Plesk 8.3 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. Plesk 8.3.0 build 071225.14
  6. Supported 3rd party components
  7. Known Problems and Limitations
  8. Contact Information

1. Introduction

Thank you for downloading this release of Plesk 8.3 for Windows. This file contains information that supplements the Plesk 8.3 for Windows documentation such as requirements, information on new features, corrected bugs, known problems etc. 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 and the product user manual prior to upgrading/installing and operating Plesk. Refer to the SWsoft, Inc. web site at http://www.swsoft.com for more information.

Plesk 8.3 for Windows documentation: http://www.swsoft.com/en/products/plesk/docs/

Plesk 8.3 for Windows FAQ:http://kb.swsoft.com/en/products/pleskwindows/

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

Plesk 8.3 for Windows requires one of the following OS installed on your computer:

An IP address shall be configured in OS prior to Plesk 8.3 for Windows installation. The IP address received via DHCP will be converted into static when you change IP pool.

Plesk 8.3 for Windows can be installed only on NTFS partition.

IMPORTANT: If you plan to install Plesk 8.3 for Windows on Microsoft Windows 2003 Server x64 or Microsoft Windows 2008, you should preinstall Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1.

In order for your server to support ASP.NET, FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Service, Server Side Includes (SSI) and Active Server Pages (ASP), you need to select corresponding components during the initial IIS installation.

In order for your server to support ASP.NET 2.0, you need to install .NET Framework 2.0 manually. Note that .NET Framework 2.0 is required to install and run SiteBuilder 4.1 for Windows, which is included in Plesk 8.3 for Windows distribution.

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 Plesk 8.3 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 Database Engine to be installed with Plesk 8.3 for Windows and configured with administrator name 'sa' and random password.

IMPORTANT: We strongly recommend that you install Plesk 8.3 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 Plesk 8.3 for Windows distribution resides.
  3. Run the installer.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  5. In some cases when the installation is finished, reboot confirmation will be requested.
  6. After the reboot Plesk will be started automatically.

2.4. Completing Installation

In order to finish the initial configuration of Plesk, you need to login to Plesk 8.3 for Windows on your host at https://domain.name:8443/ or https://IP-address:8443/

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

3. Upgrade Instructions

If you have Plesk version earlier than 7.5.x installed on your machine, you need to upgrade it to Plesk 7.5.6+ first, migrating all data, upgrade it to Plesk 7.6.1, and then run the Plesk 8.3 installer.

If your machine has Plesk 7.6.x, 8.1.x or 8.2.x installed, you will be prompted to upgrade existing Plesk installation to 8.3 after running the installer.

Plesk 8.3 for Windows includes Sitebuilder 4.1 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 command line of MSI or EXE installer when installing Plesk 8.3: 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 4.1 after you upgrade Plesk for Windows to version 8.3.

To successfully migrate web sites created in SiteBuilder 2.0.5 to SiteBuilder 4.1:

  1. Install SiteBuilder 4.1:
  2. Run sitebuilder.exe utility located in the folder where Plesk is installed with the following parameters:

ATTENTION: If you upgrade from Plesk 7.6.1 for Windows to Plesk 8.3 for Windows and you want to use Sitebuilder 4.1, then you need to run a special utility available in Plesk 8.3 distribution to ensure that all web sites created in SiteBuilder 3.1 (which was delivivered with Plesk 7.6.1) will work with Plesk 8.3 after the update. This utility is located in %plesk_bin% folder, and it is called sitebuilder.exe. To perform a successful update, run sitebuilder.exe with --update761 parameter, for example: C:\Program Files\SWsoft\Plesk\admin\bin\sitebuilder.exe --update761.
We strongly recommend that you contact SWsoft support team in order to quickly and efficiently transfer your web sites upon the update.

4. Supplied Components

Plesk 8.3 for Windows distrubution package ships the following components:

5. What's New

5.1. Plesk 8.3.0 build 071225.14

  1. [+] Microsoft Windows Server 2008, IIS 7 and MS FTP 7 support - Use Windows 2008 Server, IIS 7 and MS FTP 7 with Plesk for faster and more reliable hosting. Also, use the Integrated Pipeline Support mode for IIS.

  2. [+] PHP FastCGI support - In addition to CGI and ISAPI modes, Plesk 8.3 for Windows now supports PHP FastCGI mode on IIS 6 and IIS 7.

  3. [+] Single Sign On (SSO) SAML - Enable SSO SAML support in Plesk and integrate Plesk with any other applications providing single sign-on ability for your users.

  4. [+] Application Packaging Standard (APS) Licensing and Upgrade - Upgrade and install license keys for applications installed using the Application Vault on a domain level directly through the Plesk interface.

  5. [+] Web mail client selection on a per-domain basis - Choose which Web mail software to use on each specified domain. This provides more flexibility since different domains can use different Web based clients even if they are on the same server.

  6. [+] New Mail and Anti-Spam Software Support - Now, the following programs are also supported:

  7. [+] ColdFusion 8 - Use Plesk with the latest version of ColdFusion.

  8. [+] Mail submission port option - Set up an additional port for incoming SMTP traffic that requires authorization for both incoming mail and for mail sent to the users of local domain.

  9. [+] Mailing list export and import - Import and export mailing list members easily through the Plesk interface.

  10. [+] Component updates - Updates for multiple built-in third-party components, including:

  11. [+] Antivirus and anti-spam statistics - Receive improved reporting of antivirus and anti-spam statistics, including numbers of e-mails scanned and filtered.

  12. [+] SQL Express support- Use Plesk with SQL Express (light version of MS SQL Server 2005).

  13. [+] Firewall ports ranges for passive FTP- Open a port range for passive FTP through the Plesk Firewall module.

  14. [+] API for Plesk for Windows migration tool - Use the Plesk API for managing the Plesk for Windows migration tool. This feature was previously available only in the Plesk for Linux/Unix migration tool.

  15. [+] Improved Acronis Management- Use "Acronis True Image Universal" with Plesk for Windows.

  16. [+] MyLittleAdmin licensing - Install a license key for the Web panel for MS SQL server database management, MyLittleAdmin, directly from Plesk. The license key is an add-on key for Plesk (purchased separately).

  17. [+] Single Sign On (SSO) branding - Keep custom domain names visible in the URL when using Plesk.

  18. [+] Single Sign On (SSO) backup and recovery - Restore all single sign on relationships within Plesk when recovering accounts from a backup.

  19. [+] Single Sign On (SSO) WindowID transfer - Keep using enabled SSO SAML if a client Web application operates with multiple windows.

  20. [+] API for managing subdomains - Manage subdomains through API RPC.

  21. [+] API for managing protected URLs - Manage protected URLs and their users (including passwords) through API RPC.

  22. [+] API for retrieving mailbox usage statistics - Retrieve mailbox usage statistics through API RPC.

  23. [+] Copy Forwarded Messages - Keep copies of forwarded e-mail messages in the mail box (if forwarding is enabled).

  24. [+] DB event handler and API - Detect user operations on databases with the help of new event handlers and API RPC. The Plesk API reports these events on request.

  25. [+] Redirect mail for nonexistent e-mail users in a domain - Configure Plesk to be a redundant mail server for some other host. The redundancy is provided by storing "foreign" e-mail messages in queue while the host is down.

  26. [+] DNS improvement for DomainKeys support - Use underscore characters in DNS records to integrate mail servers with existing DomainKeys tools. DomainKeys is an e-mail authentication system designed to verify the DNS domain of an e-mail sender and the message integrity.

  27. [+] Mail content migration - Include only mail content in backups for the purpose of migration to another server.

  28. [+] SmarterStats and Urchin Subdomain Statistics - Use SmarterStats and Urchin statistics analyzers with subdomains.

  29. [+] ClamAV Integration Improvement - Improved support and integration with Plesk for ClamAV antivirus.

  30. [+] Faster site application installation - Install site applications faster as Plesk will cache database servers instead of finding applications online upon each request.

  31. [+] Mailing list administrator's e-mail management - Change mailing list administrator's e-mail address through the Plesk interface.

  32. [+] IIS ASP Debugging Flags management - Manage IIS debugging flags through the Plesk interface.

  33. [+] IIS ASP Buffers - Manage IIS parameters from Plesk interface to allow large data transfers in ASP Web applications.

  34. [+] Anonymous user password repair - Repair anonymous user passwords through a tool provided by Plesk.

  35. [+] Firewall management CLI tool - Manage firewall setting through the command line interface (firewall.exe utility).

  36. [+] Checking license keys before upgrade - Receive a warning prior to software upgrade that license key upgrade is not available.

  37. [+] Custom Web mail URL - Customize Web mail URLs by changing default mail server settings (port, protocol, and so on).

  38. [+] Admin PHP upgrade - Upgrade Plesk Admin PHP to version 5.2.4 (latest release) or higher as there are security vulnerabilities in previous PHP versions.

  39. [+] Native IMAP quotas support - Receive quota management functionality for Web mail software (Horde).

  40. [+] Log mass e-mail send errors - Check errors after sending mass e-mails using a saved log file.

  41. [+] Restore ODBC DSNs - Restore ODBC connections from Plesk's database after server failure using odbcmng.exe tool.

  42. [+] Discard option for mail preferences - You can now use the "Discard" option when changing settings for multiple mailboxes at once.

  43. [+] Site Applications Help Pages redesign - Use of Site Application help pages is facilitated thanks to the redesigned interface.

  44. [*] Change the default number of pipe connecting attempts - Reduce load on heavy systems with PipeConnectTryCount parameter added to the registry for managing the number of allowed pipe connecting attempts.

  45. [+] Improved pleskrestore.exe utility - Several new functions available for pleskrestore.exe tool, including:

  46. [+] Custom DB Webadmin host URLs - Set custom URLs for accessing DB Webadmin.

  47. [+] Repair permissions improvements - Apply "Repair permission" tool to specific folders instead of the whole system.

  48. [+] Acronis Universal Restore support - Upgrade Acronis distribution to the latest build.

  49. [+] NET 1.1 SP1 install - Install .NET 1.1 SP1 automatically with Plesk.

  50. [+] Custom Event Handler tool - Set up custom event handlers through Plesk CLI utilities.

  51. [*] Security fixes

Legend:

[+] new feature

[-] bug fixed or removed

[*] bug fixed and improvement made


Supported third-party components

Mail servers

  1. MailEnable Standard 1.983
  2. MailEnable Professional 3.04
  3. MailEnable Enterprise 3.04
  4. Merak 9.1
  5. SmarterMail 4.3
  6. MDaemon 9.6
  7. hMailServer 4.4
  8. CommuniGate Pro 5.1

Antiviruses:

  1. DrWeb 4.44.0.10170
  2. Kaspersky AV 5.0.0.49
  3. ClamWin 0.90.2.1
  4. Merak Antivirus

DNS servers:

  1. Microsoft DNS 5.2.
  2. BIND DNS Server 9.4.1
  3. Simple DNS Plus 4.00.07

FTP servers:

  1. Microsoft FTP 6.0
  2. Microsoft FTP 7.0
  3. Gene6 FTP Server 3.9
  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 1.1.4322.0
  3. ASP.NET 2.0.50727.0
  4. Miva Empresa 5.0.6
  5. Perl 5.8.8
  6. PHP 4.4.7
  7. PHP 5.2.5
  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
  15. Microsoft FrontPage 5.0.2.5012

SiteBuilder:

  1. SiteBuilder for Windows 4.1.223

Web Administration Tools:

  1. phpMyAdmin 2.10.1
  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. MySQL 5.0.45

Web Mail Solutions:

  1. Horde IMP H3 (4.1.4)
  2. MailEnable Web Client
  3. IceWarp Web Mail
  4. SmarterMail Web Client
  5. CommuniGate Pro Web Client

Spam Filter:

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

Other:

  1. stunnel 4.07

6. Known Problems and Limitations

  1. Plesk 8.3 for Windows cannot be installed if installation path contains non-ASCII symbols.
  2. Plesk Firewall works only if Microsoft Windows 2003 Service Pack 1 (or later) is installed.
  3. If you wish to patch Plesk over a network, you should have write permissions for the Plesk distribution packages (which are unpacked during Plesk installation). This notice does not apply to the Web installer.
  4. 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.
  5. If an external Sitebuilder system (that is, Sitebuilder installed in SVE or VPS environment or on a remote server) is integrated with your Plesk server, your customers will not be able to access Sitebuilder through Plesk if they use Internet Explorer with default security settings. To resolve this issue, make sure that both Plesk 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.
  6. Plesk does not automatically detect third-party components. Thus, after a new third-party component is installed, you need to go to Plesk > Components Management and click Refresh.
  7. The "Web Applications" button is now located under the "Hosting" section, and this button is not available if physical hosting is not enabled.
  8. If you run both Plesk and Sitebuilder inside one Virtuozzo VE, then make sure that you allocated at least 700 megabytes of disk space to this VE.

7. Contact Information

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

Web: http://www.swsoft.com

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

©Copyright 1999-2007, SWsoft Holdings, Ltd..

Patented hosting technology protected by U.S.Patents 7,099,948; 7,076,633.
Patents pending in the U.S.