Automatic Plesk update to the latest stable version

General Information

We start gradually rolling-out of automatic updates on April 22, 2019 which are focused on server security and new features. We are updating all supported versions of Plesk to the latest stable version. For example Plesk Onyx 17.0 and 17.5 are upgraded to the Plesk Onyx 17.8.

Why are we doing this?

Official server security stats from Structure Research 2019 say 90k websites are hacked every day, with 43%+ attacks targeting small businesses. Fileless attacks are also quickly on the rise going from 29% in 2017 to 35% in 2018. So we have to be more efficient with security fixes.

What’s slowing us down is developing, shipping backport bug fixes and features from upstream for 17.0, 17.5 and Plesk 17.8. Thus, having less resources to address your uservoice requests. And even though Plesk 12.x has reached its End of Life since Jan 1, 2019, it still requires highly-critical server security fixes. Even if the issue is not in Plesk, but in the third-parties that Plesk uses.

The result is that we ship bug fixes faster for the latest supported Plesk Onyx 17.8, than for the others. For example, in May 2018, we had Plesk 17.5 and 17.8 fully-supporting GDPR. Meanwhile, Plesk 17.0 and Plesk 12.x had limitations to satisfy formal aspects.

FAQ

Q: When will the server be updated?
A: Plesk 17.0 will be first, starting from April 22, followed by 17.5 from April 29. All servers will be updated during next 2 months at night during daily maintenance task execution. You’ll first receive a pop-up notification on your Plesk panel, then by email, with clarification of the Plesk 17.8 update process. Giving you time to update at your own convenience, or wait until the auto-update takes effect.

Q: Is it possible to opt-out of the update?
A: It is not recommended doing this. If you disable auto-updates feature you will not receive new Plesk features and security updates. However, if you absolutely sure you want to stay on your current version, it is possible to turn off automatic Plesk updates under Tools & Settings > Update and Upgrade Settings.

Q: I am using Plesk MultiServer. Will my servers be updated?
A: No. All such servers are excluded from automatic updates.

Q: I am using some of components which are deprecated in 17.8 on my server. Will my servers be updated?
A: Using deprecated modules can not be a reason for server exclusion from automatic update process.

Q: Will only Plesk be updated or updates will also be installed for extensions and OS packages?
A: Auto-updates will update Plesk only. Extensions are updated on daily basis and OS updates will proceed only due to Plesk's dependencies.