Plesk v8.0.0 build80060425.18 for Ubuntu 5.10 i386 Release Notes

Table of contens

  1. Installing Plesk
  2. Upgrading Plesk
       2.1. Upgrading Plesk from the Control Panel
       2.2. Upgrading Plesk through the Auto-installer Console Utility
  3. Installing Plesk Manually from deb Packages
  4. What's new in Plesk v8.0.0

       4.1. build80060425.18
          4.1.1. Changelog
       4.2. build80060331.13
          4.2.1. Changelog
          4.2.2. Detailed description
          4.2.3. Known Problems
  5. Contact Information

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/Plesk8.0/Doc/Plesk-8.0.0r-installation-guide.pdf
to obtain instructions on installing and upgrading Plesk.

Other documentation on Plesk 8.0 is available at http://www.swsoft.com/en/products/plesk80/docs/

Plesk 8.0 FAQ is available at http://faq.swsoft.com

1. Installing Plesk

Important:

1. Before installing Plesk 8, switch SElinux off by running command 'setenforce 0' in shell. After you have installed Plesk, switch SWlinux on by running command 'setenforce 1'.
2.Before installing Plesk on a Virtuozzo-created VPS by means of a Plesk autoinstaller, install mod_ssl compatible with the Apache server version installed on your machine.
3. Before installing Plesk on Debian 3.1 - Sarge, remove the libboost-filesystem1.33.1 package. Plesk will not install if libboost-filesystem1.33.1 is included with other packages.
4. Before installing Plesk, make sure that gtar is installed. With FreeBSD versions of Plesk the gtar application must be used instead of tar.

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/plesk80/ 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. 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.

Note: If you plan to use mailing lists provided by the Mailman software, you should install the mailman package by means of Plesk Auto-installer and install support for Mailman mailing lists.

2. Upgrading Plesk

Important notes for Virtuozzo users:

Prior to upgrading Plesk on virtual private servers, you need to download the latest distribution of Auto-installer utility that suits your operating system from http://www.swsoft.com/en/download/plesk75reloaded/. You will need to use it for upgrading Plesk.

If you had Plesk 7.5.4 upgraded by the Auto-installer utility, but still wish to upgrade Plesk by upgrading Virtuozzo 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 8.0.0, 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 8.0.0, all custom (third-party) skins become unregistered. If you wish to restore the custom skins that you used before the upgrade, run the command "$PRODUCT_ROOT_D/tmp/restore-custom-skins.sh", where $PRODUCT_ROOT_D 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.

  1. Select the Plesk version that you want to update, or upgrade to. A list of available components appears.
  2. Select the checkboxes corresponding to the components you wish to install and click Install. A confirmation page appears.
  3. 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.

2.1. Upgrading Plesk through the Auto-installer Console Utility

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

  1. Run the 'autoinstaller' binary file, which is located in the directory /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/ on RPM-based Linux and FreeBSD systems, and /opt/psa/admin/bin on deb-based Linux systems.
  2. Type 1 and press Enter. The Auto-installer will detect your existing installation of Plesk and ask if you want to upgrade it. Type 'y' and press Enter.
  3. 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, type 1 and press Enter.
  4. Specify the proxy server settings, if applicable, then type 1 and press Enter to continue.
  5. Select the product version that you wish to upgrade to: type '3' and press Enter, then type the number corresponding to the product name of your choice and press Enter again. Type 1 and press Enter to continue.
  6. Type the number corresponding to the "Overwrite All" option, and press Enter.
  7. select the components that you wish to install or upgrade, then type 1 and 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 8.0.0 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 deb Packages

  1. Log in as "root" to your system. If you are upgrading Plesk, stop its services by running the command /etc/init.d/psa stopall
  2. Make sure that all required packages are installed.

You can check whether a particular package is already installed by entering the following command:

  sh# dpkg -l 

For example:

  sh# dpkg -l psa

Install the packages of indicated versions or higher from the Ubuntu 5.10 i386 disc:

update-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/
libtomcat4-java_4.1.31-3_all.deb
tomcat4_4.1.31-3_all.deb
tomcat4-admin_4.1.31-3_all.deb
libapache2-mod-jk_1.2.15-1_i386.deb
tomcat4-webapps_4.1.31-3_all.deb

If prior to installing Plesk package you have already installed and configured MySQL, you need to do the following:
set the empty password for the MySQL 'root' user or create the user 'admin' with password 'setup' and 'root' privileges.

3. Install the following essential packages from the following directories of your Plesk distribution package:

dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/base/

psa-courier-imap_3.0.8-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-courier-imap-add_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060425.18_i386.deb
psa-qmail_1.03-ubuntu5.10.build80060428.20_i386.deb
psa-proftpd_1.2.10-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-proftpd-inetd_1.2.10-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-locale-base-en-us_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-api_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060413.08_i386.deb
psa-horde_3.1.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-imp_4.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
libpam-plesk_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-pylibplesk_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_all.deb

dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/updater/

psa-autoinstaller_3.0.2-build060427.11_i386.deb

thirdparty-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386

psa-php4-configurator_1.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_all.deb
psa-php5-configurator_1.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_all.deb

For installation use the command:
dpkg -i

4. Install the optional packages to enable additional features of your control panel:

If you plan to use Plesk Professional Web Site Editor, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/ppwse' directory of your Plesk distribution:

ppwse_1.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060418.13_all.deb

If you plan to use Backup utilities, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/bu' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-backup-manager_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060413.08_i386.deb

If you plan to use the Counter-Strike game server module for Plesk, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/modules/csgs' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-cs-gs_2.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to support Microsoft Frontpage 2002, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/fp' directory of your Plesk distribution:

frontpage_5.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use Plesk Firewall module, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/modules/firewall' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-firewall_1.0.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use the Dr. Web anti-virus software, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/drweb' directory of your Plesk distribution:

drweb-qmail_4.33-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
drweb-base_4.33-5psa_i386.deb
drweb-daemon_4.33-5psa_i386.deb
drweb-updater_4.33-3psa_i386.deb

If you plan to use the Plesk Migration Manager, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/migration' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-migration-manager_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060413.08_i386.deb
log4cpp-plesk_0.3.5rc2-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use Plesk API, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/api' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-api-rpc_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060413.08_i386.deb

If you plan to use the Plesk VPN module, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/modules/vpn' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-vpn_1.0.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use MAPS spam protection or SpamAssassin support, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/mail' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-spamassassin_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-qmail-rblsmtpd_0.70-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use the Battlefield 1942 game server module for Plesk, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/modules/bf1942' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-bf1942_1.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use the Fileserver module for Plesk, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/modules/fileserver' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-fileserver_1.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use Additional Horde (webmail) components for Plesk, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/horde' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-ingo_1.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-kronolith_2.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-turba_2.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-mnemo_2.1-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb
psa-passwd_3.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use site applications, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/vault' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-appvault-advancedpoll_2.03-8014_all.deb
psa-appvault-autoindex_1.5.3-8013_all.deb
psa-appvault-b2evolution_0.9.0.12-8012_all.deb
psa-appvault-bbclone_0.48-8012_all.deb
psa-appvault-coppermine_1.3.3-8028_all.deb
psa-appvault-cslh_2.12.2-8012_all.deb
psa-appvault-docfaq_1.71-8017_all.deb
psa-appvault-gallery_2.0-8033_all.deb
psa-appvault-gtchat_0.93-8014_all.deb
psa-appvault-mambo_4.5.2.3-8004_all.deb
psa-appvault-openbiblio_0.5-8027_all.deb
psa-appvault-oscommerce_2.2ms2-8020_all.deb
psa-appvault-owl_0.80-8015_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpads_2.0.7-8004_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpbb_2.0.19-8005_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpbook_1.50-8013_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpbugtracker_1.19-8014_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpdig_1.85-8010_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpmoney_1.3-8021_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpmyfamily_1.4.1-8014_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpsurveyor_0.98-8021_all.deb
psa-appvault-phpwiki_1.3.11-8019_all.deb
psa-appvault-plog_1.0-8015_all.deb
psa-appvault-postnuke_0.761a-8005_all.deb
psa-appvault-tellme_1.2-8011_all.deb
psa-appvault-tutos_1.88-8011_all.deb
psa-appvault-typo_3.8.0-8011_all.deb
psa-appvault-uebimiau_2.7.8-8018_all.deb
psa-appvault-webcalendar_1.0-8012_all.deb
psa-appvault-webshopmanager_2.0-8010_all.deb
psa-appvault-wordpress_2.0-8005_all.deb
psa-appvault-xrms_1.19-8010_all.deb

If you plan to use Watchdog (System monitoring module), you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/modules/watchdog' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-watchdog_2.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060428.20_i386.deb

If you plan to use SSHTerm - SSH Terminal java applet, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/sshterm' directory of your Plesk distribution:

sshterm_0.2.2-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you would like to unpack and install the reference on designing and deploying custom skins for Plesk, you should install the following package from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/docs' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-manual-custom-skin-guide_8.0.0-ubuntu5.10.build80060331.13_i386.deb

If you plan to use SiteBuilder and Sitebuilder module for Plesk, you should install the following packages from the 'dist-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386/opt/sitebuilder' directory of your Plesk distribution:

psa-sbm2_1.1-11_all.deb
sitebuilder-core_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-blogger_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-counter_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-feedback_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-forum_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-guestbook_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-photo_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-rssreader_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-script_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-sesubmission_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-shop_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-statistics_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-module-votes_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder-remote-admin_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb
sitebuilder_2.1.3-ubn510.build060414.17_i386.deb

If you plan to use Tomcat Java Servlets support, you should install the following packages from the 'thirdparty-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386' directory of your Plesk distribution:

tomcat4_4.1.31-3_all.deb
tomcat4-admin_4.1.31-3_all.deb
tomcat4-webapps_4.1.31-3_all.deb

If you plan to use ColdFusion support for Plesk, you should install the following packages from the 'thirdparty-deb-Ubuntu-5.10-i386' directory of your Plesk distribution:

If you plan to use mailing lists provided by the Mailman software, you should install the mailman package by means of Plesk Auto-installer and install support for Mailman mailing lists.

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/Plesk8.0/Doc/plesk-8.0r-admins-guide-html/apas02.html
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
dpkg -i

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 Plesk v8.0.0

4.1. build80060425.18

4.1.1. Changelog

1. [-] The bug that prevented qmail from delivering to local aliases is resolved.
2. [*] Hostname checking is not performed on Virtuozzo.
3. [-] Several bugs in Mailman configuration resolved.
4. [-] Several bugs that caused incorrect operation of network interfaces on SuSe were resolved.

4.2. build80060331.13

4.2.1. Changelog

1. [+] Plesk News
2. [+] Desktop interface
3. [+] Interface customization on per-client basis. Templates.
4. [+] Initial configuration screen redesign
5. [+] Next generation of Backup Utilities on PMM engine
6. [*] MySQL 4.1 and localization
7. [*] PostgreSQL 7.3 and higher
8. [+] Autoinstaller 3.0
9. [+] Watchdog 2
10. [+] Domain Aliases
11. [+] Qmail queue management interface
12. [+] Remote databases (Centralized Databases)
13. [+] [PMM] Multisession migration
14. [+] [PMM] Site applications and Application Vaults migration
15. [+] [PMM] PostgreSQL databases migration
16. [+] Using PAM for Authentication
17. [*] mod_jk instead of mod_webapp
18. [+] APOP support
19. [+] SPF support for Qmail
20. [*] Dr.Web 4.33 upgrade issue
21. [+] SpamAssassin 3 for FreeBSD
22. [*] PHP 4.4.2 upgrade for FreeBSD
23. [+] DB WebAdmin administrative login
24. [+] Retrieve password feature for administrator
25. [+] Protected directories improvement
26. [+] CSR wildcard certificate support
27. [+] SSL support for subdomains
28. [+] Hostname validation upon Plesk setup
29. [+] Acronis True Image Module
30. [+] [PMM] IP Mapping correction
31. [+] [API] MD5 authentication in XMLRPC
32. [+] [API] Support for SpamAssassin and Dr.Web
33. [*] Chroot shell supporting improvement
34. [+] SOA records management
35. [*] DNS Zone internal presentation redesign
36. [*] CLI interface utilities reorganization
37. [*] Mambo CMS and reorganization

4.2.2. Detailed description

1. [+] Plesk News

Information about new features - When you log in to Plesk 8 for the first time, an information box appears at the top of the screen. It contains brief information about the new features and improvements that have been added since the last version of Plesk, as well as links to more information about the features and direct links to screens where the the features can be used. Each user sees only those features that he or she can use.

2. [+] Desktop interface

Brand-new desktop interface option - Plesk 8 boasts quick and efficient task-oriented desktop, while retaining the ability to use old, traditional interface, and offering the options of switching between old and new interfaces, and even using both at the same time. Now administrators have quick access to major management functions and they have immediate access to mission critical information and statistics. The task-oriented design also allows administrators to create "favorites" and "shortcuts".

3. [+] Interface customization on per-client basis. Templates.

Interface Control Management - This feature introduced in Plesk 7.5.3 enables Plesk administrators to easily and efficiently manage the visibility of the control panel buttons. Plesk administrators have the flexibility to maintain a simpler, cleaner interface for end-users by hiding the controls for features that are not installed from Plesk users. Plesk 8 introduces the concept of client interface templates, which eliminates the need to adjust interface settings on a per-client basis. This can considerably speed up your client interface management.

4. [+] Initial configuration screen redesign

Initial configuration improvement - Plesk 8 allows you to configure default IP addresses at the first startup, making the process of initial Plesk configuration quicker and easier.

5. [+] Next generation of Backup Utilities on PMM engine

New generation of Backup Utilities - The improved backup/restore utilities based on Plesk Migration Manager engine let
administrators backup and restore client accounts, selecting which client's domains to backup/restore and whether the client's information should be backed up/restored. The improved domain restoration brings now a domain to the very state the domain had during the backup. Backup files are no more digitally signed, which lets domain administrators to migrate their domains from server to server by themselves. This generation of Backup Utilities also allows to backup/restore Site Applications and Application Vaults.

6. [*] MySQL 4.1 and localization

MySQL 4.1 support - This release adds full MySQL 4.1 support, eliminating all possible problems with local characters in MySQL databases.

7. [*] PostgreSQL 7.3 and higher

Support of PostgreSQL 7.3 and higher - Plesk 8 supports now all versions of PostgreSQL starting from v. 7.3.

8. [+] Autoinstaller 3.0

Autoinstaller V3.0 - This improved feature lets administrators deploy and upgrade multiple servers in an efficient, cost effective manner. The new architecture allows for improved dependencies tracking and increased speed during installation and upgrade. All of this makes the support of new OSes simpler and easier.

9. [+] Watchdog 2

Watchdog 2.0 - The second generation of Watchdog utilities, Watchdog 2 tremendously improves its predecessor capabilities.
In addition to previously available features Watchdog 2 now monitors your hard disks, scans your server for security vulnerabilities such as rootkits, backdoors and local exploits, and displays CPU and RAM usage statistics.

10. [+] Domain Aliases

Domain Aliases support - This new feature lets domain administrators set up alternative domain names which act as nicknames for websites and e-mail addresses, and modify their DNS records.

11. [+] Qmail queue management interface

Qmail Queue Management through Control Panel - This feature allows administrators to manage the Qmail message queue directly through Plesk Control Panel. With this feature, you can manually delete spam and other unwanted mail from the queue, using quick and intuitive sorting options.

12. [+] Remote databases (Centralized Databases)

Multiple Remote Databases support - Plesk 8 allows you to use remote database servers for storing client databases. Moreover, you can easily employ and manage multiple external MySQL and PostgreSQL database servers at once!

13. [+] [PMM] Multisession migration

Simultaneous migration support - Plesk Migration Manager now allows simultaneous (a.k.a. multisession) migrations. This new feature is a definite time-saver, especially for Expand migrations. Simultaneous migration is easy and convenient way to migrate data from several servers at once.

14. [+] [PMM] Site applications and Application Vaults migration

Site Applications and Application Vaults migration - the ability to migrate SiteApps and Application Vault is a great new functionality for Plesk Migration Manager. This feature is another big step towards perfect migration brought to you by Plesk team.

15. [+] [PMM] PostgreSQL databases migration

PostgreSQL databases migration - Plesk Migration Manager now can migrate PostgreSQL databases from one Plesk server to another, further increasing the functionality and flexibility of migration.

16. [+] Using PAM for Authentication

Pluggable Authentication Modules authentication support - In this release the support for Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) authentication was added. PAM authentication is flexible mechanism for authenticating system users, further improving Plesk server security.

17. [*] mod_jk instead of mod_webapp

Using mod_jk module instead of mod_webapp module - Plesk 8 now uses mod_jk module instead of outdated mod_webapp module for its Java-related needs.

18. [+] APOP support

APOP authentication support - In this release encrypted APOP authentication for POP3 protocol is added. Your mailbox passwords will never be transmitted in plain text again - APOP is using MD5 hash, providing quality encryption and secure authentication of transmitted e-mail credentials.

19. [+] SPF support for Qmail

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) support - Plesk 8 adds the support of popular and very effective SPF (Sender Policy Framework) spam prevention system. SPF is based on using special DNS records that specify which machines are authorized to transmit e-mail for a specific domain, thus making it easy to distinguish genuine e-mails from those forged by spammers. For more information about Sender Policy Framework system, refer to http://spf.pobox.com/howworks.html.

20. [*] Dr.Web 4.33 upgrade issue

Dr.Web 4.33 updated - Dr.Web anti-virus is upgraded to new 4.33 version in Plesk 8. Additionally, brand-new Plesk Autoinstaller V3 can successfully update all Dr.Web components, thus making previous Dr.Web autoupgrade problems obsolete.

21. [+] SpamAssassin 3 for FreeBSD

SpamAssassin 3 upgrade for FreeBSD - FreeBSD versions of Plesk 8 come with SpamAssassin 3 included. This new SpamAssassin version further improves the quality of spam filtering, while fine-tuning SpamAssassin's already outstanding performance.

22. [*] PHP 4.4.2 upgrade for FreeBSD

PHP 4.4.2 upgrade for FreeBSD - FreeBSD versions of Plesk 8 come with PHP upgraded to 4.4.2 version. PHP 4.2.2 offers increased performance and security among other improvements.

23. [+] DB WebAdmin administrative login

Improved databases administration - This release offers extended database administration capabilities and improved PhpMyAdmin and PhpPgAdmin integration. Plesk server administrators now have the full-fledged database administration ability via PhpMyAdmin and PhpPgAdmin, being able to create database users, manage their access rights and remove users, if necessary. Improved database administration capabilities now allow you to choose the default user for DB WebAdmin feature.

24. [+] Retrieve password feature for administrator

Secure administrator password retrieval - This new feature allows Plesk server administrator to retrieve and change the administrator's password without logging in to Plesk and without compromising the Plesk server security.

25. [+] Protected directories improvement

Protection of cgi-bin directory - Due to numerous requests, Plesk 8 adds the ability to protect your cgi-bin directory, securing the access to it. You can also create protected directories in cgi-bin directory, increasing the flexibility of your secure content structure. This means that you can now restrict access to your dynamic web pages that use CGI scripts.

26. [+] CSR wildcard certificate support

Wildcard SSL certificate support - By popular demand, in this release you can use SSL certificates with wildcards as domain names (a.k.a. wildcard SSL certificates). This feature also supports the creation of self-signed wildcard SSL certificates and generation of Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs) for wildcard SSL certificates.

27. [+] SSL support for subdomains

SSL support for subdomains - This feature provides SSL support for subdomains, enabling you to create and use subdomains that use Secure Sockets Layer protocol for authentication and security.

28. [+] Hostname validation upon Plesk setup

Host name validation during install - Plesk 8 now validates the host name during the installation process, checking the compliance of host name with IP address. This eliminates several possible problems during the installation, improving Apache and MySQL operation consistency.

29. [+] Acronis True Image Module

New and improved Acronis True Image Module - Plesk (except for the FreeBSD and MacOS versions) now comes with a new ATIS module. Using this module, administrators can create server disk backup images without interrupting server operations and perform easy and fast recovery of the entire system. The module enables scheduling backup tasks, launching manually backup tasks, selecting the compression level for backup images, setting up passwords to protect backup images, and other useful features.

30. [+] [PMM] IP Mapping correction

Simplified IP mapping during migration - Simplification of IP mapping in Plesk Migration Manager makes migration even quicker and easier than it was before. All excessive IP mapping is removed, as you only need to map those IPs that are actually used by migration objects.

31. [+] [API] MD5 authentication in XMLRPC

MD5 authentication in XML RPC - Plesk 8 gives you the option to use MD5 authentication in Plesk XML RPC. This vastly improves Plesk Control Panel security when using Plesk API, enabling you to encrypt the passwords and protect Plesk from potential hacker attacks.

32. [+] [API] Support for SpamAssassin and Dr.Web

Improved SpamAssassin and Dr.Web API management - With Plesk 8 you can manage SpamAssassin and Dr.Web through Plesk API much more effectively than before, utilizing a wide range of commands and options previously unavailable for API management.

33. [*] Chroot shell supporting improvement

Improved support of Chroot Shell Environment - Plesk 8 vastly improves disk space usage for Chroot shell environment in vhost. Now disk space usage for chroot shell environment in vhost is minimized, saving your precious free HDD space.

34. [+] SOA records management

DNS SOA records management - In this version you can manage DNS Start of Authority (SOA) records through Plesk Control Panel. With added support for DNS SOA records management, Plesk offers you more DNS fine-tuning options than ever before.

35. [*] DNS Zone internal presentation redesign

Improved usability of DNS records management - Plesk 8 drastically improves the security and usability of DNS records management, employing dynamic DNS records generation forms. With new simplified DNS management interface and dynamic forms the possibility of making a mistake when managing your DNS records is close to none.

36. [*] CLI interface utilities reorganization

CLI interface utilities update - Beginning with Plesk 8, CLI interface utilities do not use .sh name suffix anymore. We recommend all Plesk 8 users to use the new, more convenient syntax. While the old syntax will be supported for a while, it is outdated and its support will eventually cease.

37. [*] Mambo CMS and reorganization

Mambo CMS and osCommerce applications have been moved to Application Vault.

4.2.3. Known Problems

  1. Watchdog 2.0 module for Plesk does not monitor disk space usage when Plesk is installed inside Virtuozzo VPS (in Virtuozzo versions below 3.0.0).
  2. Watchdog 2.0 module for Plesk does not rate number of files on some OSes.
  3. Stop Watchdog module before upgrading Plesk.
  4. If you install by hand packages containing the scripts that use PHP CLI as "#!/usr/bin/php" (for example, phpPgAdmin), then be sure to install package containing PHP CLI v.4.
  If you wish to install package using PHP CLI v.5, create the following link: "/usr/bin/php -> /usr/bin/php5".
  1. Creation utilities (aka API CLI) do not use the .sh name suffix now. For example, the utility '/usr/local/psa/bin/domain.sh' is now named '/usr/local/psa/bin/domain'. This can cause problems in functioning of third-party products that use these scripts.
  Note: Old syntax is still supported, but the compatibilty wrappers will be removed in the next major release.
  1. SSH Terminal may not work properly, failing to log in, when trying to connect to Plesk. For the proper work, modify the SSH Terminal configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config as follows:
    1. In the configuration file, find the strings
          "# To disable tunneled clear text passwords, change to no here!
          PasswordAuthentication no
          #PermitEmptyPasswords no".
  1. Remark the string "PasswordAuthentication no" by adding the # sign to the beginning of the string or change the string "PasswordAuthentication no" to "PasswordAuthentication yes".
  2. Save the file.
  1. Plesk does not restrict access to the netinfo database for users that are logged in to the chroot account. Thus, the chroot users have access to the general system information including the list of all users and domains existing on the server. Be aware of the issue when you create system accounts on the server.
  2. Some site applications (siteapps) dependent on remote MySQL database server will not work with the MySQL server version 4 or later. Make sure that a compatible version of MySQL server is installed before installing siteapps.
  3. When upgrading FreeBSD OS on Plesk-running servers (FreeBSD 4.9 and 5.3 for PLesk 7.5.4; FreeBSD 4.11 and 5.4 for Plesk 8.0), problems occur during upgrade because of the missing Perl modules. To avoid problems, stop Plesk before FreeBSD OS upgrade. Restart Plesk after the FreeBSD OS upgrade is completed.
  4. It is best to host non-Plesk databases on remote hosts other than the Plesk-managed server to avoid performance problems caused by MySQL workload surges. If you must host the MySQL databases on the Plesk-managed server, configure firewall and the MySQL DBMS and database access policies to minimize potential adverse effects of malicious attacks on the Plesk-managed server performance. If you plan to use the "Remote Database Hosting" feature of Plesk, we recommend using a dedicated server for database hosting.
  5. Site preview will not work for websites that have the webuser@domain.com access format enabled. (Domains -> domain.tld -> Web users -> Preferences -> Enable webuser@domain.com).

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

5. Contact Information

SWsoft Headquarters
13755 Sunrise Valley Drive
Suite 325
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 - 2006 SWsoft, Inc. All rights reserved.