If you are planning to offer Windows-based hosting services, you need to add a Windows-based service node. Nodes are added based on the role IIS web server / MySQL database servers. After selecting the role, all the necessary software is automatically installed and configured on the nodes. In addition to the web servers and database management systems, mail server software is installed as well. For a complete list of software components installed on hosting service nodes, see the section Setting Up Services on Hosting Service Nodes.
Each web hosting service node is managed by the Plesk control panel software. For this reason, you need to obtain licenses for Plesk from www.plesk.com (one license per node) and install them on service nodes. Only licenses for Web Pro and Web Host editions of Plesk are suitable. If you do not install a license key, the provisioning of websites will not be possible.
Important: Do not attempt to install a Plesk Web Admin license as it is incompatible with the WebHosting Plesk module. If you install them, the WebHosting Plesk module will not be able to manage the nodes.
Shared database hosting nodes do not need a Plesk license.
Important: Before adding a Windows-based node, make sure that it is not a part of an Active Directory domain. You cannot add a node that is registered in an Active Directory.
To add a hosting service node:
- Log in to CloudBlue Commerce as the admin user.
- Go to Infrastructure > Service Nodes > Add New Node.
- Select the role IIS web server / MySQL database servers.
- Specify the node's host name or an IP address, and the administrator's password. Click Next.
- Select the Show extended parameters check box.
- Specify the following:
- The maximum number of websites that can be hosted on the node. We recommend leaving the default value of 800: hosting more than 800 websites might significantly reduce the performance of the service node. When the specified number of sites on the node is reached, new websites can no longer be added.
- When to notify you about reaching the hosting capacity. You will receive a notice by email and will have a chance to deploy an additional service node in advance.
- Whether to install Plesk mail components. If you do not plan to use the Plesk-managed mail servers, and you want to provide your users with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Office 365 accounts, type false in the Install Plesk mail components on a service node field.
- The location where to store website content. Leave this field empty if you want to use the default path -
C:\Inetpub\vhosts\. - Click Next, and then click Finish.
- Install a license key: Go to Services > WebHosting Plesk > Service Nodes tab > License (in the Actions column) > Install Key.
- If you want to allocate dedicated IP addresses to user subscriptions or if you want to accommodate resellers, configure IP pools as described in Allocating IP Addresses to Service Nodes.
- If you want to provide your customers with support for Perl and Python scripts, install these components manually by following instructions in this article.
After all service nodes were added, configure hosting templates and service plans, as described in Getting Ready for Selling Hosting Services to Customers and Getting Ready for Onboarding Resellers.
Note: The option to re-attach service nodes (in CloudBlue Commerce Provider Panel > Infrastructure > Service Nodes > node's host name > Reregister) is not available for Windows-based service nodes.