Plesk is a web hosting panel for running many websites on one server. You create domains, customers and resellers, assign service plans and manage PHP version, databases, mailboxes, DNS zones, FTP accounts and backups per website in the browser. Plesk renews Let's Encrypt certificates on its own, the WP Toolkit keeps WordPress installations up to date, and Site Import pulls existing websites from other hosts onto the Seed. Running Plesk requires a Plesk license. You enter the activation code at first login or start with the 14-day trial license from Plesk.
After the first boot
A cloud-init script installs Plesk Obsidian 18.0.81 on Ubuntu 24.04 during the first boot with the component set Plesk recommends. It includes nginx and Apache, PHP 8.3 and 8.4, MariaDB, Postfix and Dovecot, BIND, ProFTPD, Fail2Ban and the extensions WP Toolkit, SSL It!, Let's Encrypt, Imunify, Site Import and Git. The installation takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Check the progress via SSH. Once /root/ready.txt exists, Plesk is fully set up. /root/failed.txt indicates an error, with the details in /root/plesk-install.log. If neither file exists, the installation is still running.
Then open https://<seed-hostname>:8443 and log in as root with the Seed's root password. If you created the Seed with an SSH key only, plesk login on the console generates a one-time login link. At first login Plesk asks for a contact email, the admin password and your activation code. If you do not have the code yet, start with the 14-day trial license and enter it later under Tools & Settings > License Management. The Seed automatically gets a public IPv4 address when it is created. If you use a firewall from the console, keep port 8443 open.
For your own domain, first point its A record to the Seed's IPv4 address. Then enter the domain as the full hostname under Tools & Settings > Server Settings and secure Plesk with Let's Encrypt under Tools & Settings > SSL/TLS Certificates.
Suitable models
Entry
The entry point for low CPU load
Standard
All-rounder for variable production load
Performance
Exclusive compute for sustained load
Show all 15 suitable models
Entry
| Model | CPU | RAM | Storage | Traffic | Bandwidth | Price/hour | Price/month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 1 Core | 2 GB | 20 GB | 10 TB | 1 Gbit/s | 0,005848 € | 3,65 € | |
| M | 2 Cores | 4 GB | 40 GB | 10 TB | 1 Gbit/s | 0,011694 € | 7,29 € | |
| L | 4 Cores | 8 GB | 80 GB | 10 TB | 1 Gbit/s | 0,023389 € | 14,59 € | |
| XL | 8 Cores | 16 GB | 160 GB | 10 TB | 1 Gbit/s | 0,038312 € | 23,91 € |
Standard
| Model | CPU | RAM | Storage | Traffic | Bandwidth | Price/hour | Price/month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 1 Core | 4 GB | 40 GB | 20 TB | 2.5 Gbit/s | 0,014303 € | 8,93 € | |
| S | 2 Cores | 8 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | 2.5 Gbit/s | 0,024579 € | 15,34 € | |
| M | 4 Cores | 16 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | 2.5 Gbit/s | 0,049158 € | 30,68 € | |
| L | 8 Cores | 24 GB | 240 GB | 20 TB | 2.5 Gbit/s | 0,093740 € | 58,49 € | |
| XL | 10 Cores | 32 GB | 360 GB | 20 TB | 2.5 Gbit/s | 0,120608 € | 75,26 € | |
| XXL | 16 Cores | 64 GB | 500 GB | 20 TB | 2.5 Gbit/s | 0,188623 € | 117,70 € |
Performance
| Model | CPU | RAM | Storage | Traffic | Bandwidth | Price/hour | Price/month | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 2 Cores | 16 GB | 80 GB | 20 TB | 10 Gbit/s | 0,070561 € | 44,03 € | |
| M | 4 Cores | 32 GB | 160 GB | 20 TB | 10 Gbit/s | 0,141122 € | 88,06 € | |
| L | 8 Cores | 64 GB | 240 GB | 20 TB | 10 Gbit/s | 0,277666 € | 173,26 € | |
| XL | 16 Cores | 128 GB | 360 GB | 20 TB | 10 Gbit/s | 0,548467 € | 342,24 € | |
| XXL | 32 Cores | 192 GB | 500 GB | 20 TB | 10 Gbit/s | 1,011118 € | 630,94 € |
Create it via the Public API
A single call creates this Seed. Replace the placeholders starting with $ with your own values, such as your API token and the IDs from your account. Go to the Public API
curl -X POST "https://api.dataforest.net/api/v1/public/seeds" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"plan": "lines/standard/models/standard-c2-m4-s80",
"location": "fra01",
"source": {
"type": "app",
"ref": "apps/plesk/versions/plesk-v18.0.81"
},
"project_id": "$PROJECT_ID",
"name": "plesk"
}'