How to Start, Stop or Restart System Services on a Plesk Server?

Plesk offers a user-friendly interface for managing system services, enabling you to start, stop, or restart essential components such as Apache, Nginx, MySQL, and more. Here’s how you can do it:

Method 1: Using the Plesk Control Panel (Recommended for most services)

This is the most common and easiest way to manage services on a Plesk server.

Log in to your Plesk control panel. You typically access it by going to your_server_ip:8443 (for HTTPS) or your_server_ip:8880 (for HTTP) in your web browser and entering your administrator credentials.

Navigate to Tools & Settings. You’ll usually find this option in the left-hand sidebar of the Plesk interface.

Click on “Services Management” under the “Server Management” section.

Locate the desired service. You will see a list of various services running on your server, such as:

Apache (Web server)

Nginx (Web server/proxy)

MySQL/MariaDB (Database server)

Mail services (e.g., Postfix, Dovecot)

DNS services (e.g., BIND, PowerDNS)

FTP services (e.g., ProFTPD, Pure-FTPd)

And many others.

Use the action icons:

Start: Look for a green “Play” or “arrow” icon.

Stop: Look for a red “Stop” or “box” icon.

Restart: Look for a yellow “Restart” or “replay” icon.

Click the appropriate icon next to the service you want to manage.

Note: If an icon is greyed out, it means that function is currently inactive for that service, or the service might not be installed or configured correctly.

Method 2: Using SSH/Command Line (for advanced users or specific Plesk services)

For some specific Plesk services or if you prefer command-line management, you can use SSH.

1. Connect to your Plesk server via SSH as the root user or a user with sudo privileges. You’ll need an SSH client (like PuTTY on Windows or the terminal on Linux/macOS).
   
2. To restart Plesk services (e.g., Plesk Management Service, Web Admin Panel): On Linux, you can often use:

service sw-engine restart && service sw-cp-server restart

Note: The service psa stopall or service psa restart

Commands were used in older Plesk versions but are now deprecated and may not reliably restart all Plesk-related services.

3. To manage other system services (e.g., Apache, Nginx, MySQL): On Linux systems (CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, etc.), you typically use systemctl

(for Systemd-based systems, which most modern Linux distributions use) or service (for older SysVinit systems).

Using systemctl (Recommended for modern Linux):

• Start a service:

systemctl start <service_name>

Example: systemctl start httpd (for Apache on CentOS/RHEL) or systemctl start apache2 (for Apache on

Ubuntu/Debian) Example: systemctl start mariadb

(for MariaDB) Example: systemctl start nginx (for Nginx)

Stop a service:

• systemctl stop <service_name>
  
  
  
• Example: systemctl stop httpd

Restart a service:

• systemctl restart <service_name>
  
  
  
• Example: systemctl restart httpd

Check service status:

• systemctl status <service_name>
  
  
  
  
• Example: systemctl status httpd
  
  
  

Using service (for older Linux or specific scripts):

Start a service:

service <service_name> start

Stop a service:

service <service_name> stop

Restart a service:

service <service_name> restart

On Windows Servers (via RDP):

Connect via RDP.

Plesk Services Monitor: Start Plesk Services Monitor from the tray > Select “Plesk Management Service” under the “Plesk Run-Time” section > Click Restart.

Command Prompt (as Administrator):

net stop plesksrv

net start plesksrv

Services MMC: Go to Windows Start > All Programs > Windows Administrative Tools > Services. Right-click on “Plesk Management Service” and click “Restart.”

Important Considerations:

• Impact: Stopping or restarting critical services like your web server (Apache/Nginx) or database server (MySQL/MariaDB) will cause temporary downtime for your websites and applications.
• Dependencies: Some services depend on others. If you stop a critical service, other dependent services might also stop or malfunction.
• Troubleshooting: If you’re restarting a service to resolve an issue, check the service’s logs for error messages after the restart to ensure it’s functioning correctly.
• Plesk Repair Utility: For more complex issues where services aren’t starting or behaving correctly, Plesk has a powerful Plesk Repair Utility that can often diagnose and fix problems with various components. You’d typically run this via SSH.

By following these steps, you can effectively start, stop, and restart system services on your Plesk server.