Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 for RPM-based Linux Systems Release Notes

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Installation Instructions
    1. Before Installation
    2. Software Requirements
    3. Installation Steps
    4. Completing Installation
  3. Upgrade Instructions
  4. Supplied Components
  5. What's New
    1. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 update-2
    2. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0
  6. Supported 3rd party components
  7. Known Problems and Limitations
  8. Contact Information

1. Introduction

Thank you for downloading this release of Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 for Unix. This file contains information that supplements the Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 for Unix documentation such as requirements, information on new features, corrected bugs, known problems etc. This file was updated with the latest information available at release time.

2. Installation Instructions

Refer to the Parallels Plesk Panel Installation Guide available at http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk9.0/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.0-unix-installation-guide/index.htm to obtain detailed instructions on installing and upgrading Parallels Plesk Panel.

Other documentation on Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 is available at http://www.parallels.com/en/products/plesk/docs/

Parallels Plesk Panel Knowledge Base is available at http://kb.parallels.com

2.1. Before Installation

Before starting the installation process we strongly recommend that you create a full system backup of the entire server.

IMPORTANT:
If you are installing Parallels Plesk Panel inside a PVC, it is strongly recommended to increase PVC parameters as follows: 
# Auxiliary parameters
-PRIVVMPAGES="262144:292912"
+PRIVVMPAGES="362144:392912"
-NUMFILE="8192:8192"
+NUMFILE="12000:12000"

# Disk quota parameters (in form of softlimit:hardlimit) 
-DISKSPACE="1048576:1153434"
+DISKSPACE="5240709120:5368709120"
-DISKINODES="200000:220000"
+DISKINODES="350000:370000"

# Secondary parameters
-KMEMSIZE="21299200:23429120"
+KMEMSIZE="24299200:26429120"

IMPORTANT:
If you are using an operating system from SUSE family: Before installing Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0, switch the AppArmor service off using the command '/etc/init.d/boot.apparmor stop' and remove it from start-up list by 'chkconfig --del boot.apparmor stop'
If you are using an operating system from RedHat family: Before installing Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0, switch SELinux off by running command 'setenforce 0' in shell. After you have installed Parallels Plesk Panel, switch SELinux on by running command 'setenforce 1'

2.2. Software Requirements

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 for Unix requires one of the following OS installed on your computer:

2.3. Installing Parallels Plesk Panel through Parallels Products Installer

IMPORTANT: To install Postfix mail server, you have to select the Postfix component for installation in Parallels Products Installer. Both command line interface and web interface of Parallels Products Installer can be used for Postfix mail server selection and installation.

To install Parallels Plesk Panel software on a server:

  1. Download the latest version of Parallels Products Installer that suits your operating system from http://www.parallels.com/en/download/plesk9/ and save it on your server's hard drive.
  2. Change your working directory to the directory where the downloaded Parallels Products Installer is located.
  3. Set the execution permission for Parallels Products Installer: 
    # chmod +x parallels_products_installer_file_name
  4. Run the following command in console: 
    #export LANG=C
#export LANG_ALL=C
  5. Run Parallels Products Installer:

  6. Follow the instructions presented on the screen to complete the installation. Refer to Parallels Plesk Panel Installation Guide available at http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk9.0/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.0-unix-installation-guide/index.htm if you need detailed installation instructions.
  7. When the installation is finished, Parallels Plesk Panel will start automatically.

2.4. Completing Installation

In order to finish the initial configuration of Parallels Plesk Panel, you need to login to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 for Unix on your host at https://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 the password has to be changed upon initial login.

3. Upgrade Instructions

IMPORTANT: Make sure you upgrade all installed components when upgrading to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0. This is required to avoid conflicts caused by outdated components.

Important notes for users of Parallels Virtuozzo Containers:

Parallels Products Installer supports updating Parallels Plesk Panel inside Parallels Virtuozzo Containers using EZ templates. Compared to the previously used updating scheme, updating through EZ templates will significantly save disk space and will allow running more containers on a single hardware node.

This feature is available only when using EZ templates. To upgrade a contaner with Parallels Plesk Panel this way:

If you are using Virtuozzo 3.x:

  1. Install kernel 2.6.9-023stab033.7 or later and VZCTL 3.0.1-23 or later updates on the hardware node.
  2. Install the vzaiproxy package on the hardware node. You can download this package from http://autoinstall.plesk.com/vzaiproxy/
  3. Install all EZ templates from Parallels Plesk Panel distribution on the hardware node.
  4. Run Parallels Plesk Panel installation or upgrade using Parallels Products Installer (either via the web-interface or command line interface) or Parallels Plesk Panel GUI (Home Page > Updates). Follow the instructions presented on the screen to complete the upgrade. Refer to Parallels Plesk Panel Installation Guide available at http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk9.0/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.0-unix-installation-guide/index.htm if you need detailed upgrade instructions.

If you are using Virtuozzo 4.x:

  1. Install the vzaiproxy package on the hardware node. You can download this package from {http://autoinstall.plesk.com/vzaiproxy}.
  2. Change line 16 in file /etc/init.d/vzlinkmgr to the following: 
    DEVICE_MAJOR=125
    Change line 32 in file /usr/sbin/vzaiproxy to the following: 
    DefaultAgentCmd = ('vzctl', 'exec', '1', '/opt/vzagent/bin/vzlcon')
  3. Install all EZ templates from Parallels Plesk Panel distribution on the hardware node.
  4. Run Parallels Plesk Panel installation or upgrade using Parallels Products Installer (either via the web-interface or command line interface) or Parallels Plesk Panel GUI (Home Page > Updates). Follow the instructions presented on the screen to complete the upgrade. Refer to Parallels Plesk Panel Installation Guide available at http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk9.0/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.0-unix-installation-guide/index.htm if you need detailed upgrade instructions.

 Upgrading Parallels Plesk Panel from GUI

To upgrade your Parallels Plesk Panel software from its user interface, refer to Parallels Plesk Panel Installation Guide available at http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk9.0/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.0-unix-installation-guide/index.htm

Upgrading Parallels Plesk Panel through Parallels Products Installer

To upgrade your Parallels Plesk Panel software through Parallels Products Installer:

  1. Download the latest version of Parallels Products Installer that suits your operating system from http://www.parallels.com/en/download/plesk9/ and save it on your server's hard drive.
  2. Run Parallels Products Installer:

  3. Follow the instructions on the screen to perform the upgrade. Refer to Parallels Plesk Panel Installation Guide available at http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/Plesk9.0/Doc/en-US/plesk-9.0-unix-installation-guide/index.htm if you need detailed update instructions.

4. Supplied Components

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 for Unix distrubution packages ships with the following components:

5. What's New

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 update-2

  1. [-] Wrong detection and display of mail queue capabilities of Postfix mail server in Parallels Plesk Panel GUI bug is fixed.

  2. [-] Inability to send mail when SELinux is enabled and KAV is used as an anti-virus bug is fixed.

  3. [-] Inability to send mail due to self-signed SSL certificate used by Postfix mail server bug is fixed.

  4. [-] Mail message headers being corrupted after switching to Postfix with enabled SPF protection bug is fixed.

  5. [-] Corrupted e-mail messages delivered after switching from Qmail to Postfix bug is fixed.

  6. [-] SpamAssassin not processing messages sent to mail aliases after the upgrade bug is fixed.

  7. [-] Spam messages are marked as a spam but are delivered to mailboxes anyway even when spam protection policy is set to reject spam bug is fixed.

  8. [-] Short mail account names authorization not working after the upgrade from Plesk 8.x bug is fixed.

  9. [-] Inability to connect to local SMTP mail service when Qmail mail server is used bug is fixed.

  10. [-] Apache web server failing to start after Atmail is removed from the system bug is fixed.

  11. [-] Incorrect processing of web applications installed on virtual host when corresponding application distribution is absent in the Application Vault bug is fixed.

  12. [-] Stoppage of xinetd service after the installation of Parallels Plesk 9.0.0 on Fedora 8 based server bug is fixed.

  13. [-] Inability to unable to upgrade Plesk 8.6 with latest update to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 through Parallels Products Installer on servers using openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Fedora Core 5 and Fedora Core 6 OSes bug is fixed.

  14. [-] Errors with SELinux during the upgrade to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 on servers using RedHat Enterprise Linux 4 and CentOS 4 bug is fixed.

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0

  1. [+] Resellers - Parallels Plesk Panel user hierarchy is enriched with Reseller accounts in Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0. Resellers sign up their own Clients and resell Web hosting services to them, distributing available resources within the limits acquired by a reseller from the Parallels Plesk Panel Administrator. Resellers can also create and manage their own domains. GUI integration with Parallels Plesk Billing completes the shared hosting solution based on Parallels Plesk products.

  2. [+] Overselling and Overuse - The ability to conveniently manage the overselling and overusage of provided resources directly via Parallels Plesk Panel tremendously improves the flexibility of business model implementation and opens up new possibilities for those who provide shared hosting services.

  3. [+] Postfix Support - Postfix mail server is finally available to all Parallels Plesk Panel for Unix/Linux users. The long-awaited support of immensely popular alternative to Qmail allows Parallels Plesk Panel administrators to improve the stability, security and performance of all mail-related tasks. Switching from Qmail to Postfix is quick, effortless and transparent both to Parallels Plesk Panel administrator and end-users.

  4. [+] APS Catalog - Now you can browse web applications packaged in APS Format and published at www.apsstandard.com/app/ directly from Parallels Plesk Panel administration screen, with ability to add them to the server Application Vault online without the hassles of manual uploading. These applications can be made freely available to all customers or their distribution can be restricted for provision on a per-user basis, allowing you to conveniently sell the applications according to the hosting plans you provide.

  5. [+] Redesigned User Interface - Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 also boasts completely redone user interface designed to help users navigate in Parallels Plesk Panel and perform their tasks quicker and easier. Most popular and important actions are available right away on the user Home Page, while less popular but still important things can be accessed through the drop-down menus located on Home Pages. Navigating through Parallels Plesk Panel is faster than ever now due to ability to select Resellers, Clients, domains and mail accounts via pathbar.

  6. [+] New Default Vista Skin - Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 is presented in brand-new clear and nice Vista visual theme that combines the best elements of most popular Parallels Plesk Panel interface skins and provides less strain on the eyes.

  7. [+] Alternative WebMail - Users can now enjoy additional choice of Atmail as their webmail tool. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 ships with free Atmail Webmail Light 1.0 and supports more powerful commercial Atmail Webmail 5.5. The selection of webmail can be done on a per-domain basis, guaranteeing that every customer can use their webmail client of choice.

  8. [+] PHP over Fast CGI - Site applications based on PHP can be executed much faster and safer with PHP running in the Fast CGI mode.

  9. [+] New Backup Tool - Completely revised Parallels Plesk Panel Backup/Restore functionality provides users with much more powerful and flexible backup solution than ever before. Selective data backup and restoration through Parallels Plesk Panel is now a comfortable, painless and fully controllable process. On-the-fly restoration conflicts resolution offers a variety of ways to resolve restoration conflicts prior to actual update of the system, thus guaranteeing success and complete control over the restoration process.

  10. [+] Parallels Plesk Billing Bundle - Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 comes with integrated Parallels Plesk Billing solution, eliminating the need of purchasing a third-party billing software and relieving administrators from the pain of integrating such software with Plesk. Smooth navigation between provisioning and billing portions of Parallels Plesk Billing solution makes hosting provision much more efficient both for hosting service providers and their customers.

  11. [+] Improved Hosting Setup UI - User interface for setting up hosting was redone to make the procedure quicker and more intuitive. Hosting now can be created and configured very fast and literally on one page due to radically improved usability of redesigned hosting setup UI.

  12. [+] API RPC Protocol 1.6.0.0 - Updated API RPC protocol further improves the ability to intergrate your software solutions with Parallels Plesk Panel and completely supports all important features introduced in Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.

  13. [+] OpenSUSE 11 Support - Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0 for Unix/Linux fully supports OpenSuSE 11.

  14. [*] KAV Module Updated - Kaspersky Antivirus Module was updated with the latest extended virus databases.

  15. [*] Ruby on Rails Support Improved - Ruby on Rails support was improved.

Legend:

[+] new feature

[-] bug fixed or removed

[*] bug fixed and improvement made


6. Supported third-party components

Mail servers

  1. Qmail 1.03
  2. Postfix 2.2 and higher

Antiviruses:

  1. DrWeb 4.33
  2. Kaspersky AV 5.0.0.49

DNS servers:

  1. BIND DNS Server

FTP servers:

  1. ProFTPD 1.3.1

Web Statistics:

  1. Webalizer
  2. AWStats

Web Scripting:

  1. Perl
  2. PHP 4
  3. PHP 5
  4. Python
  5. SSI
  6. Apache Tomcat
  7. Apache ASP
  8. ColdFusion
  9. Miva Empresa
  10. Ruby
  11. Ruby Rails

Web Administration Tools:

  1. phpMyAdmin 2.8.2.4
  2. phpPgAdmin 3.5.4
  3. SSHTerm 0.2.2

Database servers:

  1. MySQL 4
  2. MySQL 5
  3. PostgreSQL

Web Mail Solutions:

  1. Horde IMP H3 (4.1.6)
  2. Atmail Webmail 5.5

Spam Filter:

  1. SpamAssassin

7. Known Problems and Limitations

8. Contact Information

Parallels Headquarters
13755 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 600
Herndon, VA 20171 USA
Phone: +1.703.815.5670, Fax: +1.703.815.5675

Web: http://www.parallels.com

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

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Patented hosting technology protected by U.S.Patents 7,099,948; 7,076,633.
Patents pending in the U.S.