Getting Started with Plesk

Plesk is a web hosting control panel that runs on both Linux and Windows servers. It covers website management, email, databases, DNS, and security in one interface. This guide covers how to access Plesk, the key sections of the dashboard, and how to add your first domain.

Logging into Plesk

Plesk runs on port 8443 (HTTPS) or 8880 (HTTP):

https://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8443

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Set a custom Plesk hostname

After logging in, go to Tools & Settings → General Settings → Plesk URL and set a hostname like https://plesk.yourdomain.com:8443. This avoids the self-signed certificate warning and is easier to share with clients.

Dashboard overview

The Plesk dashboard is organized into three main sections:

Websites & Domains — all subscriptions (domains) hosted on the server. Each subscription is a container that holds one or more domains with their files, email, databases, and settings.

Customers — client accounts. Each customer can own one or more subscriptions. Customers log into their own Plesk view and only see their own websites.

Resellers — accounts that can create their own customers and subscriptions. Useful for hosting agencies managing multiple end clients.

First-time setup checklist

Change the admin password — go to top-right menu → Edit Profile → set a strong password.
Set your hostname — go to Tools & Settings → General Settings → Server Hostname and enter your server's FQDN.
Configure default nameservers — go to Tools & Settings → DNS Settings and set your primary and secondary nameservers.
Create a service plan — go to Service Plans → Add a Plan. Plans define resources (disk, bandwidth, mailboxes, databases) for each subscription.
Add your first domain — see the section below.
Enable SSL for Plesk itself — go to Tools & Settings → SSL/TLS Certificates and install a Let's Encrypt certificate for the Plesk hostname.

Adding your first domain

Go to Websites & Domains → Add Domain.
Enter the domain name. Choose whether this is a new subscription or to add it to an existing one.
Select a hosting plan.
Set up a system user — Plesk creates a dedicated Linux user for the subscription, which isolates its files from other subscriptions.
Click OK. Plesk creates the document root at /var/www/vhosts/yourdomain.com/httpdocs, configures Apache/Nginx, and sets up the DNS zone.

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Subscriptions vs domains

A subscription is a hosting container — it has its own system user, disk quota, and resource limits. A subscription can host multiple domains. The first domain in a subscription is the primary domain; additional domains are alias or addon domains.

Key sections of the domain view

Once you open a domain's subscription, the key sections are:

Section	What you do there
Files	File manager, FTP access
Databases	Create MySQL/PostgreSQL databases
Mail	Create mailboxes, aliases, mailing lists
DNS	Edit the DNS zone
SSL/TLS	Install certificates, enable Let's Encrypt
PHP	Switch PHP version, edit php.ini
WordPress	WordPress Toolkit — install, update, clone WP sites
Backups	Schedule and download backups
Statistics	Traffic and resource usage

WordPress Toolkit

Plesk includes WordPress Toolkit — a dedicated WordPress manager. From the toolkit you can:

Install fresh WordPress in one click
Clone a production site to staging
Push staging changes to production
Run security scans on all WordPress installations
Update WordPress core, themes, and plugins across all sites at once
Enable automatic updates

Access it from Websites & Domains → WordPress.

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Smart updates

WordPress Toolkit's Smart Update feature clones your site, applies updates on the clone, runs visual checks, and only applies the updates to your live site if nothing broke. Safe, automated WordPress updates.

PHP version management

Plesk uses PHP-FPM and supports multiple PHP versions simultaneously:

Open the subscription → PHP
Select your PHP version from the dropdown
Under Additional configuration directives, override specific php.ini values
Click OK — changes apply immediately

Email setup

To create email accounts for a domain:

Open the subscription → Mail → Create Email Address
Enter the local part (e.g. hello), set a password and storage quota
Click OK

Webmail is accessible at:

https://webmail.yourdomain.com

Or from the Plesk dashboard → Mail → Webmail.

Managing customers

Customers are end-user accounts that own subscriptions. To create a customer:

Go to Customers → Add New Customer
Fill in contact info and set a password
Assign a subscription (domain) or create one for them
Click OK — the customer receives a login invitation

Customers log into Plesk with their own credentials and see only their own subscriptions.

Backup and restore

Plesk has built-in backup functionality under Tools & Settings → Backup Manager:

Full backup — all subscriptions, databases, mail, and settings
Subscription backup — individual domain backup
Schedule automated backups to local storage or FTP/SFTP/S3

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RemarkableCloud JetBackup

RemarkableCloud also runs JetBackup for server-level backups to S3. This is separate from Plesk's own backup system and provides an additional layer of protection. See the [JetBackup guide](/backups/jetbackup).

Common Plesk URLs

URL	What it is
`https://yourip:8443`	Plesk admin login
`https://webmail.yourdomain.com`	Webmail for hosted domains
`https://yourdomain.com:8443`	Plesk login via domain
`ftp://yourdomain.com`	FTP access for files

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Getting Started with Plesk ​

Logging into Plesk ​

Dashboard overview ​

First-time setup checklist ​

Adding your first domain ​

Key sections of the domain view ​

WordPress Toolkit ​

PHP version management ​

Email setup ​

Managing customers ​

Backup and restore ​

Common Plesk URLs ​