Quick Start Guide Automation 11.5

Introduction

Contents

Introduction ...... 3 1. Installing PA on the Management Node ...... 6 2. Adding Service Nodes ...... 7 2.1 Logging In to PA ...... 7 2.2 Configuring the DNS ...... 7 2.3 Adding a Service Node with Apache Web Hosting ...... 9 2.4 Adding a Service Node with Mail Server ...... 10 2.5 Adding a Service Node with PA billing ...... 12 3. Installing License Keys ...... 17 4. Offering Services to Customers ...... 19 4.1 Creating a Service Plan ...... 19 4.2 Creating a Customer Account ...... 24 4.3 Creating a Subscription for a Customer ...... 26 4.4 Logging in to Panel as a Customer ...... 28 Getting Help with PA ...... 30

Introduction

C H A P T E R 1

Introduction

PA is a scalable, multi-server automation solution for shared hosting, giving growing hosters the power, performance, and scale previously only available to hosting giants. PA is designed to centrally manage thousands of customers from a central point.

PA Architecture The idea behind the PA architecture is a distributed environment with one central server. This server, called a management node, controls an arbitrary number of servers with various roles - web, mail, DNS, and others. In terms of PA, these controlled servers are called service nodes. Service nodes provide a full set of hosting services that are delivered to customers through the management node. All operations including infrastructure and hosting management are also performed through this central node.

Introduction

The diagram below represents the PA architecture.

The PA User Interface The PA UI consists of the following components: • Administration Panel. Administrators use this panel to manage PA infrastructure: add and configure service nodes, manage IP pools, and so on. • Hosting Panel. Customers use this panel to manage their hosting services: add domains and mailboxes, manage content and so on. • (Optional) Billing solution. Administrators and resellers can employ a billing solution to automate subscribing customers to hosting plans as well as to automate the monetization of this process. Currently, PA supports the following solutions: • Plesk Automation billing. • Odin Business Automation Standard.

Introduction

• Web Host Manager Complete Solution (WHMCS). • Any homegrown billing system integrated with PA by means of API.

Note: Administration and Hosting panels are hosted on the management node. Service nodes do not provide the UI.

Running PA Putting PA into operation involves the following steps:

• Installation of PA packages to the management node. • Deploying attendant infrastructure (registering and configuring service nodes). • Installing and configuring a billing solution. • Installing license keys for the management and service nodes. • Configuring PA to start serving customers (creating a hosting plan). This guide is intended for hosting providers who plan to deploy PA. It shows how to quickly start working with PA by covering the five main steps mentioned above. In addition, the guide describes such basic administration tasks as troubleshooting and system monitoring.

1. Installing PA on the Management Node

C H A P T E R 2

1. Installing PA on the Management Node

A management node is the central server in a distributed system, which allows performing all operations including infrastructure and hosting management. Thus, the first step in deploying PA is to install its packages to the management node.

The PA installation is fully automated and performed by the single script file ppa_installer. To install PA management node components on your server:

1 Log in to your server as root. 2 Download the PA installation script. #wget http://download.automation.odin.com/ppa/11.5/ppa_installer 3 Allow script execution. #chmod +x ppa_installer 4 Run the script with the following options. #./ppa_installer --password setup --admin_email [email protected] where • setup - the PA login password. • [email protected] - your e-mail address.

2. Adding Service Nodes

C H A P T E R 3

2. Adding Service Nodes

After the installation is finished, proceed to infrastructure deployment, or, in other words, registering your auxiliary servers (service nodes) that will provide various hosting services. In this guide, we will explain how to register a -based service node for running a billing system called Plesk Automation billing, one Apache web service node, and one Postfix mail service node.

In this chapter:

2.1 Logging In to PA ...... 7 2.2 Configuring the DNS Server ...... 7 2.3 Adding a Service Node with Apache Web Hosting ...... 9 2.4 Adding a Service Node with Mail Server ...... 10 2.5 Adding a Service Node with PA billing ...... 12

2.1 Logging In to PA

To log in to PA, type the following address in your browser: https://: 8443

where is the IP address of your management node, or its host name.

When PA prompts to enter the administrator's credentials, use the admin username and the password you specified during the PA installation.

2.2 Configuring the DNS Server

By default, DNS services are provided by the management node. It acts as a master DNS server for all zones registered in the system. You can configure PA to use DNS servers installed on separate service nodes.

Setup of DNS zones for newly added domains is automated: When a customer adds a new domain in the Hosting Panel, PA automatically generates its zone file and registers it in the name server's .

If you want to run the DNS server on a separate service node, complete the following steps:

2. Adding Service Nodes

1 Go to Infrastructure > Service Nodes, and click Add New Node. A list of server roles is displayed.

2 Select the DNS server role from the list. 3 Specify the node's host name or IP address, and a root password.

4 Click Next, and then click Finish. Once you add the node, it appears in the list of registered PA name servers, which is available in Services > DNS Zones > DNS > Nameservers.

Note: The value of the ready to provide setting is ignored by PA on DNS nodes.

2. Adding Service Nodes

5 Set this node as a master or slave name server in the DNS resource type properties at Products > Resources > DNS > Activation Parameters tab > Edit. In addition, you can set the SOA record template parameters: refresh and retry intervals, expiration period, and minimum TTL. The template settings are applied to the SOA record of all zones but can be overridden for a specific zone. You can learn more about this in PA: Operations Guide, chapter Configuring DNS, section Managing DNS Zones.

2.3 Adding a Service Node with Apache Web Hosting

To provide web hosting services, we will add a service node running the Apache :

1 Go to Infrastructure > Service Nodes, and click Add New Node. A list of server roles is displayed.

2 Select the Apache web server role from the list.

2. Adding Service Nodes

3 Specify the node's host name or IP address, and a root password.

4 Click Next, and then click Finish. Normally, when the installation is complete, the node is marked as Ready to provide its services. If this does not happen, resolve the issue and mark it manually in node properties (Infrastructure > Service Nodes > node's hostname > Mark as ready to provide).

After you add the web server node, PA will automatically install all necessary packages on that server.

To make sure that all operations were performed successfully, check that the task log (Operations > Tasks > Task Log) does not contain any failed tasks.

2.4 Adding a Service Node with Mail Server

To provide mail services, we will add a service node running the Postfix mail server:

2. Adding Service Nodes

1 Go to Infrastructure > Service Nodes, and click Add New Node. A list of server roles is displayed.

2 Select the Postfix mail server role from the list. 3 Specify the node's host name or IP address, and a root password.

4 Click Next, and then click Finish. Normally, when the installation is complete, the node is marked as Ready to provide its services. If this does not happen, resolve the issue and mark it manually in node properties (Infrastructure > Service Nodes > node's hostname > Mark as ready to provide).

After you add the mail server node, PA will automatically install all necessary packages on that server.

2. Adding Service Nodes

To make sure that all operations were performed successfully, check that the task log (Operations > Tasks > Task Log) does not contain any failed tasks.

2.5 Adding a Service Node with PA billing

Before adding a service node with a billing system, make sure that the node meets the following hardware and software requirements: • CPU: 1 core (3 GHz or higher) • RAM: 2 GB or more • Disk space: 40 GB (4 GB swap partition) • Supported virtualization solutions: Virtuozzo 6.0, Virtuozzo containers 4.7 for Linux. • Operating systems: 64-bit version of RHEL 6.4 or later, 64-bit version of CentOS 6.4 or later. • Pre-installed software: yum, Apache 2.2.15 or later with mod_ssl 2.2.15 or later. • SELinux must be switched off. To add a service node with a billing system, do the following:

1 Go to Infrastructure > Service Nodes, and click Add New Node. A list of server roles is displayed.

2 Select the Billing role from the list.

2. Adding Service Nodes

3 Specify the node's host name or IP address, and a root password.

4 Click Next. 5 Specify the public IP address of the node where you want to install the billing system. This should be an IP address accessible over the . If your servers are behind NAT, select the checkbox Show extended parameters and specify the public IP address of the PA management node.

6 Click Next, Next, and then click Finish. PA adds a number of tasks to the task queue.

2. Adding Service Nodes

7 Wait until they are completed. You can check their status in Operations > Tasks.

8 Log out of the Panel. 9 In your browser's address bar, type the IP address of your billing server with the https prefix and port 8443. For example: https://192.168.1.10:8443. 10 Load the page. When a security warning about untrusted connection appears, add a security exception to accept the self-signed SSL certificate used by the billing system. After that you should be able to see the billing system's login screen.

2. Adding Service Nodes

11 Log in to PA again. The Billing link appears at the top of the page. Use it to log in to the Billing .

When you need to go back to PA from the Billing Control Panel, use the link Operations that is located at the top of the page.

2. Adding Service Nodes

3. Installing License Keys

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3. Installing License Keys

PA is shipped without a trial license key. To fully use PA, you need to obtain the necessary license keys from Odin or its partners and install them after you have finished installing PA and adding service nodes.

There are two licensing schemes - one is licensing by the total number of hosted , and another, by the number of service nodes. The steps for installing license keys vary depending on the licensing scheme you choose.

If your license key governs the total number of websites, then you only need to install the key on the management node.

If you use licensing per service nodes, then you should use the following steps: 1 Install the main license key on the PA management node. 2 Obtain and install additional license keys for each service node, except for those that act as dedicated database or DNS servers (service nodes with the DNS or MySQL roles). There are three essential types of additional license keys: • An unlimited license key for Plesk for Linux-based dedicated hardware servers. These keys should be used with all Linux-based web server or mail nodes. • An unlimited license key for Plesk for Microsoft Windows-based dedicated hardware servers. These keys should be used with IIS web server and SmarterMail mail service nodes. • A license key for Odin Premium Antivirus. These keys should be used when you want to use antivirus on mail service nodes. Without a license key, antivirus will not check mail for viruses and .

. To obtain license keys for PA: Follow the instructions provided at http://www.odin.com/products/plesk- automation/how-to-buy/.

If you want to try the product, you can request trial license keys by sending a message to [email protected].

3. Installing License Keys

. To install the main license key for the management node: Go to System > License Manager > Main License tab > Install / Update License.

. To install additional license keys for service nodes: Go to the Administration Panel > System > License Manager > Additional Licenses tab > Install / Update. Select the checkbox Assign to a service node and select the service node to which the license key should be assigned. Be sure to assign the license keys to the appropriate service nodes.

4. Offering Services to Customers

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4. Offering Services to Customers

A typical workflow of serving hosting customers in PA is as follows:

1 You create a shared hosting template in the Administration Panel. During the template creation, you will be prompted to specify a number of template properties like the services and resources provided with the template, configuration of these services, and so on. One of the key steps when creating a template is to define which nodes will be used for allocation of the template subscriptions. This is done by means of attributes. 2 When a customer is ready to subscribe to the template, you create the account and subscription for the customer. 3 Once the account is created, the customer can log in and use the services provided with the subscription.

In this chapter:

4.1 Creating a Service Plan ...... 19 4.2 Creating a Customer Account ...... 24 4.3 Creating a Subscription for a Customer...... 26 4.4 Logging in to Panel as a Customer ...... 28

4.1 Creating a Service Plan

When the entire PA infrastructure including management and service nodes is deployed, you are ready to proceed to serving your customers, that is, creating your first service plan. Service plans in PA are referred to as shared hosting templates.

4. Offering Services to Customers

. To create a shared hosting template: 1. Go to Products > Service Templates. A list of service plans is displayed.

4. Offering Services to Customers

2. Click Add Shared Hosting Template. The template properties are displayed.

3. Specify the following: • Plan name. • Provided services. The shared hosting template may include the Apache- or IIS-based web hosting service and Postfix or SmarterMail-based mail service. Leave the Apache-based and Postfix-based options selected. • Resource allotments.

4. Offering Services to Customers

Specify the number of domains that customers will be able to host, the total amount of disk space, the amount of monthly data transfer, and the number of dedicated IP addresses. The service template can provide IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. IP addresses may be granted as either dedicated, meaning that the target subscriber becomes the only owner of this address, or shared, meaning that this address is shared among many subscribers. Note that in order to provide dedicated IP addresses, you should configure IP pools as described in the Plesk Automation: Deployment Guide, section Configuring an IP Pool. • Overuse policy. By default, when users exceed disk space and traffic allotments, their subscriptions are suspended. If you want to allow users to exceed their allotments without suspending subscriptions, select the corresponding checkbox. 4. Click Next. 5. Specify the following web hosting settings: • Attributes. An attribute is a tag that links a template and nodes on which the services included in the template can be set up. Thus, you should choose at least one attribute that is also assigned to the nodes that you want to use for allocating subscriptions. Leave the Apache checkbox selected. • Permissions and resource allotments. These include: resource limits (disk space, traffic, number of domains, and others); customer permissions (ability to create domains, subdomains, change PHP settings, access through SSH, and others); service settings (for example, if the template provides a web hosting service, this may be the support for various scripting languages, the PHP handler type, and others); log rotation options.

4. Offering Services to Customers

6. Click Next. 7. Leave the Postfix checkbox selected and specify the mail hosting settings, such as the number of mailboxes, mailbox size, and what to do to messages coming to non-existent e-mail addresses.

8. Click Finish.

After you have set up a service plan, proceed to creating a customer account.

4. Offering Services to Customers

4.2 Creating a Customer Account

. To create a customer account: 1. Go to Operations > Customers, and click Add New Customer. 2. Specify the company's address, and click Next.

3. Specify the account administrator's information. An account administrator is the company representative who has the administrative privileges to a customer account: They can log in to the Hosting Panel and perform hosting management (create websites and mailboxes, manage website content, install web apps, and so on). You should provide PA with the account administrator credentials (username and password) and their contact information (typically, the account administrator and the administrative contact are the same persons).

4. Offering Services to Customers

The billing and technical contacts are optional.

4. Click Next. 5. Specify the username and password that the customer will use for logging in to the Hosting Panel. Under Personal Info, select the checkbox Same as administrative contact.

6. Click Finish.

After you have created a customer account, proceed to creating a subscription for the customer.

4. Offering Services to Customers

4.3 Creating a Subscription for a Customer

. To subscribe a customer to a service plan: 1. Go to Operations > Customers > customer's company name > Subscriptions tab, and click Create New Subscription. A list of service plans is displayed.

2. Click the plan name that you created in step 4.1 (on page 19). 3. Review the list of resource allotments and adjust them if needed. Although the resources provided with the subscription are defined by the template, you can customize them (for example, add more disk space, provide a dedicated IP address instead of a shared one, and so on). In this step, you can also specify the number of subscriptions and webspaces that should be available to the customer.

4. Offering Services to Customers

4. Click Next. 5. Review the resource allotments and click Create Webspace.

6. Specify the following: • Customer's . • The types of IP addresses that should be provided to the customer.

4. Offering Services to Customers

• The system user's name and password for access to the hosting account over FTP.

7. Click Finish.

Once you complete the wizard, PA will start the provisioning task - the allocation of subscription resources on service nodes. In case of any issues, you can check task details in Operations > Tasks > Task Log.

After the subscription is created, the customer can log in to the Hosting Panel.

4.4 Logging in to Panel as a Customer

Now let us log in as a customer to the Hosting Panel. To do this, log out from PA by using the link in the top right corner of the page. Log in to PA using the customer's credentials.

4. Offering Services to Customers

Note: You can also log in to the customer's account as the administrator at Administration Panel > Operations > Customers > customer's company name > Subscriptions tab > subscription name > Managed By tab > Login as Customer.

After logging in, you are taken to the Home tab, which provides shortcuts for operations on your account and access to resource usage statistics.

Your customers use the Hosting Panel to add domains and mailboxes, manage website content, and so on. You can also use this panel to access customer accounts and to manage your own websites and mailboxes.

To learn how to use Hosting Panel, refer to the PA Customer's Guide at http://download.automation.odin.com/ppa/11.5/docs/en- US/online/ppa_customer_guide/index.htm.

Getting Help with PA

C H A P T E R 6

Getting Help with PA

To learn more about configuring and operating PA, refer to the product documentation at http://www.odin.com/products/plesk-automation/.