Input Plesk can now be installed on Ubuntu 20 servers running on ARM-based platforms

[Anthony]

@Anthony ?

Hello, we have no particular plans to support an installation on rhel for ARM shortly.
Now we are evaluating the demand for the Ubuntu 22 OS which was fully optimized by the vendor to work on ARM in AWS and Oracle Cloud.

 

[Adam Makowski]

Hello, we have no particular plans to support an installation on rhel for ARM shortly.
Now we are evaluating the demand for the Ubuntu 22 OS which was fully optimized by the vendor to work on ARM in AWS and Oracle Cloud.

But oracle also supports ARM on Oracle Linux

 

[juan diaz]

hello good I have the following problem is ubuntu 20.04 with arm64 and it does not let me install

 

[Anthony]

Hello @juan diaz ,

Thank you for your question.

hello good I have the following problem is ubuntu 20.04 with arm64 and it does not let me install

Since November 2022, we have updated our configuration requirements from Ubuntu 20 to 22 as the latest version.

Could you please use a server with Ubuntu 22 on ARM for Plesk installation? I hope it's acceptable for you. Please let me know.

 

[isomonkpiss]

Hello @juan diaz ,

Thank you for your question.



Since November 2022, we have updated our configuration requirements from Ubuntu 20 to 22 as the latest version.

Could you please use a server with Ubuntu 22 on ARM for Plesk installation? I hope it's acceptable for you. Please let me know.

Plan to add support for Almalinux?

 

[Anthony]

Plan to add support for Almalinux?

Hi @isomonkpiss, no specific plans for Almalinux. They depend on the demand actually

Why is Ubuntu 22 not fit? And how it's critical for you?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

 

[Maarten]

I would like to offer hosting based on ARM64. I know Almalunix inside out and have no experience with Ubuntu. Given the many issues with Ubuntu here, that's what keeps me from using it. I get that there are many issues because it is obviously a popular OS, but still, you need to know what kind of rabbit hole you're going into with an unknown OS. That's why I would instead get started with Plesk based on Almalinux ARM64 once it becomes available.

 

[isomonkpiss]

Hi @isomonkpiss, no specific plans for Almalinux. They depend on the demand actually

Why is Ubuntu 22 not fit? And how it's critical for you?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Because Debian/Ubuntu has short Support Period. Almalinux/Centos has 10 years

 

[rgfincher]

Hi - I recently purchased an M2 Mac mini to be able to try different ARM Linux versions (running in a Parallels Desktop Virtual Machine). This is what I found:

1.) AlmaLinux 8.8 aarch64 - I could not get this to boot
2.) AlmaLinux 9.2 aarch64 - I could get this to boot and was able to fully install the Linux operating system. But not currently supported by Plesk.
3.) Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS - I could get this to boot and was able to fully install the Linux operating system. I was then able to fully install Plesk for ARM Linux, (at least, the parts of Plesk for ARM Linux which I plan to use).

I don't plan to use Mac minis to do any actual revenue earning hosting in my Datacentre, I am using this Mac mini as a test-bed (because it's cheap), and as a prelude to ordering a SuperMicro server with a dual Ampere Altra CPU motherboard. When I first came across the Altra CPU, it had 80 cores. Now there is 96 cores, and a 128-core version is being planned. Times two CPUs, is a lot of cores, running at greater thermal efficiency and better kWh power consumption.

I would much prefer to continue to run Plesk on AlmaLinux or other rpm-based distro like RockyLinux. The reason is, that the RedHat / yum / rpm package manager system is much better than the apt-get, dpkg, .deb package manager system on Ubuntu Linux. I do in fact use Ubuntu Linux quite a bit in my business, but not for the purposes of Plesk-controlled VPS's, they are all CentOS and AlmaLinux.

 

[rgfincher]

I note that some people on this thread have already purchased their Ampere Altra servers. I'm curious how easy it was to get your server to boot - did you have to compile the kernel, use a bespoke pre-compiled kernel for that CPU, any special driver problems, (eg lack of support for onboard NICs) ?

 

[Maarten]

I just found out that KasperskyAV is not supported on ARM-based servers.

Is there a list of extensions that do work on ARM64? I don't want to go into trial-and-error mode with the extensions.

 

[Anthony]

Is there a list of extensions that do work on ARM64?

Hi @Maarten.

All major extensions work on ARM64 (like WP Toolkit, Sophos Anti-virus, Node.js, Laravel, etc.). I don't have the exact list, but you can know some of them by using CRTL+F on the Changelog page Change Log for Plesk Obsidian

Also, here is the list of additional limitations FAQ for Plesk Obsidian

 

[afuego]

Important to mention Imunify360 won't run on ARM.

 

[freefirnames12]

One more thing, when I try to install by Plesk Web Installer in AWS ARM Ubuntu 18 the script got error said unsupported OS.

 

[Kaspar@Plesk]

One more thing, when I try to install by Plesk Web Installer in AWS ARM Ubuntu 18 the script got error said unsupported OS.

That would be correct, as Plesk current only supports Ubuntu 22 on ARM systems.

 

[freefirnames12]

l major extensions work on ARM64 (like WP Toolkit, Sophos Anti-virus, Node.js, Laravel, etc.). I don't have the exact list, but you can know some of them by using CRTL+F on the Changelog pag

 

[rgfincher]

When new branches of tech come out, we're left wondering whether these will be 'the future' or whether they will grow slowly and then be pruned off due to lack of support / backing from developers. Compare what Apple have done with ARM, compared with what Microsoft have done with ARM.

So, it's important not to simply sit back and wait, as a spectator, for other parts of the Plesk eco-system (such as ImunifyAV) to begin a project to implement ARM versions of their piece of the puzzle. Write to them. Not aggressively with "WHY haven't you done this yet?" but business-owner to business-owner. "Here are the reasons you should consider switching from 'we don't support ARM', to 'ARM support is coming in the next version, would you like to be a beta-tester'. "

You don't have to be an actual developer to participate meaningfully in the world of software development. Plesk have stuck their neck out and said "Here is one distribution "Ubuntu Server" which we ARE supporting on ARM, lets see what you guys do with it". The next step is up to the rest of us. Sure, I'd love Plesk to do an AlmaLinux ARM version, but they will need more take-up and feedback from the users first I suspect, when there are other areas also crying out for their investment dollars.

The same might be said for the whole aarch64 CPU space. Two other major BigTech companies have developed aarch64 CPUs purely for their own use - nobody else can buy one of these CPUs or a motherboard which supports them. Ampere and Oracle took this different view - where ordinary folks can buy and use their CPUs, not just the people who funded their development. But if we just sit back and wait for others to expand the level of 3rd party support, we might find Oracle taking a different view - they might buy Ampere, and then simply develop the next gen of Ampere CPUs for their own exclusive use.

 

[rgfincher]

Finally deployed our first Ampere Altra-Max powered server in our rack. Been working towards this for about 2 or 3 years now.
Looking forward to trumpeting this as "Green Hosting" in our marketing material. let's see how that lands with our customers.

 

[rgfincher]

We are a small, London-based hosting company without plans to rapidly grow. We don't aim to offer the cheapest hosting, because there are multi-million dollar American companies that wipe the floor on that. You probably have ten or a hundred times as many customers as we do. But we've been doing this since 1998, so we must be doing something right, albeit in a niche market. Our customers are agencies for the most part.

When considering the cost of providing hosting services, it's not all about the cost of the server, but over a 3 - 5 year lifespan, it's also about the total cost of ownership. As you'll be aware, Ampere CPUs are much more efficient than the Xeon or AMD CPUs of a similar vintage (2022 in this case). Not all datacentres charge for metered power, but an increasing number do. So even if your customers don't care about servers that use less kWH, your accountant/CFO probably does. And although it may seem that Ampere is an outlier technology, it's worth bearing in mind that Amazon, Google and Microsoft all offer virtual compute instances in their clouds, some using Ampere CPUs, and some using proprietary ARM hardware technology such as Graviton which the rest of us aren't allowed to purchase on the open market.

 

[rgfincher]

You make a fair point about total cost of ownership, and I absolutely agree that power efficiency is becoming more relevant; especially in datacentres with metered power billing.

That said, in our segment of the market (primarily SMB and price-sensitive hosting customers), the upfront and predictable cost per VM or per hosting account still weighs heavier than long-term theoretical efficiency gains. Most clients don’t ask what CPU architecture we run on — they ask what it costs per month and whether it performs reliably.

From a technical perspective, ARM is interesting, and Ampere has clearly positioned itself well. But for us, the decision also involves ecosystem maturity and operational risk. x86 remains the lowest-friction option in terms of software compatibility, third-party tooling, backup agents, security tooling, and predictable behaviour under mixed workloads. Especially in environments where Plesk, extensions, Imunify, backup software, and other commercial components all need to work seamlessly.

If ARM adoption continues to grow and more vendors officially support aarch64 as a first-class citizen rather than a “we’ll see” platform, that lowers the barrier significantly. At that point it becomes less of a technical experiment and more of a strategic alternative.

For now, we optimise heavily on density, consolidation and efficiency within the x86 ecosystem. That gives us a very predictable cost model across 3–5 years, which matters when you operate at scale.

But I do appreciate pioneers pushing ARM forward — broader adoption only happens if someone actually deploys it in production and shares real-world results.

Thank you for your thoughtful comments.