Plesk Billing under 9.0?

[PSCGi]

OK, got me once again... Button for Billing which you can't use anything but
IE7 essentially to fire up. Click on it, another window/tab opens up and then
it hangs for awhile before saying 'file not found'. I show it's been installed in
the past and I never got around to it, now I'd like to check it out. But it's
tying some relay on port 11483 or something with the server's hostname in
front of the domain? I've never made a subdomain for that to even go find
and if it just works automatically is there some sort of Port blocking going on
in IP Tables, etc. we're magically supposed to understand and remove?

Also in 8.6 threads I noticed that this integrated version in 9.0 is a 1 user
setup - in other words you can only install and bill ONE Client and that's it
without purchasing the higher license? Is that true? I see how to remove
it if it is simply because why bother when it won't fire up properly, it's taking
up space and it's only 1 person when the Standalone version I can install
lets me experiment with up to 10 Clients to bill before it sells itself to me and
I decide to upgrade to the 50 Client license?

So what's the deal, what needs to be unblocked for the relay to work or
what's not set right and then is it even worth the time or should I scrap it
and go Standalone?

Very little on this even back to 8.6 discussions and paperwork that makes
any sense. Just 'do this' and nothing about potential problems or fixes.

 

[PSCGi]

Well since there's just a TON of replies...

Yes, I had to go into IPtables/Firewall in the CP and open up the
11443 ports to ensure I could even get at the bundled page version
of this ******. And even then I had to bookmark it so I could find
it because it wouldn't come up as outlined in what few pages of
documentation I could find!

AND THEN... half the time it wouldn't come up. Once inside and
logged in - works fine. Not right lemme tell ya. What could be
doing partial blocking like that makes me wonder why I get notes
from places here and there about temporary mail blocks. Can't
get a finger on a potential backbone issue or it's Plesk, but I have
2 people checking from elsewhere to verify.

So, once you get through all that and you scope out Plesk
Billing - lathered still as ModernBill (why not change it if you
go through all this like you did?) - you come to the stark
realization that the integrated Billing version comes with just
ONE Client account being billable - period. Yep, just one,
even though you can rip this out with yum or never install
it and get the standalone version with TEN demos?

I dunno bout y'all but 10 is far better than 1. Even 5
would be great to test it out on a few people before
making the $25++ commitment per month to getting it
for good. Once I'm sure a few folks get it and a couple
even provision themselves online, then I can be sure
it's worth and will pay for itself.

Plesk, what idiot thought this up? ONE? I mean if I
do it with my most heavy customer that's fine, but then
I can't use it for even one guy to come self-provision
and sign up? How the hell can I tell it's worth the money
at that point vs. the phones? At least with the 10 I can
pick out 2-4 regulars and test-bill them for a couple of
months and ensure they get it and it sends nastygram
reminders to deadbeats. That's great. then 4-6 people
can self-provision and try that part out. I get 10
customers paying me to use my box and everyone's nice
and happy - I'm getting the bigger license!!!

So why then stick us with ONE lousy setup and really
bad documentation on the integrated version like this?
Now I gotta rip it out and go standalone, then use the
(thankfully) conversion tool to go from standalone to
the integrated version. Lots of work, no point at all.

Give us the same 10 license, easy to change on your
end, then maybe watch us sign up for larger versions?

ADVICE: If you have Billing - search the post about
yum plesk-billing uninstall and how to remove it. If
you've considered ticking the checkbox DON'T. Use
the standalone version to get started with the far
better license and then once you find a value - buy up.

 

[PSCGi]

UPDATE:

Yep, don't use or upgrade to include the Plesk Billing Bundle
included in 9.X - it's a ONE user version. If you have the box
checked, it'll **** it down and you have to use Yum to take
it out properly.

The standalone demo converts back to bundled and gives
you 10 accounts to test it with - not one useless version!
It's very in depth and complicated, a port of ModernBill for
the most part and the documentation has issues with using
ModernBill's /directory/ whereas it's putting it now in the
/pleskbilling/ instead without them bothering to udpate the
docs! Once again, nice work Parallels! Way to make them
big bucks!

Once you get it downloaded and installed you have to follow
the directions to a T beyond the adjustments for the mistakes
in the docs as mentioned, but it works and loads up once you
have without major wrestling like some of this other junk we've
had to deal with.

No visible issues seem to be in there, but so far I haven't
had the time to go hardcore on it and determine why it won't
crosslink all the way into the Server. Even the bundled version
wasn't doing it right so it's the software - not the setup! But
I'll try to update here as I get in further, if anyone else has
some bench time on Plesk Billing it'd be nice if you added the
comments and tricks here as well!

Be more than happy to pay for the licensed version IF I can
get the thing fully integrated and functional to test it for a
couple of months on my old-timer clients and ensure it won't
send them packing. Looks like it's improvements, but hard to
tell until I wade through it all. Have your ducks in a row on
your boxes BEFORE you dive into Plesk Billing though as it needs
your full and extreme attention during install and setup!

 

[ZopfWare]

I am a longtime owner of a Perpetual 250 license and am currently dealing with tech support to work out the kinks in going from 5.6 standalone to 6.0 bundled. I'll keep you informed of anything I learn.

 

[PSCGi]

Zopf,

Any luck here? Did they ever get back to you at all? Seems there's
reports everywhere of incredibly slow responses from Parallels and
they're the ones who made the mess. They even Beta'ed this for the
first time, something that seems to be an incredible mistake. I've read
reports around here and elsewhere of people reporting bug after bug,
yet it was released anyways and few, if any, were actually fixed!

 

[ZopfWare]

Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier, but yes they did get back to me. It seems that since I had a standalone license, I was unable to use the "bundled" version. As of today I just installed the latest v6.0.1 release, and with a few tweaks to the install instructions, you should be able to upgrade without difficulty.

The main thing they tell you is to save and copy back in your /inc/config/config.php file from your original installation, however this doesn't work right. So you should just gather all the necessary information you need from that file, such as DBuser ,DBName, etc.. and put it into the new config file.

Also, it appears that they have renamed some directories and this is not yet reflected in the documentation. The order directory is no longer app-modernbill-order, but just order.

The SSO integration is apparently working for me now, and I will update these various threads when I have some more information.

An interesting note, when I click on the billing link and it sends me to the billing system login, it gives me a set of choices for login based on the various admin/global accounts.

Wierd.....

 

[Spazholio]

If anyone knows why the heck Plesk always tells me that it "can't authenticate admin", I'd appreciate it. I've got the local/global accounts set up right, but something's just not working properly.

 

[ZopfWare]

Have you upgraded to the latest release? If so, then log into you PleskPanel (PP) and disconnect from your Global account. Log out of PP. Then log into Parallels Plesk Billing (PPB) then go to system configuration-->system settings->main system settings. Turn OFF all the admin and client sso check marks and click on save.

Then go to system configuration-->system settings-->SSO settings and uncheck all boxes for sso.

Log out of PPB.

Log back into Plesk Panel (PP) and click on Global account. Chose to connect to existing global account. Should be the account you just logged into the PP with.

Once connected, open another browser window, or tab, and log into PPB. Once in PPB again go to system configuration-->system settings-->main settings. Enable the options for both admin and client. Then go to system configuration-->system settings-->SSO settings and enable the option for register in SSO for both client and admin.

The path in each section should be http://yourdomain.com:1143
after saving the changes successfully, you can check the boxes for enable in sso for both client and admin. Again click on the save button.

After this you should see the global account link on the left-hand menu. Click on global account. Connect to existing account (should be showing you the account that you logged into PP with and we left open in another window.)

Once you have completed this you should be able to log-out of PP and PPB.

After log-off you should try re-logging into PP and then connecting to PPB.

Everything should work now.

Let me know if I confused you or if it doesn't help you out.

 

[Spazholio]

Wait...what?

A response on here that a) isn't bitching about Plesk 9 and b) is helpful?

Is that legal?

I did everything you said, and it seemed like it went ok. I logged into PP as the "admin" user, and it's connected to the global account properly. I click on the Billing icon, and it opens PPB properly, logged in as the correct user. However, when I click on Clients on the left, I get this at the top:

Error: Unable to fetch customers' balances: Unable to fetch data from Plesk Billing: [Ax000333] Failed to authenticate admin.

And the the balance for every client is "Unknown". That part is fine, as most of the users haven't set up Global accounts, and I can take care of that later, but the fact that the admin account can't connect to PPB is what's more concerning. Any ideas?

 

[Spazholio]

Ok, I managed to get around that issue by manually editing the DB and making sure the hash was the same in the DB and on the remote_access_hash for PPB. Now all the users I've added since my upgrade to 9.0 show a balance and a pretty little "Billing" icon. The users that came before, however, show nothing of the sort. I've tried logging in as them and registering a new global account, all that good stuff, to no avail. Any ideas on that one?

 

[Spazholio]

Ok, now that I've upgraded to 9.2.1, Plesk Billing is once again giving me the finger in the form of an "Unable to authenticate admin" error. Anyone manage to route around this?

I guess what I'm trying to say is....*bump*