Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 for Windows Release Notes

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Installation Instructions
   1. Before Installation
   2. Software Requirements
   3. Installation Steps
   4. Completing Installation
3. Upgrade Instructions
4. Supplied Components
5. What's New
   1. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0
   2. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.2.3
   3. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.2.1
6. Supported Third-Party Components
7. Known Problems and Limitations
8. Contact Information

1. Introduction

Thank you for downloading this release of Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows. This file contains information that supplements the Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows documentation such as requirements, information on new features, corrected bugs, known problems, and so on. This file was updated with the latest information available at release time.

2. Installation Instructions

We strongly recommend that you refer to the product installation instructions prior to upgrading/installing and operating Parallels Plesk Panel. The installation guide for Parallels Plesk Panel can be accessed at http://www.parallels.com/en/products/plesk/docs/, along with the rest of the user documentation. Parallels Plesk Panel Knowledge Base can be accessed at http://kb.parallels.com.

2.1. Before Installation

Before starting the installation process we strongly recommend that you create a full system backup of the entire server.

Internet Information Services (IIS) should be preinstalled with World Wide Web (WWW) Service support.

2.2. Software Requirements

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 for Windows requires one of the following OS installed on your computer:

• Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2/R2 Web Edition
• Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2/R2 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2/R2 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2/R2 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Web Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Web Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition

Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows can be installed only on NTFS partition.

In order for your server to support ASP.NET 1.1, FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions, Miva, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Service, Server Side Includes (SSI) and Active Server Pages (ASP), you need to install these components manually.

In order for your server to support domain performance configuring, you need to enable QoS Packet Scheduler service.

If you plan to use MS SQL Server support in Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows, the MS SQL Server should be installed and configured to use standard or mixed security mode. If MS SQL Server is not installed, you can select Microsoft SQL Server to be installed with Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows and configured with administrator name 'sa' and random password.

IMPORTANT: We strongly recommend that you install Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows on a clean server; specifically, only above-mentioned operating system components should be installed.

2.3. Installation Steps

1. Log in as "Administrator" or another user with Administrator's privileges.
2. Change your working directory to the directory where the Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows distribution resides.
3. Run SetupPlesk.exe or plesk_9.3.0_buildYYMMDD.HH.exe (where YYMMDD.HH is the actual build date).
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
5. In some cases when the installation is finished, reboot confirmation will be requested.
6. After the reboot Parallels Plesk Panel will be started automatically.

2.4. Completing Installation

In order to finish the initial configuration of Parallels Plesk Panel, log in to Parallels Plesk Panel on your host at https://domain.name:8443/ or https://IP-address:8443/

The default username is "admin" and the default password is "setup". The password is case sensitive. For security reasons the password has to be changed upon initial login.

3. Upgrade Instructions

IMPORTANT: Make sure you upgrade all installed components when upgrading to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0. This is required to avoid conflicts caused by outdated components.

IMPORTANT: If you are upgrading Parallels Plesk Panel on an intensively used hardware node, it is strongly recommended to use the following PVC parameters for the upgrade:

vprvmem (virtual memory) - 700
numproc (number of processes) - 100

After the upgrade is finished, these parameters should be set to their old values.

If your machine has Plesk 8.1.x, 8.2.x, 8.3.x, 8.4.x or 8.6.x installed, you will be prompted to upgrade existing Plesk installation to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 after running the installer.

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 for Windows includes Sitebuilder 4.5 in the distribution package, but your Sitebuilder 2.x or 3.x installation will not be upgraded automatically. If you want to upgrade your Sitebuilder installation, add the following key to the command line of EXE installer when installing Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0: WSB_UPGRADE=force

If you have used SiteBuilder 2.0.5 with earlier versions of Plesk, you can migrate web sites created in SiteBuilder 2.0.5 to SiteBuilder 4.5 after you upgrade your Plesk to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0.

To successfully migrate web sites created in SiteBuilder 2.0.5 to SiteBuilder 4.5:

1. Install SiteBuilder 4.5:
   • Go to Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, select Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 for Windows in the list of available programs and click Change.
   • Make sure that Modify option is selected, click Next >, select SiteBuilder 4.5 for Windows component in Parallels Plesk Panel Core group for installation and click Next >.
2. Run sitebuilder.exe utility located in the folder where Parallels Plesk Panel is installed with the following parameters:
   • To migrate all available web sites, run "sitebuilder.exe --migrate2to3"
   • To migrate all web sites from a domain of your choice, run "sitebuilder.exe --migrate2to3 -domain_name <domain name>, where <domain name> is the name of the required domain. The websites will be imported to SiteBuilder 4.5.

4. Supplied Components

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0 for Windows distribution package ships with the following components:

• DrWeb 4.44.0.10170
• Kaspersky AV 5.0.0.49
• Acronis True Image Enterprise Server version 9.1 (build 3939)
• Microsoft SQL Server 9.00.3042
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition Service Pack 1 (version 10.00.2531.00)
• MySQL 5.0.45
• MySQL ODBC connector 3.51.25
• BIND DNS Server 9.4.2
• JDK 1.5
• Apache 2.0.59
• Apache Tomcat 5.5.4
• MailEnable Standard 1.986
• Plesk Agent 1.5.2.1
• Perl v5.8.8 built for MSWin32-x86-multi-thread
• PHP 4.4.7
• PHP 5.2.6
• Python 2.5.0.0
• FastCGI 6.1.36.1
• SiteBuilder for Windows 4.2.108
• SpamAssassin 3.2.3
• ASP.NET Enterprise Manager 0.1.3
• myLittleAdmin 2000 2.7.r126, 2005 3.2
• phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
• AWStats 6.6 (build 1.887)
• Atmail Webmail Light 1.0
• Webalizer V2.01-10-RB02 (Windows NT 5.2) English
• stunnel 4.07
• Horde IMP H3 (4.1.6)

5. What's New

5.1. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3.0

1. [+] Microsoft DNS Server 6.0 is now fully supported.

2. [+] Windows Server 2008 R2 support added.

3. [+] MailEnable Standard 4.16 support added.

4. [-] Certificates from repository of domain set on exclusive IP address are reset when domain backup is restored bug is fixed.

5. [-] The "Applications" link appearing in the left frame for domain administrator's main menu when applications management is not supported by license bug is fixed.

6. [-] Panel freezing because of web applications installation in Windows 2008 bug is fixed.

7. [-] In-place migration from IIS 6 to Parallels Plesk Panel hanging bug is fixed.

5.2. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.2.3

1. [+] Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition - Parallels Plesk Panel 9.2.3 for Windows is shipped with the new version of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express Edition.

2. [-] CPU usage numbers shown as negative on System Statistics page bug is fixed.

3. [-] Inability to switch default interface language to another language if Parallels Plesk Panel license key has zero additional languages bug is fixed.

4. [-] No logs created by the database upgrade procedure bug is fixed.

5. [-] No logs created by the database upgrade procedure bug is fixed.

6. [-] Plesk Management Service (plesksrv.exe) crashing when attempting to access a site directory protected with password bug is fixed.

7. [-] Stability of Plesk Management Service (plesksrv.exe) on Windows Server 2008 is increased, including but not limited to adding the service auto-recovery action (auto-restart in 1 minute).

5.3. Parallels Plesk Panel 9.2.1

1. [+] Migration Manager - New Migration Manager feature allows you to transfer your data from other Parallels Plesk Panel installations.

2. [-] Mailbox quota set incorrectly via API-RPC bug is fixed.

3. [-] Backup timing out when large backup file is being uploaded to FTP bug is fixed.

4. [-] Mailbox not accessible through POP3 on some mail servers after new password was set for the mail account. bug is fixed.

5. [-] Inability to properly back up IDN domains that contain autoresponder attachments bug is fixed.

6. [-] Backup failing with errors related to 'php_isapi' parameter in domain template bug is fixed.

7. [-] Incorrect backup file size reported (much bigger than the actual file size) bug is fixed.

8. [-] Backup failing with "Could not parse status disabled by value '32'" error bug is fixed.

9. [-] Backup file content not being properly restored due to incorrectly applied restore conflicts resolution policy bug is fixed.

10. [-] Client-related information not shown in custom button's query string even when it is required bug is fixed.

11. [-] Red color of traffic indicator on a domain bug is fixed.

12. [-] Inability to retrieve ASP.NET settings for IDN domains bug is fixed.

13. [-] Database users not being restored properly during the restoration of a domain that already exists in the system. bug is fixed.

14. [-] Missing link to the description of event handler variables in documentation bug is fixed.

15. [-] Errors in unattended installation script provided in the Installation Guide bug is fixed.

16. [-] 'Number of entries per page' option not working in the list of virtual directories bug is fixed.

17. [-] Backup Manager incorrectly reporting warnings as errors when used via CLI bug is fixed.

18. [-] Inability to backup domains that use SmarterStats or Urchin bug is fixed.

19. [-] Inability to remove exclusive IP addresses from client and reseller template IP pools, where these IPs are still displayed as shared bug is fixed.

20. [-] Inability to make an application from the Application Vault available to all users bug is fixed.

21. [-] Windows server Temp folder not cleared after a successful backup on remote FTP bug is fixed.

22. [-] Overuse policy cannot be changed if limits are already exceeded bug is fixed.

23. [-] Updating Parallels Plesk Panel license key via GUI hangs Parallels Plesk Panel under some circumstances bug is fixed.

24. [-] Backed up content of web users' websites is corrupted when backup file is converted to Parallels Plesk Panel 9 compatible format bug is fixed.

25. [-] Incorrect placement of several mail-related messages in migration.result log file bug is fixed.

26. [*] Mail accounts backup speed improvement - Mail accounts are backed up much faster now.

27. [*] Web applications installation on Win2K8 speed improvement - Web applications are installed much faster on Windows Server 2008.

28. [*] DNS Settings for a domain on domain Home page - DNS Settings button for a domain is now located on domain's Home page.

29. [*] Configuring Parallels Plesk Panel to work behind NAT - Description of configuring Parallels Plesk Panel to work behind routers and NAT was added to Administrator's Guide.

30. [*] Bugfixes and improvements - A number of issues reported by the customers were fixed, multiple other bugfixes and improvements were made.

6. Supported Third-Party Components

Mail servers

1. MailEnable Standard 1.986
2. MailEnable Standard 4.16
   Please refer to http://kb.parallels.com/6961 for clarifications.
3. MailEnable Professional 3.52
4. MailEnable Enterprise 3.52
5. Merak 9.3.2
6. SmarterMail 5.5
7. MDaemon 9.6.5
8. hMailServer 4.4.1
9. CommuniGate Pro 5.2.6

Antiviruses:

1. DrWeb 4.44.0.10170
2. Kaspersky AV 5.0.0.49
3. ClamWin 0.93
4. Merak Antivirus

DNS servers:

1. Microsoft DNS 6.0
2. Microsoft DNS 5.2
3. BIND DNS Server 9.4.2
4. SimpleDNS Plus 5.1

FTP servers:

1. Microsoft FTP 6.0
2. Microsoft FTP 7.0
3. Gene6 FTP Server 3.10
4. Serv-U FTP Server 6.4

Web Statistics:

1. Webalizer V2.01-10-RB02
2. AWStats 6.6
3. SmarterStats 3.3
4. Urchin 5.7

Web Scripting:

1. ASP 6.0.3790.0
2. ASP.NET 1.1.4322
3. ASP.NET 2.0.50727 (.Net Framework 2.0/3.0/3.5)
4. Miva Empresa 5.0.6
5. Perl 5.8.8
6. PHP 4.4.7
7. PHP 5.2.6
8. Python 2.5.0.0
9. SSI 6.0.3790.0
10. Apache Tomcat 5.5.4
11. ColdFusion 5.0
12. ColdFusion MX 6.1
13. ColdFusion MX 7.0
14. ColdFusion 8.0 x86
15. Microsoft FrontPage 5.0.2.5012

Web Administration Tools:

1. phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
2. ASP.NET Enterprise Manager 0.1.3
3. myLittleAdmin 2000 2.7.r126, 2005 3.2

Database servers:

1. Microsoft SQL Server 2000
2. Microsoft SQL Server 2005
3. Microsoft SQL Server 2008
4. MySQL 5.0.45

Web Mail Solutions:

1. Horde IMP H3 (4.1.6)
2. Atmail Webmail 5.5
3. MailEnable Web Client
4. IceWarp Web Mail
5. SmarterMail Web Client
6. CommuniGate Pro Web Client

Spam Filter:

1. SpamAssassin 3.2.3
2. Merak Spamfilter
3. SmarterMail Spamfilter

Other:

1. stunnel 4.07

7. Known Problems and Limitations

• A security update for Microsoft .NET 4 framework may cause the Panel to hang or fail when you attempt to change DNS settings for domains. To resolve this issue, follow the instructions in the article http://kb.parallels.com/en/8652.

• After the installation of Parallels Plesk Panel the panel cannot be accessed for up to five minutes. Please wait five minutes after the installation to make sure that all post-installation scripts are finished correctly.
• Due to the massive amount of changes in Parallels Plesk Panel 9 GUI, old custom (third-party) skins for Plesk 8.x are not compatible with Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 and higher. After you upgrade to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.x, all custom (third-party) skins will become unregistered to avoid visual issues.
• Language packs for Plesk 8.x are not compatible with Parallels Plesk Panel 9.0.0 and higher
• Before creating a domain through CLI for a reseller or a client, make sure that this reseller or client has at least one free IP address in the IP pool for proper domain creation.
• Parallels Plesk Billing objects are not backed up and restored by Parallels Plesk Panel Backup Manager.
• Parallels Plesk Panel cannot be installed if installation path contains non-ASCII symbols.
• Plesk Firewall works only if Microsoft Windows 2003 Service Pack 1 (or later) is installed.
• Virtual directories are not restored by Parallels Plesk Panel backup/restoration functionality.
• If you wish to patch Parallels Plesk Panel over the network, you should have write permissions for the Parallels Plesk Panel distribution package files (which are unpacked during Parallels Plesk Panel installation). This notice does not apply to the Web installer.
• SmarterStats user is created with the credentials of a corresponding domain FTP user. It should be noted though that SmarterStats user password will contain only alphanumeric characters and '_' symbol used in place of all non-alphanumeric characters.
• If an external Sitebuilder system (that is, Sitebuilder installed in SVE or VPS environment or on a remote server) is integrated with your Parallels Plesk Panel server, your customers will not be able to access Sitebuilder through Parallels Plesk Panel if they use Internet Explorer with default security settings. To resolve this issue, make sure that both Parallels Plesk Panel and Sitebuilder are located in one subnet (for example, 110.57.106.1 and 110.57.106.2). Alternatively, you can tell your customers to go through the following procedure:
  1. Open Internet Explorer and go to Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Sites.
  2. Enter the address of the external Sitebuilder system in the Address of Web Site field and click Allow.
• Parallels Plesk Panel does not automatically detect third-party components. After a new third-party component is installed, you need to go to Parallels Plesk Panel > Server Components and click Refresh.
• If you run both Parallels Plesk Panel and Parallels Sitebuilder inside one Virtuozzo VE, then make sure that you allocated at least 700 megabytes of disk space to this VE.
• If you encounter problems with uploading large backup files into server backup repository through GUI, upload these backup files on a remote FTP server first, and then import them to Parallels Plesk Panel server repository through Backup Manager in Parallels Plesk Panel.
• Kaspersky Antivirus is not available for installation on Windows 2008.
• Acronis True Image Enterprise Server is not available for installation on Windows 2008.
• To avoid issues with inability to remove e-mail messages through Atmail Webmail Light 1.0, go to Atmail settings and select the Auto Delete Trash option.
• IIS Application Pool crashes on Windows 2008 if RPC Over HTTP Proxy feature is installed.
• Error message is shown when you install Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and the installation path is more than 57 characters long: see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935371 for details.
• After the installation of Parallels Plesk Panel on some configurations the following error might appear in the Event Log:

  Failed to compile: Microsoft.SqlServer.BatchParser, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845dcd8080cc91 . Error code = 0x800736b1

  This error is not caused by Parallels Plesk Panel, does not affect Parallels Plesk Panel functioning and can be safely ignored.
• Horde Webmail settings are missing after the upgrade from Plesk 8.2.x or earlier.
• If VZ MSDE template was installed after remote database servers were set up in Parallels Plesk Panel, working with remote database servers will be forbidden because VZ MSDE template switches the work mode from remote to local. To resolve this issue, you have to manually switch the work mode from local to remote.
• SMTP sessions are not blocked by DNSBL if you are using Smartermail Free 5.0, 5.1 or 5.5. To resolve this issue, set up SMTP sessions blocking by DNSBL in the Smartermail mail server settings.
• Drwebcom.exe is falsely detected as a virus by AVG, leading to Parallels Plesk Panel installation/upgrade failure.
• Parallels Plesk Panel servers using Single-Sign On service (required for integration with Parallels Plesk Billing) will not be accessible if Single-Sign On service stops working for some reason. To access Parallels Plesk Panel in this case, you have to switch off the usage of Single-Sign On by going to %plesk_cli% and running command sso --disable.
• You might encounter a warning about ASP.NET not being available when installing Parallels Plesk Panel on x64-based OS with .NET 2.0 installed beforehand and IIS working in 64-bit mode. This warning can be ignored because Parallels Plesk Panel will resolve this issue automatically.

8. Contact Information

Parallels Headquarters
13755 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 600
Herndon, VA 20171 USA
Phone: +1.703.815.5670, Fax: +1.703.815.5675

Web: http://www.parallels.com

E-mail:
For billing information, email accounting@parallels.com
For purchasing or partnering information, email sales@parallels.com
For technical support, use our Online Support Form.
To report problems with Parallels Plesk Panel software, email bugreport@parallels.com
For information on career opportunities with Parallels, email careers@parallels.com
For press contact information, email press@parallels.com
For information about becoming a Partner, email partners@parallels.com
For information on translating Parallels Plesk Panel into your language, email i18n@parallels.com
For general product information, email info@parallels.com

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