How to create a new Plesk subscription on Linux

You will create a new hosting subscription in Plesk Obsidian 18.x for a specific domain. These steps apply to AlmaLinux 9 and CentOS Stream 9 systems running Plesk Obsidian 18.x. You will configure resource limits and email settings during the initial creation process.

Prerequisites

• Access to the Plesk administrative interface as root or an administrator.
• A domain name registered and pointed to your server's IP address.
• Sufficient disk space allocated for the new subscription.
• Knowledge of the desired resource limits (CPU, RAM, Disk).

Step 1: Open the Subscription Management Interface

Navigate to the main dashboard of your Plesk control panel. Locate the Subscriptions section in the left-hand navigation menu and click on it. This view lists all existing hosting accounts on your server.

cd /var/www/vhosts

Click the Manage Subscriptions button if you are on the main dashboard, or simply look for the Add Subscription link at the top right of the Subscriptions page. Click the Add Subscription button to open the creation wizard.

Step 2: Configure Subscription Details

Enter the domain name you wish to host in the Domain field. Ensure the domain matches the DNS records you have configured in your registrar. Select the appropriate hosting package type, such as Shared Hosting or Reseller Hosting, from the dropdown menu. If you are creating a reseller account, select the Reseller option and enter the reseller's details.

Choose the location for the subscription. Select the same location as your main server or a different one if you are using a multi-server setup. Click Next to proceed to the resource configuration screen.

Step 3: Set Resource Limits

Define the CPU usage limit for the new subscription. Set the RAM limit based on your server's total available memory. Allocate the disk space quota for the website files and databases. You can choose to limit the number of databases or allow unlimited databases depending on your plan requirements.

Configure the number of allowed domains under this subscription. For a single domain site, set this to 1. For a reseller or multi-domain setup, increase this number accordingly. Set the number of allowed email accounts for this domain. Click Next to proceed to the email configuration step.

Step 4: Configure Email Settings

Decide whether to create email accounts automatically for the domain. You can create a default admin email account or skip this step to create them manually later. If you enable automatic creation, specify the default email address prefix. Click Next to review the configuration summary.

Step 5: Review and Create the Subscription

Review all the settings you have entered in the summary screen. Check the domain name, resource limits, and email settings one last time. Click the Create Subscription button to finalize the process. Plesk will provision the new hosting account and set up the necessary directories and files.

Verify the installation

Return to the Subscriptions page in the Plesk dashboard. Locate the newly created subscription in the list. Click on the domain name to open the subscription details. You should see the status as Active and the correct resource limits displayed in the Resources tab. Click the Domains tab to confirm the domain is listed correctly.

cd /var/www/vhosts
ls -la .

The directory for your new domain should appear in the list. Enter the domain URL in a web browser. You should see the default Plesk welcome page or the default index.html file you configured. If you see a 404 error or a different page, check the Files tab in Plesk to ensure the default index.html is present.

Troubleshooting

Error: "Subscription creation failed: insufficient resources"

This error occurs when your main server does not have enough available RAM or disk space for the new subscription. Check your system resources using free -m and df -h. Free up space or upgrade your server plan before retrying.

Error: "Domain already exists or is reserved"

Plesk will not create a subscription for a domain that is already active or reserved on another subscription. Check the Domains tab of the existing subscription to see if the domain is listed. If it is, delete the domain from the old subscription before creating it on the new one.

Email accounts not creating automatically

If you enabled automatic email creation but the accounts do not appear, check the Email tab. Ensure the mail server service is running. Restart the mail service using systemctl restart mail or systemctl restart postfix depending on your mail backend. Verify that the /var/vmail directory has the correct permissions.

Permission denied errors when uploading files

If you cannot upload files to the new domain, check the ownership of the /var/www/vhosts directory. The web server user, usually psasys or www-data, must own the domain directory. Run chown -R psasys:psasys /var/www/vhosts/ to correct ownership.

Database connection errors

If the website cannot connect to the database, verify that the MySQL or MariaDB service is running. Check the Services page in Plesk. Ensure the database user created for the subscription has the correct privileges. Restart the database service if necessary.

SSL certificate not generating

If you expect an SSL certificate but none appears, check the SSL/TLS settings in the Website Settings page. Ensure the domain is reachable from the server. If using Let's Encrypt, ensure port 80 and 443 are open on the firewall. Click Install or Renew in the SSL tab to generate the certificate.