Best practices for hostname setup on a Plesk server

Daniel Yordanov

Updated June 25, 2026 13:12

kb: how-to Plesk for Linux

Applicable to:

Plesk for Linux
Plesk for Windows

Question

How to change or see the server hostname on the Plesk server?
What is the recommended way of setting up a server hostname on a Plesk server?

Answer

Ideally, a Plesk server hostname should be a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that is registered with a domain registrar under your name or your company name. It can be a subdomain of a domain that you own as well.

The hostname structure server.example.com is often used for a such a purpose.

Warning: Some server providers might deny hostname changes. In such cases you should contact them directly for further assistance.

Once you've registered a domain name, made sure that it's pointed towards your Plesk server and decided what exact domain or subdomain you want to use as a server hostname for your Plesk server, you should do the following:

1. Set the hostname in Plesk

Via Plesk GUI

1. Log into Plesk

2. Go to the menu Tools & Settings > Server Settings, specify the new hostname in the field Full hostname:

Note: You should be logged in as the Plesk administrator to be able to see or change the hostname.

Save

Via Plesk CLI

For Linux

1. Connect to the server via SSH as the root user
2. To view hostname, execute the command:

# hostname

To change server hostname, execute the following command with preferred hostname value instead of server.example.com:

# plesk bin server_pref --update -hostname server.example.com

Restart services sw-cp-server and sw-engine:

# systemctl restart sw-cp-server

# systemctl restart sw-engine

For Windows

1. Log into your server via RDP
2. Run Powershell as the Administrator
3. Execute the following commands:

PS plesk bin server_pref --update -hostname server.example.com

Warning: Before executing the following command, make sure that the first part of your full hostname (server in this case) does not exceed 15 characters, because the NetBIOS computer name in Windows is limited to 15 characters. This is a hard limit imposed by Microsoft and it cannot be changed.

PS Rename-Computer -NewName "server.example.com"

4. Restart IIS

PS iisreset

2. Set an SSL for the hostname

In order to make sure that the Plesk GUI is accessible via the Plesk server hostname on port 443 and port 8443, you should generate a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate for it, which can be done by using these steps:

1. Log into Plesk

2. Go to Tools & Settings > SSL/TLS Certificates (under Security).

3. Click Let's Encrypt.

4. Make sure the Domain name and Email address fields contain a valid information:

Domain name can be a server hostname (preferable) or any other (sub)domain name hosted on the server. It will be used as an entry point to Plesk interface (for example, https://server.example.com:8443) for all Plesk users (customers, resellers, etc.) who have access to Plesk.

Note: The hostname/domain name must be resolvable to a public IP address of the Plesk server from the Internet. If in doubt, check your hostname/domain name availability using DNS Lookup by MxToolBox.

If a domain, e.g. example.com, is using permanent www. redirection, specify www.example.com as Domain name.
Email address will be used to receive important notifications and warnings.

5. Press Install

At this stage, an SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt is generated and set to secure Plesk on port 8443. This certificate will be auto-renewed. Here is the final look:
Screenshot_2019-03-26_SSL_TLS_Certificates_-_Plesk_Onyx_17_8_11_1___1_.png

Once this process is finalized, you would be able to access the Plesk GUI via the hostname at a URL that would be similar to https://server.example.com:8443

3. (Optional) Customize the conditions under which the Plesk GUI is accessible

1. Log into Plesk

2. Go to Tools & Settings > Customize Plesk URL.

3. Specify the domain that will be used as an entry point to Plesk

Note: Domains with hosting type No Web Hosting cannot be used.

4. Save the changes