You can install updates of system packages via the Plesk's UI by using the System Updates tool. The tool uses the native functionality of operating system package managers, such as yum or apt, to install updates. This makes it easier for you to monitor and keep packages up-to-date. In addition, the Plesk UI might be the only way for some Plesk administrators to control system updates.
The System Updates tool helps you in the two areas:
The System Updates tool allows you to do the following:
The System Updates tool does not install updates of Plesk packages. Use Plesk Installer for this purpose. For instructions about updating Plesk, refer to Plesk Updates.
Important: If any issues occur during the updating, try to resolve them by using the operating system means. The System Updates tool is only a front end for your system packages manager, such as yum or apt, so the issues are most probably related to the system packages manager.
The System Updates tool is enabled in Plesk by default. It is located in Tools & Settings > the Server Management section > System Updates. Alternatively, you can access it in Tools & Settings > Update and Upgrade Settings > the Available Updates and All Packages tabs.
If you previously disabled the System Updates tool, then edit panel.ini
in the following way:
[updates]
systemUpdatesTool = on
Safe Updates
For stability and reliability reasons, the System Updates tool installs updates for each package from the repository from which this package was initially installed. Such a mode is called safe updates and is used in Plesk by default.
To view which repository is used to update a package:
If you need to update a package from a different repository, disable safe updates.
Disabling Safe Updates
If you disable safe updates, the System Updates tool no longer ensures that the updates are installed from the same repository as an initial package. The system package manager, such as yum or apt, manages updates in this case in the same way as it does without Plesk. Therefore, if there are other repositories available in the system, updates can be installed from them.
To disable safe updates:
Switching to Another Repository
Unknown Repositories
If the source repository of an installed package is unknown, the package can be updated with a package from one of the following repositories:
Prohibiting Updates from Different Repositories
To prohibit unsafe updates, you can hide the option Enable safe updates for system packages, which can be used to allow unsafe updates. This option is located in Tools & Settings > System Updates > Safe Updates.
Edit panel.ini
in the following way:
[updates]
safeUpdatesManagement = false
[updates]
safeUpdatesManagement = true
Note: At the moment, you cannot add or remove a package repository. But if you have a root access to the server you can register a remote repository as it is usually done for package managers, such as yum or apt.
The System Updates tool checks for updates on a daily basis and displays updates information in the list of packages and on the Plesk home page. It also sends notifications if you configured it so.
To update system packages automatically:
Alternatively, go to Tools & Settings > Update and Upgrade Settings.
To update system packages manually:
For each package in the list, you can view the following details:
To update locked packages:
If some packages are locked, you can still update them:
To lock packages to prevent them from updating:
In Tools & Settings > System Updates, select one or more packages and click Lock.
Locked packages are not updated automatically in System Updates during automatic updating. However, you can update them manually. To do so, select them and click Update and then select Unlock the packages to allow this update only. Another way to update such packages is by using the native operating system means.
If there are other packages that depend on a locked package, Plesk will ask you if you allow the update of a locked package.
To unlock packages for updates:
In Tools & Settings > System Updates, select one or more locked packages and click Unlock.
Plesk can notify you about updates for Plesk packages and system packages. Plesk displays notifications about available updates even if automatic updates are turned off.
To configure notifications, go to Tools & Settings > System Updates > Settings > Notifications section.
The log of system package updates is located in /var/log/plesk/systemupdatestool.log
You can view the following details of updates:
To disable the System Updates tool, add the following lines to panel.ini
:
[updates]
systemUpdatesTool = off
When the System Updates tool is disabled, the Tools & Settings > System Updates section is not displayed in the Plesk user interface. The section Tools & Settings > Update and Upgrade Settings is still available, but the tabs related to System Updates are not displayed (namely, the Available Updates and All Packages tabs).