Question How to setup Plesk on another volume?

[FYI]

Hey Guys,

actually our vps hasnt much space. But we can connect/mount SSD volumes via /etc/fstab permanent with optional space.

Is their a way to move Plesk to a another volume to become more storage for customers etc.? Operating System is debian 9.6.

Best regards

 

[IgorG]

You can move all vhosts at least with transvhosts.pl utility:

# plesk bin transvhosts.pl --help
You should specify destination directory.
Utility to transfer vhosts content from HTTPD_VHOSTS_D directory to new place.

Usage:
        --dest-dir   <path>  Destination path. Path to new vhosts directory.
                             Example: /path/to/new/vhosts.
                             If directory does not exist it will be created.

        --correct-scripts    Changes user scripts.
                             Old vhost path is replaced to new path in content of all files.

 

[ChristophRo]

As most storage is mostly used in either:

- /var/www/vhosts (websites)
- /var/qmail (emails)
- /var/lib/mysql (MySQL databases)
- /var/lib/psa/dumps (Plesk Backups)

1. First you identify (I recommend the "ncdu" utility for that) the one that uses most space or makes most sense, to move to the SSD volume.
2. Use rsync to copy the content of this directory onto the seperate volume. (for example: )
   

   shopt -s dotglob
   rsync -r -l -t -o -v --delete /var/www/vhosts/* /mnt/ssdvolume/
   shopt -u dotglob

3. Stop all necessary services
4. Use rsync to copy/sync the changed files again.
5. Rename the original folder to xxx_bak or something similiar and create a new one with the original name
   
6. Now you mount the SSD volume in the path/folder (do not forget /etc/fstab, to make it boot persistent)
7. Make sure the folder/mount has the same permission and ownership as original folder
8. Start services again and check if everything is working as before
9. delete the xxx_bak folder

We use seperate volumes for some or all of these folders on our servers for ages (mostly for performance and space reasons) and it works like a charm.
We've also performed the above steps, if we ever needed to migrate any of these folders onto dedicated disks/volumes, where originally they resided on the root partition.

FYI, I do not recomment on using symlinks for /var/www/vhosts or /var/qmail, as this can and will cause problems with certain programs and functions.

 

[mashariki]

Hello,
Hope you are well. I want to shift the servers this evening.
I have noted that when i increase the block storage size on vultr side it does not reflect on plesk. What does it take to have size adjustment reflect in plesk/OS?
I want to shift with a my existing IP how do I go about it? I want to replace the new server IP with the old one.
Have a great week ahead!

 

[ChristophRo]

Linux does not (always) automatically detect size changes on the virtual disk, nor does it resize the partition.
For the first step to happen, you need to either reboot the server, or execute "echo 1 > /sys/class/scsi_device/x:x:x:x/device/rescan" for the appropriate device on the command line. (if unsure, just do it for all - nothing bad will happen)

After that you need to use fdisk or gparted to delete the existing partion and recreate it with the new size. (i.e. change the end block of the partition)
If this is done, you may need to inform the Linux kernel of these changed partition sizes - this can be done via "partprobe /dev/sdX" (sdX = virtual disk in your server, can also be vda or vdb, depending on your setup)

And finally you can increase the filesystem size by executing "resize2fs /dev/sda1" (or sdb1, or vda1..)

To reflect the new size in Plesk, you need to either wait or manually execute a rescan for changed hardware