How to restore a Plesk server on a new Linux server from file system?

To restore a Plesk server on another Linux server with the following steps, the new server must meet the following requirements:

• Same versions as on old server of the following:

  • operating system
  • Plesk version
  • MySQL or MariaDB

• A valid Plesk license is installed

• Same set of Plesk extensions installed

  Note: Several Plesk extensions, for example Plesk Premium Email and Plesk Email Security need additional setup. Make sure all necessary packages of extensionsare installed in Extensions > <extension_name> > Open.

If you prefer to let Plesk professionals handle the restoration, contact the Plesk professional services here: https://www.plesk.com/professional-services/

In the following steps, it is assumed that the hard drive from the old server is mounted to the directory /old on the new server.

1. Connect to the new Linux server using SSH

2. Create database backups with old server's data directory:

   2.1. Start the MySQL/MariaDB server with the datadir parameter in /etc/my.cnf pointing to the MySQL database location on the old drive ( /old/var/lib/mysql):

   # cat /etc/my.cnf | grep datadir
   datadir=/old/var/lib/mysql

   2.2. Create dumps of all MySQL/MariaDB databases:

   # MYSQL_PWD=`cat /old/etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin psa -Ns -e"select name from data_bases where type = 'mysql'" | while read dbname ; do MYSQL_PWD=`cat /old/etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysqldump -u admin --databases $dbname > $dbname.sql ; done

   2.3. Stop MySQL/MariaDB service and revert the datadir parameter in /etc/my.cnf to its original value:

   # service mysqld stop
   # cat /etc/my.cnf | grep datadir
   datadir=/var/lib/mysql

   2.4. Start MySQL/MariaDB service and restore the databases:

   # service mysqld start
   # for f in *.sql ; do dbname=$(echo $f | sed -e 's/\(.sql\)$//g'); MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin -e "create database $dbname"; MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin -D$dbname < $f; echo "$dbname restored" ; done

3. Restore the Plesk database from the latest available dump:

   3.1. Stop the Plesk service:

   # service psa stopall

   3.2. Start the database server:

   # service mysqld start

   3.3. Import the database dump:

   # zcat /old/var/lib/psa/dumps/mysql.daily.dump.0.gz | MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin

4. Copy the Plesk database password file:

   # cp -rpf /old/etc/psa/.psa.shadow /etc/psa/.psa.shadow

5. Copy the encryption key to the new server, set the correct permissions and restart MySQL service:

   # cp /etc/psa/private/secret_key /etc/psa/private/secret_key.save
   # cp -rpf /old/etc/psa/private/secret_key /etc/psa/private/secret_key
   # chmod 0600 /etc/psa/private/secret_key
   # chown psaadm:root /etc/psa/private/secret_key
   # service mysqld restart

   Note: Verify the database server is accessible after this step, with the command MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin

6. Restore domain content:

   # rsync -av /old/var/www/vhosts/ /var/www/vhosts/

   Note: Process further only after rsync process is finished

7. Restore Plesk system users:

   # MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin -Dpsa -Ns -e"select s.login, a.password, s.home, s.shell from sys_users s, accounts a where a.id = s.account_id" | awk '{ print "PSA_PASSWD=\x27" $2 "\x27 /usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/usermng --add-user --user=" $1 " --homedir=" $3 " --shell=" ($4?$4:"/bin/false")}' | sh -x

8. Restore additional FTP user IDs:

   # plesk db -Ne "select tmp.login as main_user, su.login as add_user from sys_users su join sys_users as tmp on su.mapped_to = tmp.id where su.mapped_to is not NULL" | while read i j; do usermod -u $(id -u $i) $j -o; done

9. Restore the mailnames directory (mail content):

   # rsync -av /old/var/qmail/mailnames/ /var/qmail/mailnames/
   # chown -R popuser:popuser /var/qmail/mailnames/*

10. Restore scheduled tasks:

    # rsync -av /old/var/spool/cron/ /var/spool/cron/

11. Run the automated reconfiguration utility:

    # plesk repair all -y

    Note: In case the domains have incorrect ownerships in /var/www/vhosts/ directory, run the script below:

    # plesk db -Ne "select login,home from sys_users where mapped_to is null" | while read login home; do chown -R $login $home; done

12. Start the Plesk service:

    # service psa start