Plesk

Plesk Obsidian (new!) is the leading secure WordPress and website management platform providing you with a simple yet performant and scalable platform developed for modern website hosting.

With Plesk on DigitalOcean you get access to a modern and lightweight stack to build, secure, and run websites and applications through one intuitive browser-based interface.

New: To upgrade Plesk, you can now purchase a license for Plesk right here on DigitalOcean!

Plesk on DigitalOcean Intro Video

Free Udemy Course: Make WordPress Hosting Easy with Plesk on DigitalOcean

• Host & manage your Websites and Applications

Easily install, manage and operate WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, Prestashop - or your own custom website or application. For yourself or for your customers.

• One Dashboard

Build and manage multiple sites from a single dashboard. You can also run updates, monitor performance and onboard new prospects all from the same place.

• Robust Site & Server Security

Broad security by default across OS, network and apps. Firewall, Fail2ban and WAF bundled and activated by default.

• Integrated with the DigitalOcean DNS

Keep your domains and websites in sync with Plesk through the DigitalOcean DNS integration available at few clicks.

• The Ultimate Toolkit for WordPress Sites

One platform to install, update and remove instances, themes & plugins. Built-in security, sync and backup/restore features. Optional staging/cloning environments (Pro and Host editions only - click to compare).

• Complete Flexibility and Control

You get full root access via SSH on every Plesk-powered VPS so you can install any third-party, open source, or customized application you need.

• Light Core, expandable with 100+ Extensions

Do more with your platform as you integrate tools like DigiCert SSL, Speed Kit, Node.js, Let’s Encrypt SSL, Git, ImunifyAV, Backup to Cloud Pro and more.

• Manage eMail for all Domains

Plesk comes with a full-fledged eMail server included. Manage multiple users and mailboxes per domain. Or offer eMail hosting to your customers. Note: to set up your reverse DNS record required to run an eMail service, please contact the DigitalOcean Support.

• Upgrade to the full unlimited Plesk Editions

Upgrade to premium features including staging, cloning, reseller management and more or through Plesk License Add-On

• Plesk Droplet/VM Size Requirements

Plesk runs smoothly with 1GB RAM and 1 vCPU for smaller websites and environments. Running multiple websites or higher traffic require a larger droplet size. We recommend 2 CPU cores and 4GB RAM for the best performance. Please also refer to the Plesk Infrastructure Requirements for details.

Software Included

Creating an App using the Control Panel

Click the Deploy to DigitalOcean button to create a Droplet based on this 1-Click App. If you aren’t logged in, this link will prompt you to log in with your DigitalOcean account.

Creating an App using the API

In addition to creating a Droplet from the Plesk 1-Click App using the control panel, you can also use the DigitalOcean API. As an example, to create a 4GB Plesk Droplet in the SFO2 region, you can use the following curl command. You need to either save your API access token) to an environment variable or substitute it in the command below.

curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
         -H 'Authorization: Bearer '$TOKEN'' -d \
        '{"name":"choose_a_name","region":"sfo2","size":"s-2vcpu-4gb","image": "plesk-20-04"}' \
        "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets"

Getting Started After Deploying Plesk

The easiest way is by using the root username and password that you define while creating a droplet.

To log in to Plesk for the first time using a root password:

See the video instruction: https://youtu.be/ZvxiBEQ1ay4

1. Copy the droplet IPv4 address and then open the https://your_droplet_public_ipv4 link in your browser.
2. Ignore the “Your connection is not private” warning in your browser and proceed. It is safe to do so because the connection to your Plesk server is actually secure and encrypted with a self-signed SSL/TLS certificate.
3. On the Plesk login page, specify the root username, the root password you have created earlier, and then click Log in.
4. You will be redirected to the Plesk welcome screen. Follow the instructions on this screen and then click Enter Plesk to log in to Plesk.

Note: If you log in to a Plesk instance that is still being deployed, you will see the maintenance screen. Once the deployment is finished, the maintenance screen will be gone and you will be able to start using Plesk.

You can also log in to Plesk using SSH keys if you have chosen this way when creating a droplet.

Next steps

Your Plesk is completely ready to work and you can start adding your first domain. However, we recommend that you also make the following steps:

• Set up DNS hosting in DigitalOcean DNS.
• Assign a floating IP address to your droplet.

See further information:

• Plesk DigitalOcean Documentation
• Plesk Infrastructure requirements
• Plesk Documentation
• Free Udemy Course: Make WordPress Hosting Easy with Plesk on DigitalOcean
• Plesk University