Parallels Plesk Automation Q1 2013 Technical FAQ This document answers technical questions that may arise as you install and use Parallels Plesk Automation. It explains, for each question, features included in the first release; features and changes we are considering for later releases; and the options that are currently not under consideration. www.parallels.com
Table of Contents Q. What is Parallels Plesk Automation?... 3 Q. What are the components of Parallels Plesk Automation?... 3 Q. Which operating systems does Parallels Plesk Automation support?... 4 Q. How should I set the server locale?... 4 Q. Which mail servers and clients does Parallels Plesk Automation support?... 4 Q. Which anti-spam technologies does Parallels Plesk Automation support?... 5 Q. Which database servers does Parallels Plesk Automation support?... 5 Q. How do I upgrade to Parallels Plesk Automation?... 5 Q. Is Parallels Plesk Automation compatible with PBAS?... 6 Q. What localization is available for Parallels Plesk Automation?... 6 Q. Which add-ons are compatible with Parallels Plesk Automation?... 7 Q. Which APS applications does Parallels Plesk Automation support?... 7 Q. How does Parallels Plesk Automation handle global settings for APS applications?... 8 Q. How can I configure the global settings that the CloudFlare APS package requires?... 8 Q. How does Parallels Plesk Automation work with Web Presence Builder?... 8 Q. How does Web Presence Builder site licensing work in Parallels Plesk Automation?... 9 Q. How do Web Presence Builder updates work in Parallels Plesk Automation?... 9 Q. What billing tools are available for Parallels Plesk Automation?... 9 Q. Does NGINX work with Parallels Plesk Automation?... 10 Q. Once I upgrade to Parallels Plesk Automation, can I go back to Parallels Plesk Panel?... 10 Q. How does licensing work with Parallels Plesk Automation?... 10 Q. How do the APIs and command-line interface work in Parallels Plesk Automation?... 11 Q. How will Parallels Plesk Automation be released?... 11 Q. What can we expect in future releases of Parallels Plesk Automation?... 12
Q. What is Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Parallels Plesk Automation is a scalable, multi-server solution for shared hosting that automates the deployment and management of hosting servers web servers, mail servers, DNS servers, database servers, and more. In so doing, it gives growing hosters a level of power, performance, and scalability that was previously available only to hosting giants. As your business grows, Parallels Plesk Automation lets you easily and gradually add servers whenever you need them, giving you the ability to support many thousands of customers. It saves your administrators time, too, because it lets them manage all your servers from a single, central point, through an easy-to-use interface. Q. What are the components of Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Parallels Plesk Automation is a distributed environment consisting of one central server (called a management node), which controls any number of servers running your hosted services (called service nodes). Service nodes may include web servers, mail servers, DNS servers, database servers, and more. The management node delivers the hosted services to your customers while also providing you with a central point for managing your infrastructure and hosting operations. It consists of three main components: Administration panel. You use this panel to manage your infrastructure and user accounts for example, to create and configure service nodes, a pool of available IP addresses, new hosting plans, and customer accounts. Billing panel (optional). This panel lets you and your resellers serve your customers by leveraging the pluggable billing infrastructure in Parallels Plesk Automation. You can use it with Parallels Customer & Business Manager, Web Host Manager Complete Solution (WHMCS), Parallels Business Automation Standard, and other billing systems, for actions such as creating new hosting plans or customer accounts. (For more information about billing with Parallels Plesk Automation, see What billing tools are available for Parallels Plesk Automation?) Hosting panel. Your customers use this panel to manage their configurations and settings for example, to add domains and mailboxes or manage their website content. 3
Q. Which operating systems does Parallels Plesk Automation support? A. For the management node, the only currently supported operating system is CentOS 5/Red Hat 5 preferably version 5.8. We haven t tested Parallels Plesk Automation on versions earlier than 5.7, and we don t support earlier versions. We re planning to add management node support for CentOS 6.x/Red Hat 6.x and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 in 2013. In the future, we re also considering adding support for Microsoft Windows Server 2012. We are not considering adding management node support for other UNIX distributions (e.g., Debian, Ubuntu, SuSE, Fedora, or FreeBSD). For service nodes, we currently support CentOS/RedHat versions 6.3, 5.8, and 5.7. We haven t tested Parallels Plesk Automation on versions earlier than 5.7, and we don t support earlier versions. However, we do currently support Windows Server 2008 (R2) for IIS. We are also considering adding service node support for Debian, Ubuntu, Cloud Linux, and Microsoft Windows Server 2012 at some future point. We are not considering adding service node support for other Unix distributions (e.g., SUSE, Fedora, or FreeBSD). Q. How should I set the server locale? A. You should set the UNIX system locale as en_us.utf8. We are not considering support for other system locales. Q. Which mail servers and clients does Parallels Plesk Automation support? A. For mail servers, we currently support Postfix as a centralized mail server and also provide APS package support for SmarterMail. We are considering adding support for MailEnable on Windows servers. We are not currently considering adding support for other mail servers. However, if you want to integrate the panel with a remote mail server, we can provide you with best practices for doing so. We may also be able to assist you with a custom implementation. For more information, please contact your Parallels sales representative or email ppa@parallels.com. For webmail clients, we provide and support Horde and Atmail. For the future, we are considering allowing panel administrators to register any mail client that they already have pre-installed, enabling it to be available to customers as a choice. It s also possible that we may replace Atmail with RoundCube in a future version of Parallels Plesk Automation. We don t plan to deliver any other webmail clients with Parallels Plesk Automation. 4
Q. Which antispam technologies does Parallels Plesk Automation support? A. Parallels Plesk Automation currently supports SpamAssassin and Sender Policy Framework on mail servers. In the future, we are considering enabling DomainKeys and greylisting, as well. Q. Which database servers does Parallels Plesk Automation support? A. Parallels Plesk Automation will automatically install MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server. If you have MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Microsoft SQL Server already installed on your database server, you can register it with Parallels Plesk Automation. For information on how to do so, see http://kb.parallels. com/115212 and http://kb.parallels.com/115206. We are not considering adding support for any other database servers. Q. How do I upgrade to Parallels Plesk Automation? A. For service nodes, Parallels Plesk Automation gives you a choice between two approaches: accounts transfer and server assimilation. Accounts transfer. The accounts transfer process copies the data from the old server(s) to the new one(s). This approach, which works for existing installations of Parallels Plesk Panel 8.6 and higher and also for Parallels Plesk Expand, will: Copy account data to the Parallels Plesk Automation management node. Copy content of all services to the Parallels Plesk Automation service nodes. Keep the source environment untouched. The accounts transfer process: Allows you to gradually transition your customers into the new environment. Requires separate server(s) for Parallels Plesk Automation management and service nodes. Can be reversed. Server assimilation. This approach is supported only for Parallels Plesk Panel 10 or higher and currently is available for service nodes only. With server assimilation, the Parallels Plesk Automation server converts the Parallels Plesk Panel servers into service nodes. That is, it: Upgrades the Parallels Plesk Panel node, converting it to the latest release of Parallels Plesk Automation. Moves mail to the central mail server. Moves DNS data to the central DNS server(s). Removes Parallels Plesk Panel from the original server. 5
This process: Needs no additional hardware; you use the same servers you are now using for Parallels Plesk Panel. However, the management node requires a separate, dedicated server. Leaves actual web content and most web server settings untouched, ensuring that your customers will experience no interruptions. Cannot be reversed. Note: A similar server assimilation process for the management node will be offered at a later date. We are planning to add accounts transfer support for Parallels Business Automation Standard (PBAS) accounts with Parallels Plesk Panel subscriptions by the second half of 2013. In addition, we are considering adding accounts transfer support to migrate from Parallels Helm, cpanel, Enkompass, WebsitePanel, and Parallels H-Sphere. (Currently, for Parallels H-Sphere, you can only do manual migrations, but we are considering providing automatic services migration in the first half of 2013 and automatic billing migration in the second half of 2013.) We are not considering adding server assimilation support for Parallels Plesk Panel servers running on any operating systems earlier than Microsoft Windows Server 2008 or CentOS/RedHat 5.7. Q. Is Parallels Plesk Automation compatible with PBAS? A. Yes, Parallels Plesk Automation is compatible with the latest version of PBAS version 4.3. If you are currently running PBAS 4.3, you will be able to create new accounts in Parallels Plesk Automation. PBAS has a built-in capability for integration with Parallels Operations Automation (POA), and you can follow those same integration guidelines to integrate PBAS with Parallels Plesk Automation. We re also planning to provide support for converting existing PBAS accounts with Parallels Plesk Panel subscriptions to Parallels Plesk Automation subscriptions. Q. What localization is available for Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Parallels Plesk Automation installs all available locales at the outset. You can then choose the locales you want, up to the limit allowed by your license key. We plan to have the documentation localized for French and Spanish around the end of 2012, with German to follow, and Russian, Italian, and Japanese added after that. We expect all of these localizations to be completed by the end of 2013. 6
Q. Which add-ons are compatible with Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Parallels Plesk Automation is compatible with: Parallels Premium Antivirus. (Note: The license for this product is issued as an add-on to the Parallels Plesk Panel license that is assigned to the mail node. You can t use a standalone Parallels Premium Antivirus license or buy this as an add-on to a Parallels Plesk Automation license.) ColdFusion, Tomcat, and PostgreSQL. (Note: These options are present in the Parallels Plesk Panel license. You can enable them explicitly and they will also be automatically enabled when you add Power Pack to the license.) Web Essentials. (Note that the CloudFlare add-on in Web Essentials requires global settings for its APS package. For instructions on how to configure the global settings screen, see How can I configure the global settings that the CloudFlare APS package requires?). In addition, we are considering adding the AppVault management screen in 2013. Parallels Plesk Automation is not compatible with: Parallels Plesk Panel Mobile Server Manager, which is designed specifically to monitor a single server from a smartphone or tablet. The MagicSpam module for Parallels Plesk Panel, which is designed for a local mail system and won t work with a dedicated mail node on a separate server. However, if you purchase MagicSpam for Postfix directly from the vendor, it will work on a dedicated mail node independently of Parallels Plesk Automation. The Commtouch module in Parallels Plesk Panel, which works only with a local mail system. However, if you purchase a Commtouch spam filter for Postfix directly from Commtouch, it will work on a dedicated mail node independently of Parallels Plesk Automation. Q. Which APS applications does Parallels Plesk Automation support? A. Parallels Plesk Automation supports all the same APS applications as Parallels Plesk Panel 11. (To find out which APS applications are available, go to www.apsstandard.org. For information about which applications are compatible with Parallels Plesk Automation, contact your Parallels account manager.) The APS support in Parallels Plesk Automation includes: Access to the APS application catalog. Installing APS applications in customers subscriptions. Obtaining the application license from your storefront or the application vendor and uploading it into the application instance. Currently, Parallels Plesk Automation doesn t have the ability to limit the list of available applications in the service plan, but we are considering adding this capability in 2013. 7
Q. How does Parallels Plesk Automation handle global settings for APS applications? A. Some APS applications require you to define global settings, which are then applied to all instances of the application that are installed by customers. In Parallels Plesk Panel, these global settings are configured by uploading an application package into the server s Application Vault and then using the Application Vault screen on the administration panel to define the settings. In Parallels Plesk Automation, the ability to define global settings is not yet available in the administration panel, so we ve created a temporary workaround that lets you access the Parallels Plesk Panel screen through a direct URL. We will keep this workaround in place until we ve added the Application Vault screen to the Parallels Plesk Automation administration panel. Q. How can I configure the global settings that the CloudFlare APS package requires? A. Instructions for configuring the global settings for the CloudFlare APS package can be found at the (http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=264478). If you need further help, please contact ppa@parallels.com. Q. How does Parallels Plesk Automation work with Web Presence Builder? A. In Parallels Plesk Automation, Web Presence Builder can publish sites to both Apache and IIS service nodes. For existing sites built in Web Presence Builder, you can either transfer them from the original Parallels Plesk Panel server to the new Parallels Plesk Automation server or assimilate them from the original server into Parallels Plesk Automation. In both cases, the published site will stay as is, but the Web Presence Builder data about the site will be lost. Also, the Try & Buy scenario (also called the Customer Acquisition scenario) is not currently available in Parallels Plesk Automation. We are considering adding the ability to transfer site data for sites built in Parallels SiteBuilder 5 sometime in 2013, and will likely support the standalone implementation of Web Presence Builder, as well. We may also add a Try & Buy scenario capability at some point in the future. We are not considering adding the ability to transfer sites built in Parallels SiteBuilder 4.5. 8
Q. How does Web Presence Builder site licensing work in Parallels Plesk Automation? A. The Parallels Plesk Panel license key has a number of sites field. The system counts the total number of licenses loaded into Parallels Plesk Automation and uses this count as the maximum number of sites that can be published by Web Presence Builder in the Parallels Plesk Automation environment. Q. How do Web Presence Builder updates work in Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Web Presence Builder updates will be embedded into Parallels Plesk Automation updates. Q. What billing tools are available for Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Billing is an optional component in Parallels Plesk Automation. Because Parallels Plesk Automation exposes the Parallels Operations Automation Open API as the external management interface, you can add any of the following billing solutions: Parallels Customer & Business Manager. Parallels Business Automation Standard. Web Hosting Management Complete Solution (WHMCS). Any other billing solution that supports Open API. Parallels Plesk Automation supports both simple integration, as with WHMCS; and complex integration, as with Customer and Business Manager. You can use simple integration for tasks such as defining service templates in POA and implementing such billing-side APIs as: CRUD operations on customers. CRUD operations on subscriptions (which are created by direct reference to POA service template IDs). You can use complex integration to define service plans in billing that include actions such as: Creating resource types via API. Creating service templates in Parallels Operations Automation via API. Performing CRUD operations on customers or subscriptions. Note: Direct use of the Parallels Plesk Panel API is not recommended because it will interfere with settings made by the Parallels Plesk Automation management panel. For more information about the procedure for integrating Parallels Plesk Automation with PBAS, see the PBAS Provider s Guide (http://download.pa.parallels.com/pbas/4.3/doc/pbas_pg/managing_parallels_operations_ automation_services.htm). Parallels Appendix 1: Checklist for Maximizing Revenue per Container 9
Q. Does NGINX work with Parallels Plesk Automation? A. While you can use NGINX to accelerate the performance of a web service node managed by Parallels Plesk Automation, NGINX in the Parallels Plesk Panel configuration will not currently work with Parallels Plesk Automation. That s because the way that Parallels Plesk Panel configures NGINX is appropriate only for a single-server environment. We are considering adding it as a feature in the future. Q. Once I upgrade to Parallels Plesk Automation, can I go back to Parallels Plesk Panel? A. It depends on whether you used the accounts transfer or server assimilation approach. The accounts transfer approach copies accounts to Parallels Plesk Automation on a per-account (not per-server) basis. With this approach, your original server configuration remains untouched, enabling you to wait until after you ve validated the new panel s robustness before switching your customers over, and to move them over in small groups rather than all at once. In this case, you have the option of going back to the old panel if you want to. The server assimilation approach converts your original Parallels Plesk Panel servers to Parallels Plesk Automation service nodes. In so doing, it removes the Parallels Plesk Panel software, imports all customer data into Parallels Plesk Automation, and keeps only service content in its original place. This approach has the advantage of not requiring additional hardware but it doesn t let you reverse the migration. For more information about these two approaches, see How do I upgrade to Parallels Plesk Automation? Q. How does licensing work with Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Regardless of whether you are using a physical or virtual server, the license required is still a Parallels Plesk Panel Unlimited Domain Dedicated lease license. Any Unlimited Domain Dedicated lease license for Parallels Plesk Panel 10 and higher is acceptable as a service node license for Parallels Plesk Automation. You can obtain licenses either directly from the Parallels Online Store or from one of our resellers as an add-on to a dedicated or virtual server. When you upload a Parallels Plesk Panel license into Parallels Plesk Automation, the system informs the Key Administrator, which then associates the license with that particular instance of Parallels Plesk Automation. 10
Q. How do the APIs and command-line interface work in Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Because Parallels Plesk Automation is based on the Parallels Automation platform, it uses the POA public API for external management. For information on how to use the API to integrate external billing solutions with Parallels Plesk Automation, see the Parallels Plesk Automation Intergration Guide (http://download1.parallels.net/ppa/11.0/docs/en-us/pdf/ppa_integration_guide.pdf.) The command-line interface in Parallels Plesk Automation is used mostly to manage the environment to start and stop services, enable or disable billing, collect logs for analysis, and so forth. For detailed descriptions of the command-line utilities, see /usr/local/ppa/bin. Although it s still possible to use the Parallels Plesk Panel command-line interface and API (XML-RPC), we don t encourage this practice because in Parallels Plesk Automation, the POA administration panel handles all commands to Parallels Plesk Panel. If you bypass it and issue direct commands to the panel, it will cause the two components of Parallels Plesk Automation POA and Parallels Plesk Panel to be out of sync. Q. How will Parallels Plesk Automation be released? A. The initial installation of Parallels Plesk Automation, as well as its updates, will be available from the Parallels download site. You ll launch the installation and updates manually by downloading a script and running it on the management node. The script will automatically determine what patches are needed and will apply updates sequentially. For more information on how to apply micro-updates, see http://kb.parallels.com/115038. In the future, we plan to enable auto-updates for safe changes, but for now we want all updates to be managed by an administrator. Major releases of Parallels Plesk Automation will be bound to releases of Parallels Automation. Parallels Plesk Automation 11 will come out on the Parallels Automation 5.4 platform. With Parallels Automation 5.5, we will start supporting both the current and the previous version of Parallels Plesk Automation, with each branch patched independently of the other. However, we will not support more than two versions of Parallels Plesk Automaton simultaneously. Starting with the release of the Parallels Plesk Automation 11.1 preview, we will provide upgrades for the previous version, as well as continuous delivery of updates to both versions. You will be able to upgrade from Parallels Plesk Automation 11.0 to Parallels Plesk Automation 11.1 at any time. Our service team will track incident rate statistics to determine the quality grade of the system (preview, release, stable) and will communicate this information to you. 11
Q. What can we expect in future releases of Parallels Plesk Automation? A. Future releases will include the ability to move subscriptions between nodes and to work behind network address translation. In addition, we are considering adding: New APS applications. A wizard for editing existing plans. A way to track service node capacity and the number of provisioned services. The ability to group service nodes together and configure all nodes in the group simultaneously. A plan wizard to help resellers set up their hosting plans. Templates for setting up DNS. Templates for virtual host structure. The ability to register additional webmail systems. PHP settings for nodes and for web hosters service plans. An advanced CloudLinux module for web hosters. The ability to share blacklists and whitelists between different mail filtering tools. A global list of domains and mailboxes that can be quickly searched. 12