RemarkableCloud

Getting Started with Plesk

A complete introduction to Plesk on your RemarkableCloud managed VPS: the interface overview, first-time setup, adding your first domain, and the key sections you'll use every day.

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

Log in with the admin username and the password from your RemarkableCloud server welcome email.

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.
    •  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:

    SectionWhat you do there
    FilesFile manager, FTP access
    DatabasesCreate MySQL/PostgreSQL databases
    MailCreate mailboxes, aliases, mailing lists
    DNSEdit the DNS zone
    SSL/TLSInstall certificates, enable Let’s Encrypt
    PHPSwitch PHP version, edit php.ini
    WordPressWordPress Toolkit: install, update, clone WP sites
    BackupsSchedule and download backups
    StatisticsTraffic 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.

    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:

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

    Email setup

    To create email accounts for a domain:

    1. Open the subscription → Mail → Create Email Address
    2. Enter the local part (e.g. hello), set a password and storage quota
    3. 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:

    1. Go to Customers → Add New Customer
    2. Fill in contact info and set a password
    3. Assign a subscription (domain) or create one for them
    4. 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
    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](/docs/backups/jetbackup).

    Common Plesk URLs

    URLWhat it is
    https://yourip:8443Plesk admin login
    https://webmail.yourdomain.comWebmail for hosted domains
    https://yourdomain.com:8443Plesk login via domain
    ftp://yourdomain.comFTP access for files

    Next steps
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