Installing Plesk on Linux and FreeBSD Systems

If you have one or few servers to which you wish to install Plesk, you should follow the instructions provided below in this section. If you need to install Plesk on numerous servers, please refer to the chapter Installing Plesk on Numerous Servers.

If you have not partitioned your hard drive yet, see the article at http://kb.swsoft.com/article_17_819_en.html on partitioning tips.

Prior to installing Plesk, users of FreeBSD operating systems should add the 'KERNEL_SECURE_LEVEL="no"' entry to the /etc/rc.conf file on their server file systems.

To install Plesk software on a server:

1. Download the Auto-installer utility that suits your operating system from http://www.swsoft.com/en/download/plesk8/ and save it on your server's hard drive.
2. Change your working directory to the directory where the Auto-installer utility resides, for instance:

   # cd /root/plesk

3. Set the execution permission for Auto-installer:

   # chmod +x plesk_auto_installer_file_name

4. Run the Auto-installer:

   # ./plesk_auto_installer_file_name

5. Type 'n' and press ENTER.
6. Specify the source of Plesk distribution package.

   You can choose to install from a local medium, the official Plesk update server, or another site. By default, the official Plesk update server is selected. If you wish to retrieve installation files from a local medium or network storage:

   1. Type 's'.
   2. Press ENTER.
   3. Type 1 or 3, respectively.
   4. Press ENTER again. For retrieving files from network storage, you will also need to specify the server URL.
   5. When finished selecting the source, type 'n' and press ENTER.
7. Specify the proxy server settings, if applicable, then type 'n' and press ENTER to continue.
8. Select the product version that you wish to upgrade to: type the number corresponding to the product version you need and press ENTER, then type 'n' and press ENTER to continue.
9. Select the components that you wish to install or upgrade.

   By default, all packages are selected, including Plesk modules. The selected packages are marked with [*] symbols. The packages that are already installed and do not require updating are marked with [=] symbols. To select or deselect a package, type the respective number and press ENTER.

10. Type 'n' and press ENTER. The packages will be downloaded and installed. When the installation is finished, Plesk will have started automatically.
11. Now to complete the initial configuration, login to the Plesk control panel running on your host at https://machine.domain.name:8443/ or https://IP-address:8443/. Use the username 'admin' and password 'setup' (both are case sensitive). For security reasons, be sure to change the password upon initial login.

Once the installation is completed, a trial license key is installed for evaluation purposes. See the chapter Installing License Keys to learn how to obtain and install a new fully functional license key for your Plesk.

Plesk enables PHP safe mode during installation (adds the directive 'safe_mode=On' to php.ini configuration file). However, you can disable the safe mode for individual domains if required. To do this through the Plesk control panel:

1. Log in to Plesk.
2. Click the Domains shortcut in the navigation pane.
3. Click the domain name you need.
4. Click the Setup icon in the Hosting group.
5. Deselect the PHP 'safe_mode' on option.
6. Click OK.