FAQ for Plesk Obsidian

General Questions

What’s new in Plesk Obsidian?

Our top priority is to ensure a smooth and seamless customer journey inside Plesk Obsidian. We plan to significantly improve the on-boarding process, update our web stack (MariaDB, PHP Composer, improve Docker integration), enhance overall UX in Plesk, and much more. We are going to frequently add changes and updates. To stay tuned, follow our release notes.

Which operating systems does Plesk Obsidian support?
Do I have to buy a new license when upgrading to Plesk Obsidian?

No, you don't. But depending on the type of Plesk license you have, you may need to take additional actions.

I have a lease Plesk license.

Hooray! All the following types of lease licenses are compatible with Plesk Obsidian:

  • Web Admin Edition, Web Pro Edition, and Web Host Edition.
  • Licenses for Plesk on cloud platforms (for example, AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean, and others).
  • Domain-based Plesk licenses for Plesk 10.x/11.x and later.

I have a perpetual (purchased) Plesk license for Onyx.

As long as SUS on your license is active, your license will be automatically upgraded during a Plesk upgrade. If SUS is expired, you need to reinstate it to use your license with Plesk Obsidian. If you are a Plesk partner, you can reinstate SUS using your Key Administrator or Partner Central account, or via your sales representative. If you are a retail customer, you can order SUS reinstatement here.

I have a perpetual (purchased) Plesk license for a version earlier than Onyx.

You must upgrade your Plesk 12.x license to Plesk Onyx before upgrading to Plesk Obsidian. If you have a Plesk 10.x/11.x license, upgrade it to Plesk 12.x first.

Does Plesk Obsidian support Debian 11 and Ubuntu 22?

Debian 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 are supported. Ubuntu 22.04 is supported only for Plesk Obsidian version 18.44 and higher.

What OSes are supported by the integrated Repair Kit?

Repair Kit works fine on all supported OSes.

Are there any deprecated features in Plesk Obsidian?

Yes, there are. You can see them here.

Can I install Plesk on an ARM-based Server?

Yes! Starting with Plesk Obsidian 18.0.41, you can install Plesk on Ubuntu 20 servers running on ARM-based platforms (Ubuntu 22 support was added in Plesk Obsidian 18.0.46). Note that at the moment there are a number of limitations:

  • Dr.Web and Kaspersky Antivirus are not available.
  • Certain extensions are not available and will not be installed with the recommended preset.
  • Nginx is built without the Pagespeed module, as it is not available for the 64-bit extension of the ARM architecture.

Plesk and GDPR

What is GDPR?

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is the new EU data protection law, which replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/EC and applicable local data protection laws. GDPR is intended to protect the EU citizens' personal data. It regulates how organizations process, store, and erase the data when it's no longer needed or when individuals request to delete it. GDPR came into effect in May 2018.

Is Plesk GDPR compliant?
When does Plesk collect personal data?

Plesk collects personal data only when you do one of the following:

  • Request a trial license.
  • Subscribe to the Plesk newsletter.
  • Send a technical report to Plesk.

Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) by Plesk

What is ELS?

ELS stands for the Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) program. It is designed to give you more time and a peace of mind to migrate your server from an EOL operating system to a supported one.

The program offers the following:

  • Partners and direct clients will remain eligible to submit requests to the Plesk support team.
  • The latest TuxCare OS security updates will be installed (except for Debian 10). Servers running on CloudLinux 7 will be receiving OS updates from the OS vendor repositories without the TuxCare service activation.
  • Plesk will be receiving the latest updates.
What is ELS applicable to?

Plesk Obsidian servers running only on CentOS 7, CloudLinux 7, Debian 10, or Ubuntu 18.04.

Note: ELS is not applied to servers on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems.

What is the schedule of the ELS program?

Here's the schedule for servers on Ubuntu 18.04 or Debian 10

Milestone Date
OS vendor official EOL date
Note: We have been releasing updates for Plesk on Ubuntu 18.04 for free.
Ubuntu 18.04: May 31, 2023
Debian 10: June 30, 2024
ELS Free Period start
Note: The free period continues for Plesk on Ubuntu 18.04 and starts for Plesk on Debian 10.
July 1st, 2024
ELS Free Period end September 30, 2024
ELS Tier 1 Billing Period start October 1, 2024
ELS Tier 2 Billing Period start January 1, 2025
ELS Program end July 1, 2025

Here's the schedule for servers on CloudLinux 7 or CentOS 7

Milestone Date
OS vendor official EOL date June 30, 2024
ELS Free Period start July 1, 2024
Free Period end July 30, 2024
ELS Tier 1 Billing Period start August 1, 2024
ELS Tier 2 Billing Period start January 1, 2025
ELS Tier 3 Billing Period start July 1, 2025
ELS Program end January 1, 2026
How can I disable ELS for my servers?

We do recommend that you migrate your servers to a supported OS. Here's how to do it:

If you are a Plesk direct client and you have migrated your server to a supported OS, you need to manually cancel the ELS add-on license to stop the billing.

If you are a Plesk partner, you can only migrate your servers to a supported OS to stop the billing.

How can I check if the TuxCare service is applied to my server?

Log in to Plesk using your administrator credentials. Then go to Tools & Settings > License Information, and check the status of the TuxCare service license.

What if I have already bought ELS from TuxCare?

If you are a Plesk direct client, you can use ELS by TuxCare.
Note: Please be aware that after July 30, 2024 (the last day of the ELS Free period) you will not be eligible to submit requests to the Plesk support team without ELS.

If you are a Plesk partner, ELS will be applied anyway and will work well together with TuxCare. Your server will be receiving updates from Plesk and TuxCare at the same time.

Will I still be eligible to submit requests to the Plesk support team if my server is running on an EOL OS?

If you are a Plesk direct client, you will be eligible to submit requests to the Plesk support team until August 1, 2024 (the last day of the ELS Free Period). That will be the case until you buy the ELS add-on license or migrate your server to a supported OS.

If you are a Plesk partner, you will be eligible to submit requests to the Plesk support team at any moment because ELS is applied to your servers automatically.
Note: Pay attention that ELS does not imply that your direct clients can submit requests directly to the Plesk support team even if ELS is applied to their servers running on an EOL OS.

How do I get the Extended Lifecycle Support coverage if I bought my Plesk license on Plesk Online Store?

You need to buy the Extended Lifecycle Support coverage on Plesk Online Store.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers Deprecation

Why is Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers being deprecated?

The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on Kaspersky products. You can read the text of the final ruling here.

Starting from September 29, 2024, 12 a.m. EDT, we will no longer be able to sell or renew Kaspersky licenses. Additionally, from that moment forward, Kaspersky will no longer be able to provide updates to customers. Because of this, mail servers protected by Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers could be at risk.

When will Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers be deprecated?

In accordance with the Plesk feature deprecation plan, the Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers extension will be deprecated in August 2024. The extension will no longer be available for installation, but will continue to work on servers it is installed on.

The Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers extension will be automatically removed from servers it is installed on after updating to Plesk Obsidian 18.0.64 version, which will be published on September 17th, 2024.

What will happen to the existing Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers licenses?

Starting from September 2024, existing licenses will no longer be renewed, and will expire within a month. Plesk servers will also stop receiving security updates from Kaspersky.

What will happen to the recurring charges for Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers licenses?

Starting from September 2024, you will no longer be charged for Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers. The final payment will be accepted in August 2024, and the final payment receipt will be delivered to you in September 2024.

What alternatives are available to replace Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers?

Plesk offers an alternative, industry-leading solution: Sophos Anti-Virus for Servers. It is fully integrated with Plesk for both Linux and Windows, and is also included in the Power Pack and the Hosting Pack.

How do I replace Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers with Sophos Anti-Virus for Servers?
How do I remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers?

The Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers extension will be removed after updating to Plesk Obsidian 18.0.64 version, which will be published on September 17th, 2024.

If you are running Plesk Obsidian 18.0.42 or later, you can remove the Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers extension via the Plesk GUI. You can also remove the extension by running the following command in the command prompt:
plesk bin extension --uninstall kaspersky-av

If you are running Plesk Obsidian 18.0.41 or earlier, you can remove the Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers extension via Plesk Installer.

What sets Sophos Anti-Virus for Servers apart from other anti-virus products?
What will happen to the Kaspersky Anti-Virus licenses included in the Power Pack and the Hosting Pack?

The Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Servers licenses will be removed from the Power Pack and the Hosting Pack, and will no longer be available for use. Instead, both bundles will include a Sophos Anti-Virus for Servers license, good for 5 mailboxes.

Why can I not see the Sophos Anti-Virus for Servers license included in the purchased Power Pack or Hosting Pack?

If the current Power Pack or Hosting Pack license was created before March 19, 2020, you need to terminate that old license and buy a new one. Once the new Power Pack or Hosting Pack license is applied, the Sophos Anti-Virus for Servers license will be included automatically.

If the current Power Pack or Hosting Pack license was created in the period between March 19, 2020 and May 29, 2023, you need to update the Power Pack or the Hosting Pack extensions to the latest version.

Composer

Is it possible to run composer with using chroot?

No.

Move domains

I do not see the 'Move' button for my domain. Why?

The possible reasons are:

  • You don't have the necessary permissions for the subscription ("Domains management", "Subdomains management" for a domain with subdomains, or "Domain aliases management" for a domain with aliases).
  • It is a subdomain (it's not possible at the moment to move a subdomain separately from its domain).
  • It is a domain alias.
I see no target subscriptions available to move the domain to. Why?

The possible reasons are:

  • You don't have the necessary permissions for target subscriptions ("Domains management", "Subdomains management" for a domain with subdomains, or "Domain aliases management" for a domain with aliases).
  • There are no subscriptions with enough resources available (for example, domains, subdomains, domain aliases, or mailnames).
I can't choose the "Create a new subscription" option to move a domain to. Why?

You may not have the necessary permissions to create subscriptions.

Restriction of server-side operations for Plesk Admins

How can I configure Restricted mode?

You can enable and configure Restricted Mode in Tools & Settings >Plesk > Restricted Mode Settings (under "Plesk").

  • To apply Restricted mode to an additional administrator, enable the corresponding option in the Additional Administrator profile.
  • To apply Restricted mode to the Plesk administrator, use the CLI "plesk bin poweruser --off -simple true -lock true" command. Restricted Mode will be enabled for the main and additional Plesk administrators and they cannot disable it via the Plesk interface.
Is enabling Restricted mode enough to completely isolate the Plesk administrator?

To fully isolate the Plesk administrator, we recommend that you enable Restricted Mode and additionally do the following:

  • Remove the Panel.ini Editor extension because it can be used to disable Restricted mode.
  • Do not select the “Ability to use remote API”, “Updates and Upgrades, “Scheduled tasks”, “Event Manager”, and “Backup manager” checkboxes in the Restricted mode settings.

SNI for Mail Services

Which mail servers in Plesk support this feature?

MailEnable 10.20 and Postfix 3.4 support SNI for mail.

If SNI for mail is supported now, how can I automate mail securing with the SSL It! or Let's Encrypt extensions?

Such automation is currently not supported. However you can issue a wildcard SSL/TLS certificate via SSL It! or Let's Encrypt and manually assign this certificate to mail using the "Mail Settings" tab in the subscription mail settings.

Which OSes support SNI for Mail Services?

All supported Windows OSes and all supported Linux OSes running Postfix and Dovecot.

Are there any limitations for this feature?

There are a number of limitations that we plan to fix in the future releases:

  • SAN certificates (including mail.*) are not served by additional names.
  • If the IMAP or SMTP server is replaced with one without SNI support, certificates are kept but can no longer be managed.

Mail Settings Auto-Discovery

What mail clients are supported by this feature?

Microsoft Outlook and Thunderbird.

Are there any limitations for this feature?

There are a number of limitations:

  • Plesk does not support mail autodiscover for Microsoft Outlook 2019 and 0365. Earlier Outlook versions get their autodiscover queries directly from the root domain server, which is the server where the mailboxes are stored. However, Microsoft Outlook 2019 gets autodiscover configuration from Microsoft Office 365 using Microsoft cache servers as proxy servers. The Plesk Mail autodiscover feature doesn't work with the current configuration. As a workaround, you can configure a local mail client to request autodiscover configuration directly from the Plesk server.
  • Mail autodiscover does not work for domains that have no hosting or have forwarding hosting.
  • The Thunderbird mail client will not be automatically configured for wildcard subdomains.

More secure, More robust, More useful, and Faster out of the box

What features are enabled in Plesk Obsidian by default? Do I need to manually enable them after I update to Plesk Obsidian?

The following features are enabled by default for clean installations of Plesk Obsidian:

  • Apache graceful restart is now robust enough to set it by default to minimize websites' downtime.
  • SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for incoming and outgoing emails.
  • ModSecurity and Fail2Ban version 0.10 are now activated out of the box.
  • Newly created websites have the SEO-friendly HTTP > HTTPS redirect enabled by default.

If you updated your server from a previous Plesk version to Plesk Obsidian, the features above are left in the same state they were in before the update. If one ore more features from the list were not enabled before the update, you will need to enable them manually (if required)

On supported systemd based Linux distributions, crashed Plesk services now restart automatically. Is it possible to configure a restart properties in Plesk?

No.

I updated Plesk Onyx to Plesk Obsidian but still cannot log in to Plesk without specifying the 8443 TCP port. What do I do?
I want to change the domain for accessing Plesk via the 443 TCP port. How can I change it in the Plesk interface?
I enabled access to Plesk via HTTPS using the 443 TCP port. How can I turn off access to Plesk via the 8443 TCP port?

Access via the 8443 TCP port cannot be turned off in Plesk. But you can add a rule rejecting incoming connections to the 8443 TCP port to the operating system firewall.