Plesk

Introduction

Plesk Panel is a web hosting control panel. This article provides information about how to install and use this tool.

Plesk Panel

Plesk 12/Onyx

We at Hetzner provide licenses for Plesk 12/Onyx/Obsidian. There are three different licenses to choose from depending on the amount of domains that you need to manage with Plesk and which kinds of functions you need.

ATTENTION: New prices for Plesk licenses will become effective on 1 January 2024.

Overview of the Product Features

New prices for Plesk licenses effective on 1 January 2024

Unfortunately, Plesk increased the prices for some of their licenses effective on 1 January 2024.

This will result in the following price changes:

Older Plesk licenses

The licenses for Plesk Pack 30, Plesk Pack 100 and Plesk Pack unlimited, which were available up until July 24, 2014, are also valid for Plesk 12/Onyx/Obsidian. If you have such a license and would like to upgrade to the new licensing model, please send a support request via Robot.

Installation

You can install Plesk either automatically or manually, depending on your needs.

Automatic

When you order a new server, you can select an operating system, which is then pre-installed on the server. A number of these operating systems can be installed along with Plesk.

Currently, Plesk can be pre-installed with the following operating systems:

AMD64 architecture

• Alma Linux 8.9
• Alma Linux 9.2
• CentOS 7.9
• Debian 11.9
• Debian 12.5
• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (HWE)
• Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2019 Standard Edition

Arm64 architecture

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

If the server is already online, you can activate and install Plesk automatically (along with an OS) by going to the Plesk tab of the server on Robot. Then restart the server, and the installation will start automatically. You will get an email with the login details for both the OS and Plesk once the installation is complete.

Important note: This installation will erase all data on the drives in the server.

Manual

You can also install Plesk manually. This is useful if, for example, you need to install on an OS we don't pre-install it with.

You, the customer, need to install Plesk yourself. We do not help with that. (There is no software support for dedicated root servers.) You can order the license and retrieve it directly by going to the Plesk tab of the server on Robot. After you order the license, the Plesk activation code will be available in the Plesk tab. In the Plesk panel, you can enter the activation code in Tools & Settings -> License Management (under “Plesk”) -> Install Key.

Access

You can access Plesk via port 8443:

https://<IP Adress of the Server>:8443

Additional Modules/Extensions

You can choose two different language packs (out of thirteen) within Plesk for free. Additional language packs cost € 2.60 per month.

Plesk Power Pack

The Plesk Power Pack costs € 7.80 per month and contains the following modules.

Miscellaneous

We provide various other modules, some of which require a license upgrade. Please write a support request via Robot to ask about prices and/or license upgrades.

Installation

You can use the Plesk Autoinstaller, which is pre-installed with our standard Plesk installation, to install additional modules.

We recommend you make a backup before updating Plesk.

Autoinstaller via the Plesk Panel:

In your Plesk Panel, please choose the menu item Server Management -> Tools & Settings -> Updates and Upgrades to use the Autoinstaller.

Autoinstaller via the command-line:

The following command in the command-line interface provides assistance with the autoinstaller:

/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/autoinstaller --help

The following command lists all available Plesk modules:

/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/autoinstaller --select-release-current --show-components

An example of a command for installing a module is below, which will install the drweb module:

/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/autoinstaller --select-release-current --install-component drweb

Using the Hetzner name servers

When setting up a domain/subscription, Plesk automatically creates a DNS zone. In this case, when you create a DNS entry using DNS-Console Panel, you can select the option Secondary. The Hetzner nameservers then automatically adjust the DNS zone data with the primary nameserver managed through Plesk.

When you make changes to the DNS zones using Plesk, for example, after you create a subdomain, the Hetzner nameservers will automatically update with the new information. Manually adjusting the DNS entry in DNS-Console Panel is therefore not necessary.

For the zone transfer functions to operate smoothly, you need to make a few adjustments in Plesk. These are explained in more detail below.

Note: If you activated and did the installation of Plesk via Robot, the following adjustments are pre-configured automatically.

Allowing zone transfers for the Hetzner nameservers

You can add the following IP addresses of the Hetzner nameservers in Plesk by going to Tools & Settings -> DNS Template Settings -> Transfer Restrictions template:

213.239.242.238
213.133.100.103
193.47.99.3

Note: 213.133.100.103 has replaced the IP address 213.133.105.6 for robotns2.second-ns.de on 4 December 2023.

This enables the primary nameserver managed through Plesk to send the Hetzner nameservers notifications about changed domains (NOTIFY). And it allows the Hetzner nameservers to perform a zone transfer (AXFR).

Entering NS Records for the Hetzner Nameservers

By going to Tools & Settings -> DNS Template Settings, you can remove the existing NS record.

Then, by clicking on Add DNS entry, you can add NS records for the following Hetzner nameservers:

ns1.first-ns.de
robotns2.second-ns.de
robotns3.second-ns.com

Please leave the field labeled Enter the domain name blank.

To have this default setting be applied for existing domains in Plesk, you can save the changes by clicking on Domains -> and then click on the Domain Name -> DNS Settings.

Then, you can use the Hetzner nameservers for the domain.

FAQ

Where does Plesk save log and configuration files?

You can find an overview of the locations of the log and configuration files in Plesk in the following articles from the Plesk knowledgebase:

• Linux: https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/213403509
• Windows: https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/213911325

How do I reset my admin password for the Plesk Panel?

• Plesk für Linux
• Plesk für Windows

I got a grace period/license has expired error message – what can I do?

You may have received the following error message in Plesk:

Warning: You are currently operating within the grace period of your product license.
To update your product license, select the Retrieve Keys option on the License Management page.

or

Your license key has expired. To continue using your Plesk, you must purchase a non-expiring commercial license key.

If you got one of these messages, please click on the button Tools & Settings-> License management -> Retrieve Keys. Your Plesk license will be updated and the notification go away.

You can find some possible causes and fixes here here.

Where can I find answers to my questions concerning Plesk?

You can find Plesk's support resources here:

• Documentation
• Knowledge Base
• Plesk Forum

The above prices do not include VAT.