Q. How does the user log into Plesk?
A: To log into the Plesk control panel:
* Open the web browser, and in the address bar, type the URL where the Plesk control panel is located (for example, https://user.domain.com:8443).
* Press ENTER. Plesk login screen will open.
* Type the login name (the owner’s name is admin) and password that the provider gave to the user into the Login and Password boxes, respectively.
* The login name would be the user domain name or user name.
* If the user log in for the first time, select the language for the control panel from the Interface language drop-down box. If the user had previously specified the interface language and saved it in the interface preferences, leave the User default value selected.
* Click Login.
Q. What is the backup and restore facilities in Windows dedicated?
A: With the current version of backup and restore utilities installed with the user control panel, user can:
* It backups the domain (Web site). The backup archive will include all data related to the user account (except for resource allotments and permissions to perform operations within the control panel), domain (web site) and mail services, including the contents of mailboxes, anti-spam and anti-virus settings.
* It will maintain a schedule backup.
* Restore user data from backup archives.
* The User can access its backup repository via its Home page (Home > Backup).
Q. What is the problem if the User cannot receive mail but can send mail in Windows dedicated?
A: If the users are having, problems in receiving mail, the problem may be with the domain’s disk quota. This can be corrected by removing files from the web space, deleting emails, or increasing disk space.
Q. What is the problem if the user cannot send mail but can receive in Windows dedicated?
A: Usually when a user cannot send mail, it has caused by a block on the Internet service provider’s side. It has become common practice for the provider to block the sending mail port (25) to protect spamming computers from sending mail using their service. HostGator has a work around for this issue. The user can change the report number from 25 to 26, and this should allow user to send mail. In addition, the user must be sure to set “Outgoing Server requires authentication” to on.
Q. Can the user have a manual for Plesk?
A: Yes, the user will find documentation for Plesk at http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/resources/
Most manuals have a PDF, HTML, and zipped version available.
Q. How can the user install an SSL certificate?
A: The User can install its or her own SSL as long as is a dedicated server owner and have the Admin login to Plesk.
1. Login the Plesk.
2. From the main menu, click Domains.
3. Select the domain name the user wants to install.
4. Under Additional Tools, click the SSL Certificates.
5. Now, the user can request a CSR and upload their certificate attachments (provider by the SSL issuer). Alternatively, user can also paste the certificate codes instead of uploading the files.
Q. How does the user backup the domain?
A: To back up the domain (web site):
* Click Backup in the Domain group.
* Click Create Backup in the Tools group.
* Specify the backup method:
1. Create backup file and store in repository – backup file created and stored on Plesk server.
2. Do not store backup file in repository, only download it – backup file created on the Plesk server, and as soon as it has done, the user can download it to its computer. After the download is complete, backup file erased from Plesk server.
3. The User can create the backup file and store on FTP server – backup file created on the local Plesk server and stored on the FTP server of the user choice. If the user selects this option, user needs to specify the path to the FTP server, FTP credentials (login and password) and base FTP directory in the corresponding fields.
* Specify the backup file name in the Backup file name field and additional comments in the Comments field.
* Select the Suspend domain checkbox, if the user wishes to suspend all domain activity during the backup. Note that suspended domains are not available to the visitors.
* Select the Notify by e-mail checkbox and specify the e-mail, if the user wants to notify about the backup.
* Click Back Up.
* The backup will start and the progress will show.
* Upon completion of the backup process, the user will show a window displaying the backup results, including errors, if they encountered. Click OK.
Q. How does the user change SMTP port number?
A: To set up in Microsoft Outlook Express:
1. Open Microsoft Outlook Express
2. Go to Tools > Accounts
3. Click the Mail tab to open a list of the mail accounts.
4. Double click the account that has the problem.
5. Click the Advanced tab.
6. Change “Outgoing mail (SMTP)” from 25 to 26.
7. Click OK and Close.
8. The users should be able to send mail.
To set up in Mozilla Thunderbird:
1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird.
2. Go to Tools > Account Settings
3. In the list on the left, select “Outgoing Server (SMTP)” at the bottom of the list
4. Select the account the user needs to change from the list on the right and click Edit
5. Change Port from 25 to 26
6. Click OK and OK
7. The user should be able to send mail
To set up in Outlook 2003
1. In Microsoft Outlook, select Tools > E-mail Accounts
2. On the E-mail Accounts wizard window, select “View or change existing e-mail accounts” and click Next.
3. Click the Mail tab and choose the account the user need to modify
4. Click “More Settings”
5. Click the Advanced tab
6. Change “Outgoing server (SMTP)” from 25 to 26
8. Click OK, Next, and Finish
Q. How does the user create database user accounts?
A: Creating Database User Accounts: If the user collaborate with other people on managing the web site and wish to give them access to the database, the user should create separate user accounts for them.
To create a database user account:
* On the Home page, click Databases in the Services group.
* Click the required database name.
* A list of database users will open.
* Click Add New Database User.
* Type a user name and a password that will use for accessing the contents of the database. Click OK.
Q. How does the user create email accounts?
A: To create mailboxes for other users:
1. Click the Domains shortcut in the navigation pane.
2. Click the required domain name in the list.
3. Click Mail in the Services group.
4. Click Add New Mail Name.
5. The domain name shown to the right of @ sign, so the user only needs to specify the desired name for the mailbox. This can be, for example, user’s first name and last name separated by a dot, a department name, or any other text in Latin symbols. The name should be short enough to remember. It can comprise alphanumeric, dash dot and underscore symbols.
6. Specify a password that mailbox owner will use for accessing its or her mailbox.
7. Make sure that a check mark is present in the Mailbox check box.
8. If required, limit the amount of disk space that this mailbox can use. To do this, under Mailbox quota select the Enter size option and type the desired value in kilobytes.
9. To allow the mailbox owner to manage its or her mailbox through a mailbox administration panel, select the Control panel access check box and specify the language for the user’s control panel.
10. To allow the mailbox owner configure and use spam filter and anti-virus, click Permissions, select the respective check boxes and click OK.
11. Click OK.
Now, the mailbox has been created, and a separate e-mail administration panel has been set up in Plesk. To enter it, the mailbox owner should visit the URL https://user-domain.com:8443, type its or her e-mail address into the Login box, type the password for the mailbox into the Password box, and then click Login.
Q. How does the user create or import databases?
A: To create a new database on the hosting account, the following steps may be followed:
1. On the Home page, click “Databases”.
2. Click Add New Database.
3. Enter a name for the database.
4. The Company recommends that the user choose a name that starts with a Latin alphabet symbol, comprises only alphanumeric, and underscore symbols (up to 64 symbols).
5. Select the database type that the users are going to use: MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server. Click OK.
6. To set up database administrator’s credentials, click Add New Database User.
7. Type a user name and a password that will use for accessing the contents of the database.
8. Click OK.
To import an existing database:
* Follow the steps 1- 7 of creating a database.
* Click “WebAdmin” in the Tools group. An interface to phpMyAdmin (or phpMSAdmin) database management tool will open in a separate browser window.
* Click Query window in the left frame.
* Click the Import files tab.
* Select the text file that contains the data and click Go.
* Click the Insert data from a text file link.
To manage the databases and their contents, use the MySQL or Microsoft SQL client or the web based database management tool accessible from Plesk control panel (Home > Databases > Database name > WebAdmin).
Q. How does the user customize web-server error pages?
A: To configure Plesk’s web server to show the custom error pages:
1. Switch on support for custom error documents through Plesk. On the Home page, click Setup.
2. Select the Custom Error Documents check box.
3. Click OK.
4. Click Web Directories on the Home page to see the list of error documents for the root web directory (error documents located here are used for all domain web pages). If the user wants to customize error pages for a certain web directory, go to that directory.
5. Click Error Documents tab and click the required error document in the list.
* To use the default document provided by IIS for this error page, select Default in the Type menu.
* To use a custom HTML document already located in the error_docs directory on a domain, select File in the Type menu and specify the file name in the Location field.
* To use a custom HTML document located in directory other than error_docs on a domain, select URL in the Type menu and enter the path to the document in the Location field. The path should be relative to the virtual host root (that is, <vhosts>\<domain>\httpsdocs).
Note. The user can use both FTP and File Manager to upload the custom error document to the server. By default, all error documents are stored in the /vhosts/user-domain.com/error_docs/ directory.
Q. How does the user setup a domain alias?
A: If the user has registered with a domain name registrar several domain names that the user would like to point to the same web site that the user host on this server, the user should set up domain aliases.
To set up a domain alias:
1. On the Home page, click the domain name for which the user wishes to set up additional domain names.
2. Click the Domain Aliases icon.
3. Click the Add Domain Alias icon.
4. Type the desired domain alias name, for example alias.com. Domain aliases can comprise letters, digits and hyphens. Each part of the domain alias between dots should not be longer than 63 symbols.
5. Select the Mail check box, if the user wants e-mail directed at the e-mail addresses under the domain alias to redirect to the e-mail addresses under the original domain name.
6. Click OK.
When the user sets up a domain alias, resource records in its DNS zone /copied from the original domain name. This means that if the original domain points to an external mail server, the domain alias will point to that mail server too. However, to accept mail for the domain alias, the external mail server should configure accordingly.
Q. How does the user upload sites through FTP?
A: Following are the steps to upload a Site through FTP
1. Connect to the server with an FTP client program, using FTP account credentials that the user specified during setup of hosting account or obtained from the welcome email.
2. Enable the passive mode if the users are behind a firewall.
3. Upload files and directories that should be accessible through HTTP protocol to the httpsdocs directory, and files/directories that should transfer securely over SSL protocol to the httpsdocs directory.
4. Place the CGI scripts into the cgi-bin directory.
5. Close the FTP session.
Q. What is the difference between Physical hosting, Standard forwarding, and Frame forwarding?
A: The major difference may be described as follows:
* Physical Hosting: The user intends on hosting the domain on the web server like a normal web site.
* Standard Forwarding: This will redirect a user to another site that the user specifies. If the user decided to change the domain name, but still want people to get to the site, but the user wants them to see the new site name too, it should select Standard Forwarding.
* Frame Forwarding: If the user have a site named domain.com and the user want people to see the same site using another domain name that the user have purchased and that name remain in the address bar when they type it in, then the user wants to select Frame Forwarding.