ServerBuddies Support Blog

Using the Plesk Service Control Utility

In addition to the service management facilities provided within control panel, there is the Service Control utility available from the system taskbar. It allows managing the following services:

* Plesk Control Panel - the control panel’s web server engine,
* Plesk Management Service - handles control panel settings, security and statistics,
* Plesk Miscellaneous Service - handles IP assignment, time management, Plesk utilities and user accounts,
* Plesk Scheduler - task scheduling and management,
* Plesk List Connector - mail service,
* Plesk Mail Transfer Agent - mail service,
* Plesk POP Service - mail service,
* Plesk Postoffice Connector - mail service,
* Plesk SMTP Connector - mail service,
* Plesk SQL Server - MySQL database that stores all Plesk objects,
* Stunnel - enables SSL support for mail server,
* Plesk Name Server - DNS service,
* Plesk Java Servlet Container - enables support for Java applets.

Managing Shared SSL

SSL stands for “Secure Socket Layer” and you can use this feature to protect all data exchanged between your Web site and the client. Shared SSL is a means of secure Web server access without requiring users to purchase a digital key.

In this case, only one domain should have real SSL sertificate. We will call it Master SSL Domain. Other domains, which are set up to use Shared SSL will use its resources.

To choose the Master SSL Domain from the list of domains which have SSL support enabled, go to the Server > Shared SSL page. In order to do this, set the Enable shared SSL checkbox and choose, which domain you want to be the Master SSL Domain.

Backing Up Using Acronis True Image

Acronis True Image Enterprise Server allows you to create the exact server disk image for complete server backup.

The server disk backup file includes all the server disk data including system, programs, databases, and the like.

Plesk has integration with Acronis True Image. You can set up either one-time or recurring backup of server’s hard drives via Plesk control panel interface. Presently, restoring of backup data is possible only via separate Acronis True Image utilities.

xinetd Services & security errata

Services controlled by the xinetd super service only run when a there is an active connection. Examples of services controlled by xinetd include Telnet, IMAP, and POP3.

Because new instances of these services are launched by xinetd each time a new request is received, connections that occur after an upgrade are handled by the updated software. However, if there are active connections at the time the xinetd controlled service is upgraded, they are serviced by the older version of the software.

To kill off older instances of a particular xinetd controlled service, upgrade the package for the service then halt all processes currently running. To determine if the process is running, use the ps command and then use the kill or killall command to halt current instances of the service.

For example, if security errata imap packages are released, upgrade the packages, then type the following command as root into a shell prompt:

This command returns all active IMAP sessions. Individual sessions can then be terminated by issuing the following command:

If this fails to terminate the session, use the following command instead:

SysV Services In Redhat

SysV services are persistent server programs launched during the boot process. Examples of SysV services include sshd, vsftpd, and xinetd.

Because these programs usually persist in memory as long as the machine is booted, each updated SysV service must be halted and relaunched after the package is upgraded. This can be done using the Services Configuration Tool or by logging into a root shell prompt and issuing the /sbin/service command as in the following example:

In the above example, replace with the name of the service, such as sshd.