Forwarding domain on Plesk for Linux server does not work: Web Server's Default Page is shown, example.com resolves to another IP address

Taras Ermoshin

Updated January 13, 2026 19:06

Plesk for Linux kb: technical

Applicable to:

Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

Forwarding domain on Plesk for Linux server does not work: Web Server's Default Page is shown when accessing example.com instead of redirecting to the destination address.
example.com resolves to IP address 203.0.113.2:

# ping example.com
PING example.com (203.0.113.2) 56(84) bytes of data.

Cause

Web server configuration file of the forwarding domain contains another IP address:

On Ubuntu/Debian:

# grep VirtualHost /etc/apache2/plesk.conf.d/forwarding/example.com_httpd.conf
<VirtualHost 203.0.113.3:80 >
</VirtualHost>

On RHEL-based operating systems:

# grep VirtualHost /etc/httpd/conf/plesk.conf.d/forwarding/example.com_httpd.conf
<VirtualHost 203.0.113.3:7080 127.0.0.1:7080>
</VirtualHost>

Resolution

Select the correct IP address for the forwarding domain in Plesk - the one to which it resolves:

In the Plesk interface

Log in to Plesk.
Go to Domains > example.com > Hosting Settings, change the option Hosting type to Website hosting, enter system user credentials, and click OK.
Go to Domains > example.com > Web Hosting Access, select 203.0.113.2 as the IP address for the domain from the drop-down list, and click OK/Apply.
Go to Domains > example.com > Hosting Settings, change the Hosting type to Forwarding, specify Destination address and Forwarding type, and click OK/Apply.

In the command-line interface

Connect to the server using SSH.
Run the following command to set the necessary IP address:

# plesk bin subscription --update example.com -ip 203.0.113.2

You can also vote for implementation of the easier way to change the IP address for forwarding domains using Plesk interface at Plesk UserVoice portal.