Introduction

Plesk is a web hosting control panel used to manage websites, domains, mail services, and server configurations. For system administrators, knowing backend file locations helps in troubleshooting and managing services efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before accessing Plesk backend files, ensure you have:

  1. Root or SSH access to the server
  2. Basic knowledge of Linux file system
  3. Plesk installed on the server

Implementation

1. Plesk Core Files

  • /usr/local/psa → Plesk root directory
  • /usr/local/psa/version → Plesk version
  • /etc/psa/.psa.shadow → Admin password
  • /etc/psa/psa.conf → Configuration file

Restart Plesk:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/plesk restart

2. Apache (Web Server)

  • /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf → Main config
  • /etc/httpd/conf.d/zz010_psa_httpd.conf → Plesk config
  • /etc/httpd/conf.d/ → Additional configs
  • /usr/local/psa/admin/bin/httpsdctl start → Start service
  • Logs: /var/log/httpd

3. PHP

  • /etc/php.ini → PHP config
  • /etc/php.d → PHP modules

4. DNS (Named)

  • /var/named/run-root/etc/named.conf → Config file
  • /var/named/run-root/var/domain.com → DNS records
  • Logs: /var/log/messages

Restart:
/etc/init.d/named restart

5. FTP

  • /etc/proftpd.conf → FTP config
  • Logs: /var/log/messages

6. MySQL

  • /var/lib/mysql → Databases
  • /etc/my.cnf → Configuration
  • Logs: /var/log/mysqld.log

7. Mail Server

  • /var/qmail → Mail service directory
  • /var/qmail/mailnames/domain.com → Domain mail data
  • Logs: /var/log/maillog

8. Domain Directory Structure

  • /var/www/vhosts/domain.com → Home directory
  • /httpdocs → Website files
  • /httpsdocs → Secure site files
  • /subdomains → Subdomains
  • /conf/httpd.include → Domain config
  • /statistics/logs → Domain logs

9. Accessing Plesk

Login URL:

https://server-ip:8443

10. Plesk User Levels

  1. Administrator → Full server control
  2. Client/Reseller → Manage domains & users
  3. Domain Owner → Manage single domain
  4. Mail User → Manage email account

11.Software Components

  • Stats: Webalizer, AWStats
  • DNS: Bind
  • Web Server: Apache
  • FTP: ProFTPD
  • Mail: Qmail / MySQL / PostgreSQL
  • IMAP/POP: Courier

12. Hosting Types

  • Physical Hosting → Hosted on same server
  • Standard Forwarding → URL redirects
  • Frame Forwarding → URL stays same

13. Backup

  • Backup all data: /plesk_installation_directory/bin/pleskbackup all
  • Backup clients: /plesk_installation_directory/bin/pleskbackup clients

Conclusion

Understanding Plesk backend file paths helps administrators manage configurations, troubleshoot issues, and maintain hosting environments efficiently. With proper access, you can quickly locate and control services across the server.

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