Install Plesk In One Click
One of the quickest and easiest ways of getting a Plesk server up and running with its default configuration is one-click installation. Here’s how you do it:
1. Use RDP to login to the server.
2. Download Plesk Installer.
3. Pull up the Windows command prompt and switch the working directory to wherever you saved the installer binary to, then run this command:
4. plesk-installer.exe --select-product-id=panel --select-release-latest --installation-type=recommended
The installation process will now get underway the latest release, taking from 30-60 minutes. The installer downloads the most up-to-date (stable) version of Plesk and includes the most common, popular features that should hopefully suit a typical cross-section of users. After this, it will look for the latest performance and security updates and patches and install them too.
More Plesk components and features can be added at any time, so if you feel as if you’re missing out on anything by going with the typical install, don’t worry. You can add or remove elements at any time. But if you’d like more control during your first installation then you may want to use the web GUI or the console instead.
Plesk Installation on Windows Using the Console
Use the interactive console to choose which Plesk elements are installed. Here’s how to do that:
1. Use RDP to log in to the server.
2. Download the Plesk Installer.
3. Open the Windows command prompt and switch the working directory to wherever you saved the installer binary, then run this command:
4. plesk-installer.exe --console
The console will appear in the command prompt window.
To install an older version of Plesk, choose:
plesk-installer.exe --console --all-versions
Carefully read through the above text, and if you’re happy with it then hit F followed by Enter to continue.
Now choose which version of Plesk you would like to install.
If you have chosen the --all-versions option, you’ll get a different list of available Plesk versions.
You can now choose from some advanced settings by typing S:
- choose which directory the installer will put the downloaded files in.
- choose where to look for the installation files. The default setting is to download them from the Plesk servers themselves, but it’s also possible to make the system look for them elsewhere, like in your local mirror or perhaps your local machine if you already put your downloaded installation files there.
- specify a proxy server address, along with password and username if required (when you’re installing Plesk on a server behind an HTTP proxy).
You can configure the settings using either the configuration or with arguments in the command line. Once you are done, close the installer and then restart with the new settings.
This is where things get interesting. Choose one of these installation types to continue:
- the Recommended installation type has everything you’re going to need for web hosting (things like web server, a mail server, a database server), along with the kind of typical features that most people find useful. If you don’t know which installation type to go with then just choose Recommended. It’ll have most of what you need.
- the Full installation type includes everything that Plesk has to offer, but obviously, this will take up a lot more room on your disk.
- the Custom installation option lets you pick and choose from everything. It’s a tasting menu that lets you build the exact configuration that you want, and because of this, we suggest that only experienced Plesk administrators are advised to go with Custom.
If you’re not happy with your installation after it’s finished then don’t despair, because Plesk lets you add or remove whatever components and features you want later, giving you the scope to set it up just how you want it.
Once you’ve chosen your installation type, you might get a prompt to configure some extra settings, like the Plesk installation directory, the directory where Plesk stores the content for the website it’s hosting, and the “admin” user password (the one that lets you log in to Plesk).
At this point, you’ll have one final opportunity to look through all of the components and features that you’ve decided to install and give it the ‘okay’. If you are happy with it, press F and then enter to get things underway.
Installing Plesk on Windows Using Web GUI
For anyone wanting to choose which Plesk components to install, it’s best to use the graphical interface. Here’s how:
1. Log in to the server using RDP.
2. Download Plesk Installer.
3. Pull up the Windows command prompt and switch the working directory to the one you saved the installer binary to, then run this command:
plesk-installer.exe --web-interface
This is going to run the installer GUI in your browser.
If you’d prefer to install an older version of Plesk, then type:
plesk-installer.exe --web-interface --all-versions
Choose a language for the interface and then log in using your Windows administrator credentials to continue. You’ll then see the installer GUI welcome screen. This is where you will come to later when you want to update, add or remove any of Plesk’s components, but for now, you’ll just be installing Plesk.
If you’d like to make changes to the settings for this installation, then click on Updates source and installation settings.
Here you’ll be able to:
- Change where the installation files are downloaded from by default (which is the Plesk servers). You can tell the system to look for them elsewhere, such as a local mirror or local disk.
- Change where the installation files are downloaded to
- Configure the HTTP proxy server address, and also set the username and password.
- Change the language of the installer interface.
When you’re happy with your selections, click Save to carry on to the next part.
Click Install or Upgrade Product on the welcome screen to carry on.
Now, it is time to choose the version of Plesk that you want to install. Check the box next to Plesk, then choose which version you want and which installation type. In the example above you’re choosing Plesk Obsidian, which is the latest stable release. If you ran the installer with the –all-versions option, the list of available Plesk versions will be different.
The features and components that get installed will depend upon which of these types of installation you choose:
- Recommended is the type that will give you all the necessary elements that you need for web hosting—things like a web server, mail server, database server, and so on—plus a selection of the most popular and widely used features. This is the one to go for if you aren’t sure what you need yet.
- The Full installation type does what it says and gives you everything that Plesk has to offer, but you’ll only want to go for this option if you’re sure you have enough disk space, as it takes up quite a lot.
- The Custom installation type lets you pick and choose from a list of which elements you want to install, but it’s best left to confident admins who have previous experience of Plesk.
Don’t worry about making the wrong choice at this point because there isn’t really a wrong choice. With Plesk, you can always add or remove components and features later until you have the system set up just how you want it.
Once you’ve chosen what type of installation you want, you might get a prompt to configure extra settings, like which directory to install Plesk in, where to put the content of websites hosted in Plesk, and the Plesk “admin” user password (which, along with your login name will get you into Plesk).
Once you’ve configured the settings, click Continue to start installing.
