Plesk v8.1.1 build for CentOS-4.2 i386 Release Notes

Copyright (c) 2007 by SWsoft

Prior to installing or upgrading Plesk, be sure to backup your server. Refer to the Plesk Installation Guide available at http://download1.swsoft.com/Plesk/Plesk8.1/Doc//plesk-8.1-unix-installation-guide.pdf to obtain instructions on installing and upgrading Plesk.

Other documentation on Plesk 8.1.1 is available at http://www.swsoft.com/en/products/plesk/docs

Plesk 8.1.1 FAQ is available at http://faq.swsoft.com

1. Installing Plesk

2. Upgrading Plesk

3. Installing Plesk Manually from rpm Packages

4. What's new in build81070423.15

5. What's new in build81070322.16

6. Contact Information

1. Installing Plesk

Important:

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. Note: to avoid any issues please use the latest version of Auto-installer.
  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. Follow the instructions presented on the screen to complete the installation.
  6. When the installation is finished, Plesk will start automatically. Now, to complete the initial configuration, log in 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.

2. Upgrading Plesk

Important notes for Virtuozzo users:

Since Plesk 8.1, Auto-installer (Plesk Updater) supports updating Plesk inside Virtuozzo virtual private servers (VPS) using EZ templates.

Compared to the previously used updating scheme, updating through EZ templates will save disk space significantly and will allow running more virtual private servers on a single hardware node.

This feature is available only with EZ templates. To upgrade a VPS with Plesk this way, you need to:

  1. Install on the hardware node the kernel 2.6.9-023stab033.7 and VZCTL 3.0.1-23 updates, or later.
  2. Install the vzaiproxy package on the hardware node. On the Plesk 8.1 release date, you can download this package from http://download1.swsoft.com. Afterwards, this package will be shipped with Virtuozzo updates.
  3. Install all EZ templates from Plesk distribution on the hardware node.

    Note: We recommend that you install or update using the EZ templates shipped with Plesk 8.1, so as to avoid subsequent manual installation of hotfixes and updates.

  4. Run Plesk installation or upgrade using Auto-installer Console Utility or Plesk Control Panel (Server->Updater). And then follow the instructions presented on the screen.

As for STD templates:

if you had Plesk 7.5.4 upgraded by the Auto-installer utility, but still wish to upgrade Plesk by upgrading Virtuozzo STD templates, use the "Jump Mode" option.

If Plesk upgrade fails, try running the "killall -9 safe_mysqld mysqld" command and then restart the upgrade procedure. After upgrading Plesk from version 7.x to 8.1, the Plesk Updater function in the control panel will be accessible. For subsequent upgrades, Virtuozzo users will need to either use the consol Auto-installer utility or unlock the control panel's Updater function. To do this, log in to Plesk's MySQL database server, type "use psa", and then run the query "update misc set val='false' where param='disable_updater';".

Notes on upgrading: After upgrading to Plesk 8.1, all custom (third-party) skins become unregistered. If you wish to restore the custom skins that you used before the upgrade, run the command "/opt/psa/tmp/restore-custom-skins.sh", where /opt/psa is your Plesk installation directory (for example, /usr/local/psa.) You can remove this file after restoring your skins.

2.1 Upgrading Plesk from the Control Panel

To update or upgrade your Plesk software from the control panel:

  1. Log in to Plesk as administrator, and click the Server shortcut in the left-side navigation pane. The Server Administration screen opens.
  2. Click the Updater icon in the Services group. The control panel connects to the Plesk Update server, retrieves information on the available releases, then analyses the components installed in your system, and displays the lists of available releases and component updates. For each Plesk version released a brief description of available operations is displayed.

    Note: If you want to update/upgrade from a locally stored Plesk distribution or Plesk update server mirror inside your network, click Preferences, select the "Network storage" source type, specify the URL and click OK.

    Note: If you run Plesk inside a VPS, you can install updates using EZ templates.

    ATTENTION: To upgrade to Plesk 8.1 from previous versions you need to use upgrade through Auto-installer Console Utility because previous versions of Plesk uses an old version of Auto-installer which don't know about new distribution(via FreeBSD ports).

  3. Select the Plesk version that you want to update, or upgrade to. A list of available components appears.
  4. Select the checkboxes corresponding to the components you wish to install and click Install. A confirmation page appears.
  5. Specify your e-mail address. You will be sent a notice by e-mail once update is completed. To confirm installation of the selected components, select the checkbox and click OK. The components/updates you selected will be downloaded and automatically installed in the background mode.

2.2 Upgrading Plesk through the Auto-installer Console Utility

To update or upgrade your Plesk software by means of the Auto-installer utility:

  1. You need to obtain the Auto-installer utility version 3.1.0 or later. You can download it from http://swsoft.com/en/download/plesk8".

    Note: If you run Plesk inside a VPS, you can update Plesk using EZ templates.

  2. Run the 'psa_autoinstaller' binary file.
  3. The Auto-installer will detect your existing installation of Plesk and ask if you want to upgrade it. Read the Welcome page and press Enter.
  4. Specify the source of Plesk distribution package. You can choose to upgrade from a local media, the official Plesk update server, or another Internet site. Once you have selected the source, press Enter.
  5. Specify the proxy server settings, if applicable, press Enter to continue.
  6. Select the product version that you wish to upgrade to: type the number corresponding to the product name of your choice. Press Enter to continue.
  7. Auto-installer will list all components available for installation.

    See the related article on known problem with installation/upgrade through EZ templates.

  8. Auto-installer will estimate the amount of disk space required for installation of Plesk and will show you the amount of free disk space. If you have enough free disk space, press Enter.
  9. Auto-installer will show the information about the packages that will be installed. Press Enter to continue.
  10. Select the components that you wish to install or upgrade, then press Enter to continue. Once the required components are downloaded, your Plesk software will be upgraded.

Note: When upgrading Plesk from 7.5.x to 8.1 using Auto-installer, be sure to upgrade the Tomcat component, otherwise, Java applications will not be supported on your server.

3. Installing Plesk Manually from rpm Packages

When the installation is finished, Plesk will start automatically. In order to complete the Plesk initial configuration, you need to log in to Plesk on your host at https://machine.domain.name:8443/ or https://IP-Address:8443/

The default username is "admin" and the default password is "setup", both are case sensitive. For security reasons, this password should be changed upon initial login.

NOTES: Plesk enables PHP safe_mode during installation (the directive 'safe_mode-On' in php.ini). However, you can disable the safe_mode for individual domains if required. To do this, you should use the vhost.conf (vhost_ssl.conf) features. See http://download1.swsoft.com/Plesk/Plesk8.1/Doc//plesk-8.1-unix-administrators-guide.pdf for details.

In order to use multiple interface languages in the Webmail application, you may need to run the 'dpkg-reconfigure locales' command and choose the locales to install.

Plesk cannot enable user quotas on XFS partition during installation because such operation requires remount of XFS partition. In order to enable hard disk quotas on XFS partition you should manually remount it with usrquota option (additional information can be found on 'quotaon' man page).

We recommend that you install the Turba contact management application, if you wish to have access to the contact list entries you had in your Horde 2 application before upgrade. To install Horde applications, use the command:

rpm -i <rpm-package list>

For managing the SiteBuilder system through Plesk, the 'remote_admin' user account with administrator's privileges is created in the SiteBuilder. To ensure the proper work of the SiteBuilder Remote Administration module, you should not remove or block this user account. however, if you do not use the SiteBuilder Remote Administration Module, you can remove this user account.

To make operating the SiteBuilder API (remote_admin) more secure, the /usr/local/sitebuilder/remote_admin directory is password protected, and the following default user name and password are stored in the .htpasswd file: radmin/sbradmin. For security reasons you must change the default password. To do this, run the command 'htpasswd /usr/local/sitebuilder/remote_admin/.htpasswd radmin', and then enter the new password and confirm it.

4. What's new in build81070423.15

4.1 Changelog

  1. Issue with "PRODUCT_ROOT_D not defined" error while uploading certificate is resolved
  2. Issue with errors on Report pages is resolved
  3. Several security problems are resolved. It is strongly recommended to install this update.
  4. Issue with Errors on hosting creation page is resolved
  5. Issue with web and mail services on Domain Aliases after creation is resolved
  6. Several issues with IE7 competibility are resolved
  7. Problem with mchk and antispam options in dot qmail files is resolved

5. What's new in build81070322.16

5.1 Changelog

  1. [+] Miva Empresa support
  2. [+] MIVA Merchant and MIVA Merchant Fast Track added to application vault
  3. [+] Permission to manage PHP 'safe mode' by Client
  4. [+] Change the status of clients and domains in Group Operations
  5. [+] Autoinstaller vendor updates in GUI
  6. [+] Permission to manage web statistics on a domain
  7. [+] Security patches for ProFTPd
  8. [+] Domain Alias DNS Zone management
  9. [+] Support of Plesk 7.5.4 backup files

5.2 Detailed description

  1. Miva Empresa support

    Plesk 8.1.1 offers the support of Miva Empresa scripting language. Your web server can now run MIVA web applications such as MIVA Merchant.

  2. MIVA Merchant and MIVA Merchant Fast Track added to application vault

    Plesk Application Vault now comes with both MIVA Merchant and MIVA Merchant Fast Track included. MIVA Merchant 5 allows you to create and manage a professional online store, and MIVA Merchant Fast Track can help you to set up a professional storefront in five easy steps and start selling online instantly.

  3. Permission to manage PHP 'safe mode' by Client

    Plesk administrator can grant the ability to manage PHP 'safe mode' on domains to the clients.

  4. Change the status of clients and domains in Group Operations

    It is possible to change the status of Plesk clients and domains through Group Operations feature.

  5. Autoinstaller vendor updates in GUI

    Plesk Administrator can specify the repositories where Operation System package updates can be downloaded by Plesk Autoinstaller. This feature is available both through the Control Panel GUI and CLI.

  6. Permission to manage web statistics on a domain
  7. Security patches for ProFTPd

    The following security patches for ProFTPd were added:

  8. Domain Alias DNS Zone management

    The ability to manage Domain Alias DNS Zone is back and improved in Plesk 8.1.1: now you have the option to synchronize DNS zone of domain alias with the domain DNS zone.

  9. Support of Plesk 7.5.4 backup files

    Plesk 8.1.1 introduces the 'backup-convert' utility that makes using old Plesk 7.5.4 backup files possible. This utility converts backup files from old backup format to the new one. The utility can be found here: PRODUCT_ROOT/bin/backup-convert.

  10. Bugfixes

    A lot of major and minor bugs were fixed.

5.3 Known Problems 

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Legend:
  [+] new feature
  [-] bug fixed or removed
  [*] bug fixed and improvement made

6. Contact Information

SWsoft Headquarters
13755 Sunrise Valley Drive
Suite 600
Herndon, VA 20171 USA
Phone: +1.703.815.5670,
Fax: +1.703.815.5675
World Wide Web: http://www.swsoft.com

E-mail:
 For billing information, email accounting@swsoft.com
 For purchasing or partnering information, email sales@swsoft.com
 For technical support, use our Online Support Form.
 To report problems with Plesk software, email bugreport@swsoft.com
 For information on career opportunities with SWsoft, email careers@swsoft.com
 For press contact information, email press@swsoft.com
 For information about becoming a Partner, email partners@swsoft.com
 For information on translating Plesk into your language, email i18n@swsoft.com
 For general product information, email info@swsoft.com

Copyright 1999 - 2007 SWsoft. All rights reserved.