Unable to rename a domain in Plesk for Windows Server: Site old.example.com does not exist

Symptoms

• When renaming a domain from old-example.com to example.com, the operation fails with the following error message appears in Plesk:

  PLESK_ERROR: Error: Site old.example.com does not exist
          at (WebServerManager::renameHosting line 3083)
          at renameHosting(old.example.com, example.com)(WebServerManager::renameHosting line 3122)
          at execute console command --rename-vhost(vconsoleapp::start line 122)
          at execute "C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Plesk\admin\bin64\websrvmng" --rename-vhost "--vhost-config=tmp2811.tmp" "--old-name=old-example.com"(vconsoleapp::run line 139) (Error code 1)

  ---

  PLESK_ERROR: Error: websrvmng failed: Site old-example.com doesn't exist
          at (WebServerMap::get line 189)
          at startHosting(old-example.com)(WebServerAdapter::startHosting line 772)
          at execute console command --start-vhost(vconsoleapp::start line 122)
          at execute "C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Plesk\admin\bin64\websrvmng" --start-vhost "--vhost-name=old-example.com"(vconsoleapp::run line 139)
  (Error code 1)

• The "plesk repair web" utility fails with the error message below:

  C:\> plesk repair web old-example.com
  
  Repairing web server configuration
  Repairing web server configuration for the domain
  old-example.com ............................................... [FAILED]
  - Filename:
  \?\C:\Inetpub\vhosts\old-example.com\httpdocs\web.config
  Line number: 14
  Error: Configuration file is not well-formed XML
  
  In module
  Exception type: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
  <...>

• There is no old-example.com site in IIS Manager > SERVERNAME > Sites.

• In some cases, the folder of the domain old-example.com is already renamed to example.com in %plesk_vhosts%.

Cause

Invalid website configuration in IIS or domain's web.config file.

Resolution

1. Connect to the Plesk server via RDP.

2. If the folder example.com already exists in %plesk_vhosts%, rename it to old-example.com.

3. Rename domain's file web.config to web.config.orig.

4. Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager at Windows Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools.

5. In IIS Manager, expand SERVERNAME > Sites > right-click on example.com > click Remove.

6. Start a command prompt as an Administrator and repair the website old-example.com:

   C:\> plesk repair web old-example.com

7. Repair password-protected directories:

   C:\> "%plesk_cli%\repair.exe" --synchronize-protected-directories-storage

8. Log in to Plesk and rename the domain to example.com.

9. Rename web.config.orig back to web.config.