Plesk Onyx End User Series (26)

How to find and install applications in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to find and install third party applications.

Click the Applications tab.

You can use third party applications to add features to your website such as a blog, online store, photo gallery, or you can base your site entirely on a single application such as Joomla or WordPress.

To learn more about an app, simply click its name.

Featured Applications shows the most recommended and popular apps available for your website.

You can learn more about the application… and if you want to use it, you can install it from here.

Now click All Available Applications.

This section shows all the applications, both free and commercial, that are available to be installed.

Selecting a category will narrow your search… and you can also choose a sub-category.

We can now view all the applications related to content management on the web.

Let’s go through an example of installing an app.

That’s it! The application was installed, and you can see the application settings on this page.

In the Manage My Applications section, we can see which applications we’ve installed, and it’s from here that we can go to manage our installed applications.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to find and install third party applications in Plesk.

From here you can change any of your application settings…

Or remove the application from your account.

How to manage DNS zones in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to manage DNS zones.

Click the DNS Settings option.

From here you can switch off the DNS service…

Make the Plesk DNS server act as a slave for this zone, and use an external DNS zone instead…

Add a DNS zone record…

… or restore the default settings.

Let’s go ahead and add a new record.

Let’s add an A record, which lets us point a subdomain to an IP address.

The DNS record has been created, but you still have to click Update for the changes to go live.

That’s it! You can now see the new record we just added, here in the list of DNS records.

To remove a DNS record, simply select it, then click Remove.

Once again, click Update to make the changes live.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to manage DNS zones in Plesk.

How to suspend websites in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to suspend websites.

You may want to suspend a website within your Plesk account, if for example you are managing the website for a third party and they’ve stopped paying for your services.

To suspend a website, simply click the Suspend link for the website.

That’s it! The website has been suspended and will no longer display in a browser.

To unsuspend the website, click the Activate link.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to suspend and unsuspend websites in Plesk.

How to install SSL certificates in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to install SSL certificates.

Click the SSL Certificates option.

SSL certificates are used to establish secure communication channels on the internet, and for verifying website identity.

Let’s go ahead and add an SSL certificate.

Give the new certificate a name.

Make sure all of the information here is correct, then click Request.

Now click the new certificate’s name.

Scroll down to the CSR section (CSR stands for Certificate Signing Request).

Here is your new certificate request and private key, which you will need to copy and paste to an SSL vendor when purchasing a certificate.

Once you’ve purchased the certificate, you will need to upload the file or paste it as text here.

Let’s return to the SSL Certificates page.

Now let’s learn how to add a self-signed certificate.

This time, click the Self-Signed button.

Be aware that using a self-signed certificate will show a message to your visitors warning that the certificate may not be trusted or valid.

We now have to configure our domain to use this certificate. Click Hosting Settings.

Locate the Security section, ensure SSL support is turned on, and select your new certificate in the drop down.

Then click OK.

That’s it! The domain has been configured to use our new self-signed certificate.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to install an SSL certificate in Plesk.

How to password protect a directory in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to password protect directories.

Click the Password-Protected Directories option.

Click Add Protected Directory.

Enter the name of the directory you want to protect, then click OK.

The directory is now protected, however we now have to create at least one user that can access it. Click the directory name.

Then click Add New User.

Give this new user a username and password, then click OK.

That’s it! The user was created. Be sure to create a separate account for each person who should have access to that directory.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to password protect directories in Plesk.

How to setup scheduled tasks in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to setup scheduled tasks.

Click the Scheduled Tasks link here on the right.

Before adding a task, let’s click Settings.

Set your time zone, then click OK.

Now let’s create the task… click Add Task.

Specify the command to run, including the path to where the command is.

Then specify when and how often you want the task to run.

Enter a description…

Then specify how often and who to send notifications to.

When ready, click OK.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to setup scheduled tasks in Plesk.

That’s it! The scheduled task has been created, and the task will run at the specified times until it’s removed.

How to perform website backups in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to backup our website.

Click the Backup Manager link here on the right.

From here you can run an instant backup of your site, or schedule backups to occur in the future.

To backup your site instantly, click Backup.

Decide what content you wish to backup, and whether it’s to be a full or incremental backup.

Configure your backup settings, then click OK.

That’s it! Your backup has begun.

If you want to setup scheduled backups, click Schedule.

Click to activate this backup task, then set the backup frequency.

Set how long to keep the backup files…

… then configure the rest of the backup settings, before clicking OK.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to backup your website in Plesk.

That’s it! The backup task was successfully scheduled, and backups will now occur automatically at the intervals chosen.

How to setup web users in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to setup web users.

Click the Web Users option.

You can host personal web pages in your account without them having their own domain name.

You do this by creating a new web user for the website.

Enter a username and password for this new web user.

Then select the options you want this web user to have.

Click OK.

That’s it! The new web user has been created, and they can now manage their own website under your domain.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to setup web users in Plesk.

How to setup a database in Plesk

This demo assumes you’ve already logged in to Plesk.

Now let’s learn how to setup a database.

Click the Databases option.

If your website uses custom data processing apps or is designed to generate web pages dynamically, you’ll likely need a database for storing and retrieving data.

To create a database, click Add Database.

Give the database a name, and select the related site.

Next create a user for the database, which is how Plesk will access the database.

When ready, click OK.

That’s it! The new database has been created and is ready for use.

To manage the database from within Plesk, click the phpMyAdmin link.

This is where you would go to manage your database.

This is the end of the tutorial. You now know how to setup a database in Plesk.