP, Web PRO, or Web HOST editions from the Customer Portal Store menu under Licenses > Plesk 12 Licensing Options. Here you also have options to upgrade the Security Core application version to the Security Core "Complete" version, and purchase additional license packs.
Accessing the Plesk Hosting Control Panel
Plesk Editions and Licensing Options
Securing your Websites and Virtual Server Using Plesk
Plesk Security Core Package
Backing up and Restoring Files and Applications
Using Plesk
Plesk provides an easy to use web interface that allows you to manage all aspects of your websites and web applications, as well as manage customers and resellers if your edition supports that feature.
Plesk has extensive built-in Help available that is context-sensitive - meaning that when you click on Help > Read the Guide from a screen, you will be taken to the Plesk Help documentation for that screen or feature. There are also video tutorials available from Help > Watch Video Tutorials.
The built-in Plesk Help and the official Plesk documentation are the definitive guides on how to configure, use, and administer Plesk. While easy to use, Plesk also has a lot of available options and settings, and your best answers to any configuration or usage questions will come from the official documentation.
The official Plesk documentation is here - Parallels Plesk Documentation. Make sure that you select the documentation for version 12.
Accessing the Plesk Hosting Control Panel
After you order your Plesk Virtual Server, it may take up to two hours before it is available to you. The Virtual Server has to be provisioned, and then Plesk has to be installed. Once Plesk has been installed, our Billing department will purchase a license for you, and then our Technical Support department will install that license. Once these steps have been completed, you will be notified via e-mail.
Once Plesk has been installed and licensed, you will be able to log in and begin setting up your websites and users. You can access Plesk in two ways: 1) from the Customer Portal, or 2) using a direct URL.
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Accessing Plesk from the Customer Portal - from the Customer Portal, go to My Cloud > Virtual Servers, and select the Virtual Server where Plesk is installed. Click on the magnifying glass to the right of that Virtual Server, this takes you to the Product Details page. On the Product Details page, look in the Virtual Server Details for Control Panel, and click the URL for Plesk.
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Accessing Plesk from a Direct URL - you can access Plesk from a direct URL instead of going through the Customer Portal. The URL for Plesk will be https://eapps-example.com:8443 (substitute your domain name for eapps-example.com), or https://IP_ADDRESS:8443, where IP_ADDRESS is the primary IP of your Virtual Server.
Once you are at the login screen, log in as admin, using the root password you set when you created the Virtual Server.
Plesk Editions and Licensing Options
There are four "Editions" of Plesk available, each with a different license and designed for different audiences. The four Editions are:
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Web ADMIN Edition - for website admins who manage sites for a single entity such as their employer, a small business, or themselves. No reseller or customer management functions are available in this edition, which comes with a 10 domain license. This is the edition installed by eApps when you order your Virtual Server.
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Web APP Edition - for web application developers who are building and deploying applications online. No reseller or customer management functions are available in this edition, which comes with a 5 domain license but includes the Developer Pack (PostgreSQL, MSSQL, Tomcat, ColdFusion).
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Web PRO Edition - for website admins and developers who are hosting and managing websites that they have developed for their customers. There are no reseller functions available in this edition, but there are customer management tools to manage the subscriptions for the websites being hosted. This edition comes with a 30 domain license.
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Web HOST Edition - this is the full reseller package that allows you to sell web hosting services and allow your customers access to install and manage their own websites and applications. This edition has tools to manage customers, manage subscriptions, and manage resellers. This edition comes with an unlimited domains license.
The definitive guide to the features and differences between the four Plesk Editions is found here - Parallels Plesk 12 Editions. More information is also available from the eApps website - Plesk Control Panel
When you create your Virtual Server using the Windows 2012 R2 Standard 64bit Plesk Control Panel (Parallels) template, the Web ADMIN Edition license is installed as part of the Virtual Server configuration. This is the base configuration, and all other editions build off the Web ADMIN Edition.
You can easily upgrade your Plesk license to one of the other editions. Go to the eApps Store - Licenses and click on Plesk 12 Licensing Options. This will expand the screen, and you will be able to purchase your new license here.
Once you purchase the license, eApps Billing will procure the license from Plesk, and then Technical Support will install the license for you, and then notify you by e-mail that the new license is installed and available.
Securing your Websites and Virtual Server Using Plesk
There are several options available to increase the security of your Plesk Virtual Server. Some of these options are available as part of the default Plesk installation, and some can be enabled as additional add-ons.
To manage the built-in security options for Plesk, go to Server > Security. In this section are the settings for the overall Security Policy, and options related to websites, sessions, and administrators.
The Plesk Firewall is located in this section of the Control Panel and is enabled by default. More information on setting up the Firewall and using predefined rulesets can be found here - Firewall Extension.
Consult the Help function inside each option for more information on how to configure the available settings.
Plesk Security Core Package
Plesk also includes the Security Core package which provides several tools to enhance the overall security of your websites and your Virtual Server. These tools include:
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Cloudflare ServerShield™ - protection from hackers, spammers, and DDOS attacks, including website reputation monitoring and a basic Cloudflare CDN configuration.
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Outbound AntiSpam - service that helps keep the IP addresses assigned to the Virtual Server from being blacklisted due to any outbound spam. This is installed and enabled by default.
Installing Cloudflare ServerShield™
To install Cloudflare ServerShield, go to Server > Plesk > Updates and Upgrades. You will need to enter the Windows Administrator password (NOT the Plesk admin password) to access the Updates and Upgrades feature.
Once you are in the Updates and Upgrades section, go to Additional Plesk Extensions. Expand this selection to select and install Cloudflare ServerShield extension. Once the extension is installed, you access it from Websites & Domains > ServerShield by Cloudflare (in the right navigation pane). Click on the icon and either enter the details for your existing Cloudflare account, or create an account to continue.
Cloudflare ServerShield also includes website reputation monitoring and a basic Cloudflare CDN configuration. There is no software to install or maintain or any website code changes required to use website reputation monitoring or CDN.
Email Configuration
By default Plesk installs the MailEnable mail server to send and receive e-mail. There are also anti-spam tools available in Plesk, as well as the SpamExperts service provided by eApps.
With Plesk you can create and manage e-mail addresses, configure the mail server, install anti-spam and anti-virus applications, provide a webmail client to your users, and setup and configure mailing lists. More information about using the Mail service in Plesk is available here - Mail configuration.
Along with the anti-spam and anti-virus tools that can be configured inside Plesk, eApps also offers SpamExperts, which is an anti-spam and anti-virus scanning and filtering service that runs at the network level and is available for free for the first five domains on a Virtual Server (additional domains are $1.00 per domain per month). SpamExperts comes with a web interface that allows users and domain administrators to manage their spam filters and quarantines. More information about SpamExperts is available here - SpamExperts Admin Guide and SpamExperts User Guide.
Using Applications
Plesk includes access to applications from the APS Standard application library. These are applications that have been packaged in a format that allow them to be easily installed from Plesk. More information about the applications available in Plesk can be found here - Web Applications.
In Plesk, there are two sources for applications:
- Application Catalog - this is the remote application repository maintained by Parallels
- Application Vault - these are the applications available locally on your Virtual Server
You can download apps from the Application Catalog to your Application Vault. You can also create and package your own applications in APS Standard format and make them available in the Application Vault.
If you have the Web PRO or Web HOST edition of Plesk, you are able to control which applications your customers can see and install from the Application Vault, and also control some of the settings for those applications.
NOTE - the applications from the eApps Application Repository are NOT available from within Plesk. These applications are only available for customers using the ISPmanager Control Panel.
Backing up and Restoring Files and Applications
Plesk has built-in functionality to backup your files and applications. Using the backup tools available in Plesk, you can:
- Backup the entire Virtual Server
- Backup individual user accounts and websites
- Backup individual websites
You can also schedule backups, and restore files from backups. The backups can either be stored on your Virtual Server, or sent via FTP to an external server such as another Virtual Server at eApps or another location.
If you have reseller functions available in your edition, you can also allow your customers to create and manage their own backups.
More information about the backup functionality available in Plesk can be found here - Backing Up and Restoration.
There are also several options available for backing up your files available through eApps:
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Enterprise Backup Service - the Enterprise Backup Service (using Acronis) allows file level control for backup and restore, a web interface to manage your backups, and allows frequent backups. Using a technique when you setup your backup schedule in Acronis ensures the integrity of your MySQL databases.
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Basic Backup Service - this allows you to schedule a once daily recurring backup of the entire Virtual Server, and keep a specified number of backups available for restore. There is no file level control and no MySQL database integrity with the Basic Backup.
More information about the backup services available through eApps is available here - eApps Online Backup Services. Please contact eApps Sales for more information.
Using SSL Certificates
SSL is a cryptographic protocol that provides secure communication on the Internet for web pages and other data transfers. If you are visiting a website that has https in the URL, that website is using SSL.
Using SSL for a website in Plesk requires you to first upload the SSL certificate to Plesk, and then enable that SSL certificate for the website. More information about setting up SSL in Plesk can be found here - SSL Protection.
eApps sells a variety of SSL certificates that you can use with Plesk, including the Extended Validation certificate that shows the green security bar in most browsers. More information about the SSL certificates available from eApps can be found here - eApps SSL Certificates.
Managing IP Addresses
Plesk keeps all IP addresses in an IP Pool, which is a set of IPs that can be assigned for customers and resellers, or used for your own websites. IP addresses can be Dedicated, meaning that only one user or one website uses that IP address, or Shared, meaning multiple users and websites can use that IP address.
More information about how to manage IP addresses in Plesk can be found here - IP Pool.
By default, your Plesk Virtual Server comes with one public IP address. Using the Upgrade/Downgrade Options in the Customer Portal, you can add additional public and private IP addresses to your Virtual Server - 25 public IPs and 100 private (internal) IPs. If you need more IPs than are available from the Portal, please contact eApps Sales for assistance. More information about adding additional IPs to your Virtual Server is available here - eApps Upgrade/Downgrade Resources.
Once you purchase your additional IP addresses, you will need to add them to Plesk. How to add these IPs differs depending on your edition:
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Web ADMIN and Web APP Editions - Server > Tools & Resources > IP Addresses. Here you can add an IP address and also force the Virtual Server to reread all the IP addresses available.
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Web PRO and Web HOST Editions - Tools & Settings > IP Addresses. Click on Reread IP to force the Virtual Server to add the new IPs to Plesk.