Adding and Removing Domains

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If your hosting package includes more than one domain name (website), then you can easily add domains to the server. Before you start adding a new domain that will use a second-level domain name, like example.com, be sure to register this domain name. If your hosting provider provides the domain name registration service, you can do this from the Customer Panel as described below. Otherwise, you should register your domain name with another domain name registration authority.

You can set up the following types of site configurations through Plesk:

  • Website addressed by a second-level domain name. The following services are available for websites:
    • A unique Internet address (domain name), like example.com.
    • Additional domain names (domain aliases).
    • Subdomains - divisions of a site accessible by easy-to-remember addresses that are added to the main site, like mail.example.com.
    • Separate FTP accounts for collaboration on the site content. For every FTP account, you can specify which directories can be accessed.
    • Creating content using Presence Builder.
    • Simplified deployment of applications, such as content management systems, photo galleries, shopping carts, blogging platforms, and many more.
    • Secure data exchange implemented by SSL/TLS protocol. This requires that a site be hosted on a dedicated IP address, which is not shared among other users and sites.
    • Mailboxes and mailing lists.
    • Viewing statistics on site visits.
  • Website or a division of a website addressed by a third-level domain name (subdomain). This is usually a division of an existing site. It has an Internet address comprising of three parts separated by dots. The following services are available for subdomains:
    • Separate document root from the main site. Document root is a directory on the server where web pages of a site are stored.
    • Access over FTP for content management.
    • Creating content using Presence Builder.
    • Simplified deployment of applications.
    • Secure data exchange implemented by SSL/TLS protocol.
    • Viewing statistics on site visits.

Adding More Domains

To host a new website with a second-level domain name:

  1. Go to Websites & Domains, click Add Domain and follow on-screen instructions.

    Note

    Depending on the Plesk edition, the information that you can specify on the Add Domain screen might differ.

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    Note

    If you select the recommended option, you should connect the DNS settings related and your domain name with the domain name at the registrar’s side. To achieve this, enter the Plesk name server IP address into the respective NS record of the registrar. The instruction on how to obtain the IP is as follows: go to Websites & Domains > domain name > DNS Settings, find the NS record, and then find the A record corresponding to the NS record value.

    For example, if your NS record is

    example.com. NS ns.example.com,

    find the A record with ns.example.com, for example,

    ns.example.com. A 192.0.2.12

    The resulting value, 192.0.2.12, is the Plesk name server’s IP that you need.

  2. Click OK.

    The new domain name is now shown in the list at the bottom of the screen.

  3. If the operation of changing hosting settings is available for your account, then you can click the domain name of the new website to view or change the hosting settings, as described in the section Changing Hosting Settings.

You can now start creating your website with Presence Builder or upload your web content to the subscription of the new website, as described in the section Website Content.

Registering Domains

If your service provider offers the domain name registration service as well as web hosting, you can initiate domain registration directly from Plesk. To register a domain name, add it as described above and then click the link register it now beside the new domain name in the Websites & Domains section. This will redirect you to the provider’s online store where you can complete the registration.

After you register a domain name, it appears in the Registered domain names list in the Websites & Domains section. To get information about a domain name registration, for example, the registration price and next renewal date, click the domain name in this list.

Choosing a Domains View Mode

The “Websites & Domains” screen looks differently (the layout, visible controls, and the overall UX) depending on the domain view mode you choose:

  • The Dynamic List is the best choice because it combines advantages of two other view modes: the laconic layout with a large number of domains and an expandable list containing all available controls.
  • The Active List mode is best suited if you have several domains and want to have access to all available controls.
  • The Classic List mode fits if you have a large number of domains (more than 100). However, not all necessary controls will be visible.

image-views

To choose the view mode, go to Websites & Domains, click the image-wrench icon, and then select the desired mode.

Moving Domains

You can move the following:

  • An add-on domain (which is a domain created after the first subscription’s domain) to an existing or a new subscription. An add-on domain moved to a new subscription becomes the main domain of the new subscription.
  • A main domain (the first subscription’s domain) to an existing subscription. A main domain moved to an existing subscription becomes an add-on domain of this subscription while the source subscription is removed.

Moving includes your domains and subscriptions as well as those that belong to your customers and resellers.

Moving an add-on domain to an existing subscription helps do the following:

  • Reallocate domains between customers and resellers.
  • Properly allocate domains after migration from earlier Plesk versions and other web hosting panels.
  • Keep staging websites separately from production ones and then move websites from development to production.
  • Move domains created by mistake to the right subscription.
  • Use subscriptions’ resources more efficiently.

Moving an add-on domain to a new subscription is useful in the following cases:

  • You want to split a subscription that has several domains to sell one of the domains.
  • A subscription is close to the limit of allowed resources.
  • You need to isolate a domain whose security was compromised.

By moving a main domain to an existing subscription, you can merge several subscriptions into one, which helps do the following:

  • Use resources more effectively.
  • Manage one subscription instead of several.
  • Rearrange domains scattered between subscriptions during migration.

A domain is moved to another subscription with its content, configuration files, log files, PHP settings, APS applications, plus subdomains and domain aliases (if any).

Note

A target subscription, where you want to move your domain to, must have enough resources (websites, subdomains, domain aliases, or mail names).

To move a domain to an existing or a new subscription:

  1. Go to Websites & Domains, find a domain that you want to move and then click Move Domain.

    image-move

  2. Choose where to move the domain:

    • To move it to an existing subscription, select an available subscription and then click Move.
    • To move it to a new subscription, select the “Create a new subscription” option, specify the system username and the password (in the corresponding fields), and then click Move.

Once the moving has finished, your domain will be assigned to the chosen subscription.

Known Issues and Limitations

Moving domains has a number of issues and limitations. Most of them are valid for all moving operations (add-on as well as main domains). Other limitations apply to moving add-on domains only or main domains only.

All moving operations

  • A domain cannot be moved to a subscription without hosting.

  • Only the following users can move an add-on domain to a new subscription and a main domain to an existing subscription:

    • The Plesk administrator.
    • Resellers that have the “Subscription creation in Server Administration Panel and domain creation in Customer Panel” permission.

  • You cannot move a domain if there is already a domain with the same document root owned by the target subscription. To move the domain, change its “Document root” value (in Hosting Settings).

  • A domain with mail service cannot be moved to a subscription without one.

  • If a domain with custom additional Apache or nginx directives was moved to another subscription, the directives are preserved and you may need to review them.

  • If you move a domain that has both:

    • A web application installed (WordPress, Joomla!, or any other other)
    • And a Plesk additional user set as the application’s administrator,

    The additional user will lose access to the application. The login and password of the application’s administrator will be changed (you can see them in the application’s settings).

  • If you move a domain with a mail user to a subscription that belongs to another owner, the email address will be detached from the mail user.

  • If you move a domain that belongs to the Plesk administrator and is used for file sharing, the file sharing will be disabled.

  • If you move a domain to a subscription with different PHP settings, the target subscription will be locked.

Moving add-on domains

  • The following cannot be moved:
    • A subdomain without its parent domain.
    • A domain alias without its parent domain.
  • Moving a domain that has a web application installed (WordPress, Joomla!, or any other) does not automatically move the application’s database. It does not affect the website but you may want to move the database manually to the subscription the domain is now assigned to.

Moving main domains

  • The following cannot be moved:
    • A main domain (the domain created at the time a subscription is created) whose subscription has add-on domains.
    • A main domain that has web users.
  • Moving a main domain that has a web application installed (WordPress, Joomla!, or any other) automatically moves the application’s database and database users.
  • Moving a main domain that has the scheduled backup task enabled will turn off the backup task.
  • Moving a main domain will turn off the anonymous FTP access if it was set up for the domain.
  • Moving a main domain that has additional users will detach the users from the source subscription and move them to the target one.
  • Moving a main domain that has scheduled tasks will move the tasks to the target subscription.
  • Moving a main domain that has additional FTP users will move the users to the target subscription and preserve their home paths.

Removing Domains

When you delete a domain from Plesk, all data related to the corresponding site are deleted from the server.

Note

The main domain of your subscription - that is, the first domain name (default domain) that was created for your account, cannot be deleted; however, it can be renamed.

To remove a domain:

  1. Go to Websites & Domains and locate the name of the domain or subdomain you want to remove.
  2. Click Remove Website or Remove Subdomain.
  3. Confirm removal and click OK.

Note

Removing domain names from the Customer Panel does not cancel the registration of these names. If you registered these domain names, you can still use them for your websites in the future.