Quick start guide: Plesk
Here are a few steps you should take to get started after your Plesk instance is up and running on Amazon Lightsail:
Important
If you experience issues after launching your Plesk instance, go to the Plesk support page
to see if there are updates that need to be installed on the instance. For more information,
see the Plesk help center
Step 1: Get the one-time login URL for your Plesk instance
You need the one-time login URL to access the Plesk panel as an administrator.
Important
The Lightsail browser-based SSH/RDP clients only accept IPv4 traffic. Use a third-party client to SSH or RDP into your instance over IPv6. For more information, see Connect to your instances.
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On your instance management page, under the Connect tab, choose Connect using SSH.
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After you're connected, enter the following command to get the one-time login URL:
sudo plesk login | grep -v internal:8You should see a response similar to the following example, which contains the one-time login URL:
Important
If you recently attached a static IP to your Plesk instance, you might get a one-time login URL that uses the old public IP address. Reboot the instance, and then run the above command again to get a one-time login URL that uses the new static, public IP address.
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Copy the URL to your clipboard, or make note of it. You will need it later to sign in to the Plesk panel for the first time.
For more information, see Set up and configure Plesk on Lightsail.
Step 2: Sign in to the Plesk panel for the first time
Paste the one-time login URL into a web browser. Follow the instructions on the page to create your sign in credentials for Plesk. You should see an option to add your domain to Plesk when you sign in for the first time.
Note
You might see a browser warning that your connection is not private, not secure, or that there’s a security risk. This happens because your Plesk instance does not yet have an SSL/TLS certificate applied to it. In the browser window, choose Advanced, Details, or More information to view the options that are available. Then choose to proceed to the website even if it’s not private or secure.
For more information, see Set up and configure Plesk on Lightsail.
Step 3: Attach a static IP address to your Plesk instance
The default dynamic public IP address attached to your instance changes every time you stop and start the instance. Create a static IP address, and attach it to your instance, to keep the public IP address from changing. Later, when you use your domain name with your instance, you don’t have to update your domain’s DNS records each time you stop and start the instance. You can attach one static IP to an instance.
On your instance management page, under the Networking tab, choose Create static IP, then follow the instructions on the page.
For more information, see Create a static IP and attach it to an instance.
Step 4: Map your domain name to your Plesk instance
Note
You can map a domain to your Plesk instance, which you can use to access your Plesk
panel. You can also map multiple domains within the Plesk panel, which you can use to manage
websites within the Plesk panel. This section describes how to map your domain to your Plesk
instance. For more information about mapping multiple domains within the Plesk panel, see
Adding a Domain in Plesk
To map your domain name, such as example.com, to your instance, you add a
record to the domain name system (DNS) of your domain. DNS records are typically managed and
hosted at the registrar where you registered your domain. However, we recommend that you
transfer management of your domain's DNS records to Lightsail so that you can administer it
using the Lightsail console.
On the Lightsail console home page, under the Domains & DNS tab, choose Create DNS zone, then follow the instructions on the page.
For more information, see Creating a DNS zone to manage your domain’s DNS records in Lightsail.
Step 5: Read the Plesk documentation
Read the Plesk documentation to learn how to administer web sites using Plesk, customize the Plesk panel, and more.
For more information, see the Getting
Started with Managing Websites in Plesk
Step 6: Create a snapshot of your Plesk instance
A snapshot is a copy of the system disk and original configuration of an instance. The snapshot includes such information as memory, CPU, disk size, and data transfer rate. You can use a snapshot as a baseline for new instances, or as a data backup.
Under the Snapshot tab of your instance’s management page, enter a name for the snapshot, then choose Create snapshot.
For more information, see Create a snapshot of your Linux or Unix instance.
