In this article we provide overview on how to manage Plesk through the command line and execute scripts or binaries on certain Plesk events. In addition, you will learn how to adjust Plesk settings to fit a new network environment or server configuration, and restart Plesk to apply new settings.
Managing Plesk Objects Through the Command Line
Plesk Command Line Interface (CLI) is designed for integrating Plesk with third-party applications. Plesk administrators can also use it to create, manage, and delete customer and domain accounts, and other Plesk objects from the command line. CLI utilities require administrative permissions on Plesk server to run.
The utilities reside in the following directories:
- On RPM-based systems: /usr/local/psa/bin
- On DEB-based systems: /opt/psa/bin
Upon successful execution, utilities return the 0 code. If an error occurs, utilities return code 1 and display the error details.
Executing Custom Scripts on Plesk Events
Plesk provides a mechanism that allows administrators to track specific Plesk events and make Plesk execute custom scripts when these events occur. The events include operations that Plesk users perform on accounts, subscriptions, websites, service plans, and various Plesk settings. For example, you can save each added IP address to a log file or perform other routine operations.
Changing IP Addresses in Plesk
During the lifetime of a Plesk server, you may need to change the IP addresses employed by Plesk. Two typical cases when IP addresses may need to be changed are the following:
- Reorganization of the server IP pool. For example, substitution of one IP address with another.
- Relocation of Plesk to another server. Changing all addresses used by Plesk (including the one on which Plesk resides) to those on the new server.
Every time the change happens, you should reconfigure all related system services. To help you do this promptly, we offer the reconfigurator command line utility located in the following directory:
- on RPM-based systems: /usr/local/psa/bin.
- on DEB-based systems: /opt/psa/bin.
The reconfigurator replaces IP addresses and modifies Plesk and services configuration to make the system work properly after the replacement. To do this, the utility requires a mapping file, that includes instructions on what changes to make. Each line of the file should describe a single change. For example, the following line instructs Plesk to change the IP address 192.168.50.60 to 192.168.50.61:
eth0:192.168.50.60 255.255.255.0 -> eth0:192.168.50.61 255.255.255.0
The utility also helps you with creation of the mapping file. If you call the utility with a new file name as an option, it will create the file and write all available IP addresses to it. The IP addresses in the file are mapped to themselves. If you want to perform a change, modify the change instruction for a certain IP address.
When editing the mapping file, consider the following:
- A replacement IP address must not exist in the Plesk IP pool before changing; however, it may be in the server IP pool. To make sure the IP is not in the Plesk IP pool, go to Server Administration Panel> Tools & Settings > IP Addresses and remove the IP if necessary.
- If a replacement IP address does not exist in the server IP pool, the utility adds it to both Plesk and server IP pools.
To change IP addresses used by Plesk:
- Generate a mapping file with current Plesk IP addresses by running the command:
./reconfigurator <ip_map_file_name>- Edit the file as described above and save it.
- Reconfigure Plesk and its services by running the following command one more time:
./reconfigurator <ip_map_file_name>
Changing Paths to Services
Plesk uses various external components, for example, Apache web server, mail service, antivirus, and so on. When interacting with these components, Plesk gets the information on their locations from the configuration file /etc/psa/psa.conf.
Plesk configuration file provides an easy way of reconfiguring Plesk if a service is installed into another directory or migrated from the current partition to another. Note that you can only modify paths present in this file; other paths are hard-coded in Plesk components.
Each line of psa.conf has the following format:
<variable_name> <value>
A sample part of the psa.conf file is displayed below. To change a path to a service, utility, or package, specify the new path as a value of a corresponding variable.
# Plesk tree
PRODUCT_ROOT_D /usr/local/psa
# Directory of SysV-like Plesk initscripts
PRODUCT_RC_D /etc/init.d # Directory for config filesPRODUCT_ETC_D /usr/local/psa/etc
# Directory for service utilities
PLESK_LIBEXEC_DIR /usr/lib/plesk-9.0
# Virtual hosts directory
HTTPD_VHOSTS_D /var/www/vhosts
# Apache configuration files directory
HTTPD_CONF_D /etc/httpd/conf
# Apache include files directory
HTTPD_INCLUDE_D /etc/httpd/conf.d
# Apache binary
HTTPD_BIN /usr/sbin/httpd
#Apache log files directory
HTTPD_LOG_D /var/log/httpd
#apache startup script
HTTPD_SERVICE httpd
# Qmail directory
QMAIL_ROOT_D /var/qmail
Note: Be very careful when changing the contents of psa.conf. Mistakes in paths specified in this file may lead to Plesk malfunctioning.
Restarting Plesk
If you experience problems with Plesk, for example, malfunctioning of a service, you can try to resolve them by restarting Plesk or the administrative web server sw-cp-server. Also, a restart is necessary to apply configuration changes that cannot be made while Plesk is running.
To restart Plesk, run the following command:
/etc/init.d/psa restart
To restart sw-cp-server, run the following command:
/etc/init.d/sw-cp-server restart
Managing Services from the Command Line and Viewing Service Logs
Here we explain how to stop, start, and restart services managed by Panel, and access their logs and configuration files.
Plesk web interface
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa restart
Plesk log files are located in the following directories:
- Error Log: /var/log/sw-cp-server/error_log
- Access log: /var/log/plesk/httpsd_access_log
Panel configuration files are the following:
- php: $PRODUCT_ROOT_D/admin/conf/php.ini
- www: /etc/sw-cp-server/applications.d/plesk.conf
Presence Builder
Log files are located in:
- Error log:
/var/log/httpd/sitebuilder_error.log - Logs:
/usr/local/sitebuilder/tmp/
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /usr/local/sitebuilder/config
- /usr/local/sitebuilder/etc/php.ini
phpMyAdmin
The error log is located in: /var/log/sw-cp-server/error_log
The configuration file is accessible at: /usr/local/psa/admin/htdocs/domains/databases/phpMyAdmin/libraries/config.default.php
phpPGAdmin
The error log is located in: /var/log/sw-cp-server/error_log
The configuration file is accessible at: /usr/local/psa/admin/htdocs/domains/databases/phpPgAdmin/conf/config.inc.php
Courier-IMAP
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/courier-imap start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/courier-imap stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/courier-imap restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/plesk/maillog
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /etc/courier-imap/imapd
- /etc/courier-imap/imapd-ssl
- /etc/courier-imap/pop3d
- /etc/courier-imap/pop3d-ssl
DNS / Named / BIND
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/named start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/named stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/named restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/messages
The configuration file is accessible at: /etc/named.conf
FTP (ProFTPD)
Log files are located in: /var/log/plesk/xferlog
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /etc/xinetd.d/ftp_psa
- /etc/proftpd.conf
- /etc/proftpd.include
Postfix
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/postfix start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/postfix stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/postfix restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/plesk/maillog
Configuration files are accessible at: /etc/postfix/
QMail
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/qmail start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/qmail stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/qmail restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/plesk/maillog
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /etc/xinetd.d/smtp_psa
- /etc/xinetd.d/smtps_psa
- /etc/xinetd.d/submission_psa
- /etc/inetd.conf(Debians)
- /var/qmail/control/
SpamAssassin
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-spamassassin start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-spamassassin stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-spamassassin restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/plesk/maillog
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /etc/mail/spamassassin/
- /etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf
- /var/qmail/mailnames/%d/%l/.spamassassin
Kaspersky antivirus
To start the service through the command line:
service kavehost start
To stop the service through the command line:
service kavehost stop
To restart the service through the command line:
service kavehost restart
Log files are located in:
- /var/log/maillog
- /var/log/mail.log
Configuration files are accessible at:
/opt/kav/sdk8l3/etc
Odin Premium Antivirus
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/drwebd start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/drwebd stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/drwebd restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/plesk/maillog
Configuration files are accessible at: /etc/drweb/
Tomcat
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/tomcat5 start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/tomcat5 stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/tomcat5 restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/tomcat5/
Configuration files are accessible at: /usr/share/tomcat5/conf/
MySQL
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/mysqld start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/mysqld stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/mysqld restart
Log file is located in: /var/log/mysqld.log
The configuration file is accessible at: /etc/my.cnf
PostgreSQL
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/postgresql start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/postgresql stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/postgresql restart
Startup log is located in: /var/lib/pgsql/pgstartup.log
The configuration file is accessible at: /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf
xinetd
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/xinetd start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/xinetd stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/xinetd restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/messages/
The configuration file is accessible at: /etc/xinetd.conf
Watchdog (monit)
To start the service through the command line:
/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/modules/watchdog/wd --start
To stop the service through the command line:
/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/modules/watchdog/wd --stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/modules/watchdog/wd --restart
Log files are located in:
- /var/log/plesk/modules/watchdog/log/wdcollect.log
- /var/log/plesk/modules/watchdog/log/monit.log
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /usr/local/psa/etc/modules/watchdog/monitrc
- /usr/local/psa/etc/modules/watchdog/wdcollect.inc.php
Watchdog (rkhunter)
Log is located in: /var/log/rkhunter.log
The configuration file is accessible at: /usr/local/psa/etc/modules/watchdog/rkhunter.conf
Apache
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/httpd start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/httpd stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/httpd restart
Log files are located in:
- /var/log/httpd/
- /var/www/vhosts/<domain_name >/statistics/logs/
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
- /etc/httpd/conf.d/
- /var/www/vhosts/<domain_name >/conf/httpd.include
Mailman
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/mailman start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/mailman stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/mailman restart
Log files are located in: /var/log/mailman/
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /etc/httpd/conf.d/mailman.conf
- /usr/lib/mailman/Mailman/mm_cfg.py
- /etc/mailman/sitelist.cfg
Webalizer
To start the service through the command line:
/usr/local/psa/bin/sw-engine-pleskrun /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/DailyMaintainance/script.php
Configuration files are accessible at:
/var/www/vhosts/<domain_name>/conf/webalizer.conf
AWstats
To start the service through the command line:
/usr/local/psa/bin/sw-engine-pleskrun /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/DailyMaintainance/script.php
Configuration files are accessible at:
/usr/local/psa/etc/awstats/
Backup Manager
Backup logs are located in:
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/sessions/<session>/psadump.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/sessions/<session>/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/pmmcli.log
Restore logs are located in:
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/rsessions/<session>/conflicts.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/rsessions/<session>/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/pmmcli.log
The configuration file is accessible at:
/etc/psa/psa.conf
Plesk Migration Manager
Migration logs are located in:
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/msessions/<session>/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/rsessions/<session>/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/rsessions/<session>/conflicts.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/migration.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/pmmcli.log
- /var/log/plesk/PMM/logs/migration_handler.log
Horde
Log is located in:
/var/log/psa-horde/psa-horde.log
Configuration files are accessible at:
- Apache configuration
- /etc/httpd/conf.d/zzz_horde_vhost.conf
- /etc/psa-webmail/horde/conf.d/
- Horde configuration:
· /etc/psa-webmail/horde/
Atmail
Log files are located in:
/var/log/atmail/
Configuration files are accessible at:
- Apache configuration
- /etc/httpd/conf.d/zzz_atmail_vhost.conf
- /etc/psa-webmail/atmail/conf.d/
- Atmail configuration:
- /etc/psa-webmail/atmail/atmail.conf
- /var/www/atmail/libs/Atmail/Config.php
psa-firewall
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-firewall start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-firewall stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-firewall restart
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /usr/local/psa/var/modules/firewall/firewall-active.sh
- /usr/local/psa/var/modules/firewall/firewall-emergency.sh
- /usr/local/psa/var/modules/firewall/firewall-new.sh
psa-firewall (IP forwarding)
To start the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-firewall-forward start
To stop the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-firewall-forward stop
To restart the service through the command line:
/etc/init.d/psa-firewall-forward restart
Configuration files are accessible at:
- /usr/local/psa/var/modules/firewall/ip_forward.active
- /usr/local/psa/var/modules/firewall/ip_forward.saved
Moving the Plesk GUI to a Separate IP Address
By default, the Plesk GUI can work on all IP addresses available on the Plesk server (from the server’s IP pool). You may want to allow access to the Plesk GUI only from the local network. For that, you should move the GUI to an internal IP address.
To move Plesk GUI to a separate IP address, in the configuration file /etc/sw-cp-server/conf.d/plesk.conf, replace the lines
listen 8443 ssllisten 8880;
with the lines
listen SPECIFIC_SERVER_IP:8443 ssllisten SPECIFIC_SERVER_IP:8880;
where SPECIFIC_SERVER_IP is the new IP address that you want to use for the Plesk GUI.
Do not change the ports.
Setting Off Automatic Integration of WordPress Installations
If you are using the WordPress Toolkit extension, it detects new installations performed through the Application Catalog (or Application Vault) and integrates them with WordPress Toolkit. For this reason, installation of WordPress on a site takes up to 20 seconds. If you want to avoid this, you can switch off automatic detection of new installations by the WordPress Toolkit.
To do this, add the following lines to the panel.ini file :
[ext-wp-toolkit]
autoAttachApsInstances = off
Turning Off WordPress Toolkit
If you are using the WordPress Toolkit extension, you can completely switch it off on your server.
To switch off WordPress Toolkit, add the following lines to the panel.ini file:
[ext-wp-toolkit]
enabled=off