Home Online Manuals Knowledge Base Network Status Help Desk
   
   
Links
  - PHP Scripts
  - PERL Scripts
  - Website Templates
  - Cheap Domain Name Registrations
  - Domain Name Registration FAQs
   
Applications
  - AceFTP
  - VisualRoute

   

 

  
 

   
   
PLESK (Domain-level Administration)

  1. Introduction to Domain Usage
  2. Domain Administration Page

  
Introduction to Domain Usage

Domain User is also a Plesk server client. The only difference is that the Domain User is limited to a single domain and is not capable of managing matters that influence system's functioning (i.e.: limits and quotas for the domain). The Domain User is however able to manage mail accounts at the owned domain, create Certificate Signing Requests (CSR) or generate self-signed certificates. Other than that the Domain User is granted all the nice things that make life easier, such as interface, and some other things that the Client is allowed. Accessing the PSA through your web browser, you can:

  • View settings and preferences for the domain

  • Change your Control Panel password

  • Manage mail accounts

  • Create CSR's or self-signed certificates and/or install SSL certificates (IP-based hosting only)

  • Create Web Users

  • Create Protected Directories

PSA warns you of any consequences before allowing you to execute a major change.

A domain is a virtual address on the Internet for any organization or entity. To an Internet user, a domain appears as space on one server, regardless of its implementation. Domains are identified by their familiar Internet URL (uniform resource locator) addresses. Syntactically, a domain name is a string of names or words separated by dots. For example, www.plesk.com is the name of the domain where Plesk's information resides on its servers.

A domain belongs to a user. For example, John Smith may be a programmer whose domain is aceprogrammer.com. In the same respect, the ABCDE, Inc. company may own a domain by the name of abcde.com. The Plesk system administrator at your Internet service provider's organization must create your domain. However, you can remotely administer your domain once the account is established.

top of page

   
Domain Administration Page

From the Domain Administration page, you can manage several aspects of your domain, including:

  • Change the Domain Level Control Panel password

  • Access the Domain Report

  • View the Domain Preferences

  • Register a domain

  • Access additional services (Extras)

  • Manage Mail for the Domain

  • View DNS settingsManage Databases

  • View Hosting settings

  • Create Web Users

  • Create Protected Directories

  • Manage the Domain SSL Certificate

  • Manage Log Files and Configure Log Rotation

  • Manage files by means of File Manager

  • Access the FrontPage Web Administrator from the PSA control panel

  • View Anonymous FTP settings

Access to the control panel for the domain user is done using https://'domain name':8443. The control panel login will be the domain name, and the password will be whatever is set through the control panel.

top of page

As the Domain User you can change the password that you use to log in to PSA. To do that, click the DOMAIN USER. button. The Domain User Properties page appears. There, to change password, enter the new password into the Password input field and confirm it in Confirm password input field.

top of page

PSA keeps a summary of pertinent data relating to all of your domains. You can view this information at any time. At the top of the Report page, the domain being reported on is listed in boldface. The domain report includes the following information:

  • Provider contact name

  • Domain status

  • Creation date

  • Domain user

  • Disk space limit

  • Actual disk space

  • Hosting type

  • Virtual host type

  • IP Address

  • FTP Login

  • FTP Password

  • Traffic limit

  • Actual traffic

  • Disk space used by httpdocs

  • Disk space used by logs

  • FrontPage support

  • FrontPage over SSL support

  • SSI support

  • PHP support

  • CGI support

  • mod_perl support

  • Apache ASP support

  • Apache Error Documents

  • SL support

  • Disk space used by httpsdocs

  • Web statistics

  • Web users

  • Anonymous FTP

  • Disk space used by anon_ftp

  • Mailboxes

  • Redirects

  • Mail Groups

  • Autoresponders

  • Disk space used by mailboxes

  • Databases

  • Disk space used by databases

From that page you can also access Web server statistics, Secure web server statistics, FTP server statistics, Traffic usage history, and send the report by e-mail if desired.

To access the domain report, follow these steps:

  1. Click the REPORT button at the Domain Administration page to see the domain-specific information and statistics.

  2. From this screen, you can do several things:

    • You can send the report by e-mail. To do that, enter the e-mail address in the appropriate field and click SEND BY E-MAIL.

    • You can access graphical site statistics for the domain by selecting the WEB STATS, WEB STATS SSL, FTP STATS options. Clicking these buttons will open a separate window where you will see the site statistics for the given domain. It should be noted that Webalizer, by default, is set to update statistics for the domain once every 24 hours. If you attempt to access Webalizer before it has operated its first update you will receive a notice that Webalizer is either not running or has not yet been started.

      NOTE

      In order to be able to utilize Webalizer the Web statistics checkbox must be checked at the Physical Hosting Configuration page for this domain.

    • To view the traffic history for the domain, click on the TRAFFIC HISTORY button. The Traffic history page will open, displaying the information on traffic usage by Months and Years.

    • To print a copy of the report, select File/Print in your browser and a paper copy of the report will print.

    • To return to the domain record, click UP LEVEL to close the report and to return to the Domain Administration page.

The Domain Preferences page displays the preferences that the Plesk administrator or/and Client have set up for this domain. It also allows you to edit few parameters.

The parameters available for viewing from at this page are:

  • Disk Space Limit - the amount of disk space allocated for this domain.

  • Maximum traffic - maximum amount of traffic allowed per month

  • Maximum Mailboxes - the maximum number of mail accounts allowed for creation at this domain.

  • Mailbox quota - the limit set for the size of the mail accounts (mailboxes).

  • Maximum Mail Redirects - the maximum number of mail allowed for setting up at this domain.

  • Maximum Mail Groups - the maximum number of mail groups allowed for creation at this domain.

  • Maximum Mail Autoresponders - the maximum number of mail autoresponders allowed for setting up at this domain.

  • Maximum Web Users - the maximum number of web users allowed for creation at this domain.

  • Maximum Databases - the maximum number of databases allowed for creation at this domain.

  • Traffic statistics - tells about the traffic statistics retention parameters set by Admin or Client

  • Allow Scripting for Web Users - enables the Web Users to download and execute scripts.

  • WebMail - allows utilizing access to mailboxes via web-interface. If the option is provided, the mailbox can be accessed by means of a web-client, which is made available from the URL: webmail.'domain.name'

The following parameters you are able to set up:

  • For Mail to non-existent users, you are able to select either a mail bounce message to return to the sender, or a catch-all email address to which the messages are sent.

  • The WWW prefix checkbox determines whether the given domain will require the www prefix in order to be accessed.

To adjust the settings, follow these steps:

  1. On the Domain Administration page, click the PREFERENCES button to access the Domain Preferences page.

  2. To utilize a mail bounce message, select the radio button for Bounce with phrase and enter the text that the mail bounce message is to contain.

  3. To utilize a catch-all email address, select the radio button for Catch to address and enter the appropriate email address.

  4. Check or uncheck the WWW prefix checkbox to determine whether the given domain will allow the www prefix to be used to access the domain. If the box is checked, Internet users will be able to access a domain (i.e. domain.bogus) by utilizing either the domain name itself or the domain with the "www" prefix. If the box is unchecked it will not be accessible with the "www" prefix (i.e. www.domain.bogus).

  5. The UPDATE button is used to submit any and all changes.

  6. The UP LEVEL button returns you to the Domain Administration page.

NOTE

Selecting UP LEVEL without selecting UPDATE will cancel all changes.

PSA allows you to perform several email administration functions. PSA uses the qmail system to help you set up email accounts and services.

You can create and manage email boxes for individuals or customers within your domain. Email management functionality includes:

  • Create, edit or delete email boxes and edit individual mailbox quotas.

  • Redirect or forward messages from one email address to another email address

  • Create, edit or delete email groups (several individual accounts grouped together under one email address for convenient multi-copy messaging).

  • Create, edit, or delete email autoresponders (automatic reply to email sent to the given mail name)

  • Create and remove mail aliases

When you create email accounts for domain users, you are creating email boxes, which will be accessible via POP3 or IMAP protocols. Mailbox creation is as easy as typing in a name and password. Follow these steps to manage mail names:

  1. Click the MAIL button at the Domain Administration page. The Mail Names Management page appears. From this page, users can:

    • Create a new mail name.

    • View a list of mail names currently existing under the specified domain. To the left of each domain name on the list there are four icons representing different mail account types. They are:

      • Mailbox (represented by the "mailbox" icon)

      • Redirects (represented by the "outgoing envelope" icon)

      • Mail groups (represented by the "people" icon) Mail

      • Autoresponders (represented by the "revolving envelope" icon)

    • Click on a specific mail name to access to the Mail Name Properties page for that given name.

    • Search the mail names list for a certain pattern. It may help you in case you have a great number of mail names in the system and you need to work with a particular one. To search the list, type the pattern string in the text input field and click SEARCH.

    • Sort the list by various parameters. To sort the list by a certain parameter in ascending or descending order, click on the name of the parameter. An arrow will appear indicating the order of sorting: down for descending order, up for ascending.

    • Delete mail names. To remove one or more mail names, check the checkboxes in the Sel column of the mail names list corresponding to the mail names you wish to remove and click REMOVE SELECTED. The Mail Names Removal page appears. There you will need to either confirm the removal (check the checkbox and click SUBMIT) or CANCEL it.

  2. To create a new mail name, click in the Mail Name text box provided and enter the desired name. Click ADD to submit this name. You then access the Mail Name Properties page, where you can adjust the Mail Name properties.

  3. The new mail name appears on the mail names list.

NOTE

The four icons to the left of each mail name are faded (grayed out) when they are inactive. The icons appear in color when active. To change the activation settings, the user must click on a given mail name. The Mail Name Properties page displays. From here, the user can enable any of the features.

The Mail Name Properties page allows the client to activate any combination of mailboxes, mail redirects, and mail groups for a given mail name.

  1. Click the MAIL button at the Domain Administration page. The Mail Names page appears.

  2. In the Mail names list, click on the name you want to edit. You then access the Mail Name Properties page.

  3. The mail name is listed at the top of the page. To change the mail name, click in the name field, change the name, and click UPDATE.

    NOTE

    From the Mail Name Properties page, you can also enable and set up:

    • Mailbox Accounts and Quotas

    • Mail Redirects

    • Mail Groups

    • Mail Autoresponders

    • Mail Aliases

  4. When you are finished editing mail name properties for the domain, click UPDATE to return to the Mail Names page.

You can set up a mailbox and password for your mail name. This mailbox will be accessible using either POP3 or IMAP protocol.

NOTE

An administrator and/or client can limit the number of mailboxes a Domain User can have for a given domain.

To create a mailbox for a given mail name, from the Mail Name Properties page, follow these steps:

  1. Click in the check box provided next to Mailbox.

  2. When enabling a mailbox for the first time for a mail name account, you must enter a password.

  3. The Old Password will say "NONE" if you have yet to enter a password. Once it is entered, the password cannot be viewed from this screen.

  4. To enter a password, click in the New Password text box and enter the selected password.

  5. To properly update the password, you must re-enter the password in the Confirm Password text box.

  6. To set up the mailbox quota, select the Default for domain radio button to set the limit to the maximum available in the given domain, or select Enter size and enter the quota you wish to set, in KiloBytes, for the given mailbox. Note that this limit may not exceed the default set for the domain.

  7. Once you have enabled the mailbox, entered the passwords and set up mailbox quota, click UPDATE to submit the information.

  8. To change a password, simply re-enter the new password in the New Password text box, re-enter this password in the Confirm text box, and click UPDATE.

NOTE

Once enabled, the mailbox icon on the Mail Names page appears in color.

You can forward or redirect email from one mailbox to another email address. By creating an email redirect or alias, messages are sent to a different email box without the sender needing to know the new address. Email can be redirected to an address outside the domain. Use this feature to:

  • Temporarily forward mail when someone is unavailable to receive it

  • Send mail to a new mail box if a mail box user is leaving the organization

  • Forward mail to a new account which will eventually replace an old mail box (e.g. someone is changing their mailbox name but hasn't had time to inform all correspondents of the change yet)

NOTE

Only an administrator and/or client can limit the number of mail redirects that can be created for a given domain.

In order to create enable a mail redirect for a given mail name, from the Mail Name Properties page, follow these steps:

  1. Click in the check box provided next to Redirects.

  2. In the text field to the right, enter the appropriate address to which to forward mail sent to this mail name.

  3. To change the redirect address for a given mail name, click on the existing entry in the Redirects box and change it to the new address.

  4. Click the UPDATE button to enter these changes.

NOTE

Once enabled, the redirects icon on the Mail Names page appears in color.

A mail group is a list of several email accounts that are grouped together under one email address for convenient multi-copy messaging. For example, if you want to send the same message to 5 people in the programming department, you can create a "Programming" email group that includes the individual email addresses for all 5 staff members. So, when someone sends a message to the Programming email group, he/she only types and sends one message. Copies of the message are emailed to all 5 individuals. By using mail groups, the sender does not need to know each individual's email address, just the group name. In this way, mail groups save time.

NOTE

An administrator and/or client can limit the number of mail groups that the Domain User can create for a given domain.

To create a mail group for a given mail name, from the Mail Name Properties page, follow these steps:

  1. Click in the checkbox provided next to Mail Groups.

  2. To create a new mail group, ensure the box is checked, then click the ADD button.

  3. The Add Mail Groups box appears.

    NOTE

    Group members can consist of either external mail addresses (those not belonging to this domain) or accounts existing within the domain.

  4. To add an external mail address to a Mail Group, fill in the correct address in the enter external recipient mail text box, and click ADD.

  5. To add an existing account from the same domain, click on the desired address in the Select registered users list, and click ADD.

  6. The selected addresses will appear in the box to the right of the mail groups checkbox on the Mail Name Properties page.

  7. To delete one or more group members, highlight the selected group member in the box to the left of the mail group check box. Click the REMOVE button.

  8. A warning will appear. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the address from the mail group.

  9. After completing your changes, click UPDATE to submit all changes.

NOTE

Once enabled, the mail groups icon on the Mail Names page appears in color.

Clicking on the MAIL GROUPS button located at the top of Mail Name Properties page, you will access the Mail Groups Management Page.

All mail groups created for the domain are displayed on that page and two lists are provided: the list of mail groups you are currently subscribed to is located on the left side, and the list of available mail groups is on the right.

  • If you wish to subscribe to a new mail group, select the desired group from the list of available mail groups, click ADD.

  • If you wish to unsubscribe from a mail group, select it in the left side list, click REMOVE.

  • Click UP LEVEL to return to the Mail Name Properties page.

You can create a number of mail aliases for your mailname.

In order to manage mail aliases, click on the MAIL ALIASES button located at the top of the Mail Name Properties page. The Mail Aliases Management page appears.

From that page you can create and remove the mail aliases:

  • To create a new mail alias, enter the name of the alias into the Mail alias name input field. Click ADD. The alias will immediately appear in the aliases list.

  • To remove an alias, check the corresponding checkbox in the Sel column. Click REMOVE SELECTED. You can also click on the Sel column header to select all list items.

  • You can also sort the list of aliases by name in ascending or descending order. To do that, click on the Name header of the list. The arrow will show the order of sorting.

  • You can search through the list of mail aliases. To do that, enter the pattern string in the field next to SEARCH button, click SEARCH.

  • Click UP LEVEL to return to the Mail Name Properties page.

A mail autoresponder is an automatic reply that is sent out from a given mail name when incoming mail is received at that address. Autoresponders can include both a text message and attached files. This mail function is often used on mail accounts for individuals who need an automated response because they are away, or are unable to check their mail for any number of reasons. On the autoresponders' section of the Mail Names Properties page, you can upload and include attachment files for your autoresponders, enable the autoresponders function for a given mail name, and access the autoresponders' list.

In order to enable and set up a mail group for a given mail name, from the Mail Name Properties page, follow these steps:

  1. To first enable autoresponders for a mail name account, click in the checkbox provided next to Mail autoresponders. When the check appears, autoresponders are enabled for the mail name. If you click again, it will uncheck the box, and autoresponders will be disabled.

  2. For the Autoresponder feature you have the option to include file attachments. To include a file to be selectable within the set up of autoresponders for the given mail name, use the Browse... button to search for and select the desired file(s). (File sizes should be limited to no more than 1MB.) For your information, the total size of all uploaded files is displayed under the repository box.

  3. Click the SEND FILE button. The attachments will then appear in the Repository.

  4. These files will be available for any autoresponders that are set up for the given mail name. To delete one or more files highlight the desired file(s) and click the REMOVE button. A warning will appear prior to deleting the selected file(s).

  5. To add a new mail autoresponder, click the ADD button.

  6. A pop-up screen prompts you to enter a name for the autoresponder. Enter the desired identification name, and click OK to submit.

  7. The Edit Mail Autoresponder page appears.

    • The selected autoresponder name is listed for the given mail name account. You can click in the text box where the autoresponder name is listed, and edit the name. Click UPDATE to submit.

    • The ON/OFF status for the autoresponder is shown. [ON] indicates that the autoresponder is on. [X] indicates that the autoresponder is off. You can adjust this setting by clicking the ON/OFF button. This status icon also appears on the autoresponders list on the Mail Names Properties page.

    • Beneath the Request text input box, you can determine whether an autoresponder responds to specific text found within either the subject line or body of the incoming email, or if it responds to ALL incoming requests.

    • To set up the autoresponder to always respond, regardless of the contained text, click the bottom radio button for always respond.

    • Using the Request text input box and radio buttons, you can set up the autoresponder to send an auto response when an incoming request contains defined text in its subject line or body.

    • Click the in the subject radio button to respond to specific text in the subject of the request, or click the in the body radio button to respond to specific text in the body of the request.

    • You can select a specific subject to appear in your autoresponder using the Answer with subject option. To simply respond with the same subject as was received from the incoming request select the radio button for the default setting. To specify a specific subject line select the radio button beside the text box and enter the desired text.

    • In the Reply-To address field, you can specify the return address that will be set up in the autoresponder message. This is done for the messages not to be directed to the autoresponder itself, when users click "Reply to the message" in their mail client software.

    • You can enter text to be included in the autoresponder in the Answer text field.

    • Using the ADD and REMOVE buttons, you can attach files to be included in the autoresponder. These files must be uploaded into the Repository on the Mail Names Properties page. Select the uploaded file from the Attach files list, and use the ADD button to attach the file to the autoresponder. Click REMOVE to remove a file.

    • You can limit the frequency at which the autoresponder responds to the same unique address, after receiving multiple emails from it. In the Reply to the unique email address not more than [ ] times a day input field, you can set the autoresponder to respond not more than a specified number of times a day. The default setting is to respond not more than 10 times in one day to unique mail addresses.

    • You can define the number of unique addresses that the autoresponder will remember. Enter the desired number in the Store up to: field.

    • This memory enables the system to implement the answer-frequency and respond-once functionality. In the event of extremely high mail volume, to protect server performance, you can limit the address memory of the system database.

    • To specify an email address to which incoming requests are forwarded, enter the new email in the Forward request to e-mail field. Email requests meeting the properties established on this page will be forwarded to this alternate email address.

    • Click the UPDATE button to submit all changes.

Through PSA, a Domain User can view the DNS settings for the owned domain set by the Administrator or the Client.

There are five types of accessible DNS records:

A = Address - This record is used to translate host names to IP addresses.

CNAME = Canonical Name - Used to create additional host names, or aliases, for hosts in a domain.

NS = Name Server - Defines an association between a given domain name and the name servers that store information for that domain. One domain can be associated with any number of name servers.

MX = Mail Exchange - Defines the location of where mail should be delivered for the domain.

PTR = Pointer - Defines the IP address and host name of individual hosts in the domain. Translates IP addresses into host names.

You can access the DNS Settings page by clicking the DNS button at the Domain Administration page.

Within PSA there is the ability to create multiple mysql databases as well as multiple users within each database. Also, directly accessible via PSA, is a link to PhpMyAdmin, a PHP interface that abstracts mysql into a web-based administration tool, allowing you to sort, edit, and create tables within a given database. Database limits are set through domain preferences and database disk usage is calculated within the domain's total allotted disk space.

top of page

PSA allows you to search the Database List for a certain pattern. It may help you in case you have a great number of databases in the system and you need to work with a particular one. To search in the Database List:

  • Select the input field and type in the pattern string.

  • Click the SEARCH button.

  • If there were any items found matching the pattern string entered, they will all be displayed in the form of the reduced Database List.

  • If no matches were found it will be so stated.

  • The button SHOW ALL will revert to displaying the whole list of databases.

There is also another way to ease the process of working with a large list of databases. An option of sorting the list by several various parameters is made available to you. You can sort the Database List by Type and Database Name. To sort the list by a certain parameter in ascending or descending order, click on the name of the parameter. An arrow will appear indicating the order of sorting: down for descending order, up for ascending.

top of page

  1. Click the DATABASES button at the Domain Administration page. The Databases Management page appears.

  2. To add a new database select the Database name field, enter the desired name, and select ADD. The Database Editing page appears.

  3. To add database users to the newly created database enter the user name into New user text box and select ADD. The Database User Management page appears.

  4. Enter your new password in the New Password text box, and then enter it again in the Confirm Password text box. Select UPDATE to complete the creation of the new user. Selecting UP LEVEL will ignore all entries and return to the Database Editing page making no changes.

  5. Once you have completed the creation of the new database and its users select UP LEVEL to return to the Database Feature Management page.

  6. To add further databases, follow the steps outlined in 1-5 above. To return to the Domain Administration page select UP LEVEL.

  1. Click the DATABASES button at the Domain Administration page. The Databases Management page appears.

  2. Click on the database that you wish to edit. The Database Editing page appears.

  3. To add database users to the selected database enter the user name into New user text box and select ADD. The Database User Management page appears.

  4. Enter your new password in the New Password text box, and then enter it again in the Confirm Password text box. Select UPDATE to complete the creation of the new user. Selecting UP LEVEL will ignore all entries and return to the Database Editing page making no changes.

  5. To edit the password of an existing database user, select the user from the database user list. The Database User Management page appears.

  6. To delete existing database users select the users that you wish to delete using the checkboxes on the right of the screen and select REMOVE SELECTED. You will be asked for confirmation prior to final deletion of the selected users.

  7. To access and/or edit database content you can do so using the PHPMYADMIN option. PhpMyAdmin provides a web-based graphical interface for mysql. This can be used to make content edits to your existing databases.

  8. Once you have completed all edits of the database and its users select Up Level to return to the Database Management page.

  9. To delete existing databases select the users that you wish to delete using the checkboxes on the right of the screen and select REMOVE SELECTED. You will be asked for confirmation prior to final deletion of the selected users.

  10. To edit further databases, follow the steps outlined in 1-9 above. To return to the Domain Administration page select UP LEVEL.

You may have hosting privileges established in your domain so that you can provide various Internet services (e.g. software applications, a forwarding address, and FTP transfers). PSA allows three different types of hosting services:

  • Physical Hosting - This is the most common type of hosting service, creating a virtual host (disk space on the local server) for the client. The client controls and publishes his own website without having to purchase a server and dedicated communication lines.

  • Standard Forwarding - With this type of forwarding, all requests to the domain are forwarded by your server to another Internet address (no virtual server is created). When an end user searches the Internet for the client's domain, he is routed to another URL, and the address in his browser window changes to the new URL. This may be confusing to the end user.

  • Frame Forwarding - All requests to this domain are forwarded to another Internet address (no virtual server is created). But with this type of forwarding, the end user sees the client's domain name in his browser, not the forwarding address. PSA uses frames to "trick" the browser into displaying the correct domain name. The problem with frame forwarding is that some search engines do not index frame pages and some browsers do not support frames.

The system administrator has already performed all the technical system administration for hosting services relating to your domain; however, the type of hosting service set up for your domain determines the extent to which you can manage your hosting parameters. If you have physical hosting, you can use FTP software to access your hosting directions. Additionally, you can change the FTP password. If frame or standard forward hosting is set for this domain, than you can change (or toggle between these two types) forwarding for the given domain.

Follow these steps to administer your hosting services:

  1. Click the HOSTING button at the Domain Administration page.

  2. If you have a forwarding hosting set up for you, a page with a choice of types of hosting appears. Choose the type and click NEXT to proceed.

  3. If the type of hosting is physical then you will be taken directly to the Physical Hosting Configuration page.

There are several physical hosting services for your domain. They are configurable only by the Administrator or the Client:

  • FTP services. You may want to change the password occasionally for security purposes.

  • System shell. Shell access availability.

  • FrontPage support

  • FrontPage over SSL support

  • SSI

  • PHP

  • CGI

  • mod_perl

  • Apache ASP

  • SSL

  • Web statistics

  • Apache Error Documents

If you have either of the two forwarding options defined for your hosting services, standard or frame, then you can change between the two types of forwarding. Also, you can edit the URL to which domain transactions are redirected or forwarded.

  1. To change the type of forwarding you have, from the Hosting page, click on the type you want to change.

    NOTE

    Only a Plesk administrator and/or client can change a forward hosting account to physical hosting. A Domain User cannot make this change.

  2. Click NEXT to access the URL page.

  3. To change the forwarding address, click in the URL text box and enter or edit an Internet address to which you wish to redirect all domain traffic.

  4. Click UPDATE to submit changes.

A web user is a user account within Apache. It is used to define locations for personalized web pages with individual FTP access. The result of creating a web user is a subdirectory within your domain (e.g. domain.com/~webuser).

A list of all of the web users within a given domain will appear on the main Web Users page. At this page you can:

  • Select any web user name to edit the web user password and/or to add or remove different scripting options.

  • Search the web users' list for a certain pattern. It may help you in case you have a great number of web users in the system and you need to work with a particular one. To search the list, type the pattern string in the text input field and click SEARCH.

  • Sort the list by name. To sort the list by name in ascending or descending order, click on the Name header of the list. An arrow will appear indicating the order of sorting: down for descending order, up for ascending.

To create a new web user:

  1. Click the WEB USERS button at the Domain Administration page. The Web Users page appears.

  2. To add a web user, enter the Web User name in the text box provided next to Web User name: and click ADD.

  3. You are taken to the Web User Properties Page, where you must enter and confirm the password for your new web user and select from the available scripting options for the given domain (availability of scripting options is set in the Domain Preferences). To do this, enter a password in the New password text box, and then re-enter it in the Confirm password text box. Then select from the available scripting options if applicable. Once you have completed all entries, click on UPDATE to enter the information. Selecting UP LEVEL will return you to the Web Users page without assigning a password or scripting capabilities to the given web user. Although the directory will be created, it will not be accessible via FTP using the web user name.

  4. As you create web users, the user names appear on the Web User Management page in the web user list.

  5. To change web user passwords or edit scripting options, click on the user name in the web user list. This takes you to the New Password page.

  6. When you are done, click UP LEVEL to return to the Domain Administration page.

To remove one or more web users, check the checkboxes in the Sel column of the web users' list corresponding to the web users you wish to remove and click REMOVE SELECTED. The Web User Removal page appears. There you will need to either confirm the removal (check the checkbox and click SUBMIT) or CANCEL it.

Important Notes on web users:

  • For security purposes, the password must be between 5 and 14 characters and cannot contain the user name.

  • Each web user creates a system account within Apache; therefore, you cannot have two web users with identical names on the same server.

  • New web users can access the directory using FTP software by entering the domain name under which the web user account was created and using the appropriate web user name and password.

  • Your administrator CAN limit the number of web users you can create. You will receive a warning if you try to exceed this number, and will not be able to do so.

This feature is active if virtual hosting (physical hosting account) has been configured for your domain. It creates secure directories in your virtual domain, in which to place documents. Secure directories are recommended to ensure security of confidential and private information. It is possible to create directories under either the standard virtual host accessible via http protocol, or if applicable for the given domain, under the SSL virtual host accessible via https protocol. Icons are used next to each directory name in the directory list to define which virtual host type (SSL or non-SSL) the directory resides within. An open lock depicts non-SSL; a closed lock depicts SSL.

top of page

Follow these steps to create secure directories for the domain:

  1. Click the DIRECTORIES button from the Domain Administration page. The Protected Directory Management page appears.

  2. To create a new directory, click the ADD button.

  3. This takes you to the Protected Directory Control page. Enter the name of the protected directory you wish to create in the Protected Directory field provided.

  4. For Directory Location: you can choose either a non-SSL or SSL secure directory. To choose a non-SSL directory, click in the radio button next to Non-SSL. To choose SSL security for the directory, click in the radio button next to SSL.

  5. If the directory has SSL enabled, it will appear in the Protected Directory list with a gray Lock icon beside it. If the directory is non-SSL, a gold Unlocked icon will appear next to the directory name in the directory list.

  6. Click in the Header Text text box. When a user tries to access the protected directory, the text in this box displays as the Realm they are entering. In this text box, enter the header text.

  7. To add a new user, under Protected Directory Users click in the New User: text box, and write the name of the directory user.

  8. Click the ADD button.

  9. You are taken to the directory user password page. Here you must enter your new password in the New Password text box, and then enter it again in the Confirm password text box.

  10. Click the UPDATE button to submit. You will return to the Protected Directory Control page. The new user will appear in the Protected Directory Users list. Clicking UP LEVEL will return to the Protected Directory Control page without creating a password for the given user. Although the user is created no access to the directory will be granted until a password is created for the user.

  11. To remove existing directory users select the users that you wish to remove using the checkboxes on the right of the screen and select REMOVE SELECTED. You will be asked for confirmation prior to final deletion of the directory users.

  12. To access a directory user in order to edit the user password, click on the user name in the list, and you will again be taken to the directory user password page. Here you can edit the password.

  13. Select UPDATE to submit your changes and return to the Protected Directory Control page.

  14. Click UP LEVEL to return to the Protected Directory Management page without saving any changes.

You can edit a protected directory definition to:

  • Add a user

  • Change a password

  • Delete a user

  • Rename the directory

  • Change header text

  • Change the SSL status

Follow these steps to edit protected directories:

  1. From the Client Home page, click the domain name that you want to work with from the list provided. The Domain Administration page appears.

  2. Click the DIRECTORIES button. The Protected Directory Management page appears.

  3. Click on any directory from the list that you wish to change.

  4. You will be taken to the Protected Directory Control page.

  5. From here, you can edit the directory by following the same steps outlined above, in the Creating a Protected Directory section.

  6. Click UPDATE to complete all changes to the system and to return to the Protected Directory List page.

PSA allows you to search the Protected Directory List for a certain pattern. It may help you in case you have a great number of directories in the system and you need to work with a particular one. To search in the list:

  • Select the input field and type in the pattern string.

  • Click the SEARCH button.

  • If there were any items found matching the pattern string entered, they will all be displayed in the form of the reduced Protected Directory List.

  • If no matches were found it will be so stated.

  • The button SHOW ALL will revert to displaying the whole list of domains.

There is also another way to ease the process of working with a large list of directories. An option of sorting the list by several various parameters is made available to you. You can sort the list by several parameters. To sort the list by a certain parameter in ascending or descending order, click on the name of the parameter. An arrow will appear indicating the order of sorting: down for descending order, up for ascending.

To remove one or more directories, follow these steps:

  1. Check the checkboxes in the Sel column of the Protected Directories List corresponding to the directories you wish to remove.

  2. Click on REMOVE SELECTED. The Protected Directory Removal page appears.

  3. For every directory you chose to remove the name of the directory and the names of this directory users will be displayed.

  4. If you are certain that the displayed information is correct and wish to proceed with deleting, check the "Yes, I wish to remove protection from these directories" checkbox. Then click SUBMIT. If you decide to not delete these directories or wish to modify the list of directories chosen for deletion, click the CANCEL button.

Both buttons will return you to the Protected Directory Management page, one committing the changes, the other one leaving everything unchanged.

NOTE

Deleting a protected directory in PSA does not delete the directory off the server. It simply takes the protected status off the directory. Meaning that the directory and its contents will now be reachable via the Internet without the need for login and password.

Log Files Management page allows you to manage the log files: view, remove and save on a local machine. From that page you will access the log rotation preferences configuration.

  • The Log Files list can be sorted by name in ascending or descending order. To sort the list, click on the Modification date, Name, or Size header of the list. An arrow will show the order of sorting.

  • You can search through the list for a certain pattern. It may help you in case you have a great number of log files in the list and you need to work with a particular one. To search through the list, type the pattern string into the text input field and click SEARCH. If there were any items found matching the entered pattern string, they will all be displayed in the form of a reduced list. The button SHOW ALL will revert to displaying the whole list.

  • For your convenience, you may also type in the number of lines to be displayed per page in the lines of log file for viewing input field.

  • To view the log file, click on its name in the list. The log file content will be displayed in a separate Log Files Viewer window.

  • You may also wish to save a log file on your local machine. To do that, click the appropriate diskette icon in the Get column of the list. After that you will need to specify the location on your local machine and the file name for the downloaded log file to be saved, and then click Save.

  • To delete one or more log files from the list, check the corresponding checkboxes and click the REMOVE SELECTED button.

  • Click UP LEVEL to return to the Domain Administration Page.

To configure Log Rotation preferences, follow these steps:

  1. Click the LOG ROTATION button, when on Log Files Management page. The Log Rotation Preferences configuration page will open.

  2. Click on the ON/OFF button to enable/disable log rotation. The log rotation status is indicated by an appropriate icon.

  3. Select the log rotation periodicity to be based on:

    • log file size - enter the size in kilobytes in the appropriate field

    • time - select from the drop-down list. It can be set to Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.

  4. Specify the maximum number of log files in the appropriate input field, if desired

  5. Check the Compress Log files checkbox to enable compression

  6. In the Send mail to input field, enter the e-mail address, for the log files to be sent to.

  7. Click the UPDATE button to submit changes.

  8. Click UP LEVEL to discard any unsubmitted changes and return to the Log Files Management Page.

Once you have configured hosting for a domain, you can use a file manager to handle all your files in a more convenient way.

To access the file manager functions, on the Domain Administration Page, click on the FILE MANAGER. The file manager control panel will open in a new browser window and display a root directory structure and contents.

Using the File Manager:

  • To browse the directories, click on the Folder icon under the Type column.

  • To change permissions for a directory or a file: click on the corresponding permission number in the Perm's column. A permissions settings page will open, allowing you to set the required permissions for all three levels: Owner, Group, and Public. Select the desired settings from the drop-down boxes, then click Change to submit.

  • To rename a directory, click on the blue arrow icon in the Actions column. A new page will open allowing you to rename the selected directory. Type in a new name for the directory and click Do.

  • You can also change a timestamp of a directory or a file. To do this, click on the Touch icon. The time stamp will be updated with the current local time.

  • To remove file or directory, click on the Delete icon.

  • To upload a file to the current directory, type in the path to its location, or point to it clicking the Browse... button. Click Go.

  • To create a subdirectory that will be located in the current directory, type in the directory name in the appropriate field, and click Go.

  • To create a file, type in a file name in the corresponding field, check (uncheck) the "html template" box, and click Go.

  • You can also edit a file, clicking on the Edit icon in the Actions column. The File Manager's editor panel will open, allowing you to edit manually the file source. After you are done with editing, click Save to save the file, Save and Exit to save the file and quit the file editing mode, Cancel / Exit to cancel editing mode and return to the FileManager window, or Restore original to discard the alterations made.

You can access FrontPage Web Administrator directly from the Control Panel, clicking on the FP WEBADMIN button, or FP-SSL WEBADMIN if you wish to access over secure SSL connection. These buttons are located at the bottom of the Domain Administration page, provided that the hosting is set up for the domain, and FrontPage is available.

NOTE

The FrontPage Web Admin software should be installed and configured properly for this function to work, and the FrontPage and FrontPage over SSL support should be enabled in your Plesk Server Administrator software.

Within PSA there can be an Anonymous FTP access set up by the Client or the Administrator, for IP-based virtual