Questions about updates for Plesk, CentOS, and Virtuozzo...

[Bobbbb]

Hello,

I have been unable, for some time, to get a clear understanding of how updates for Plesk, as well as the underlying OS, should work together, in a Plesk environment.

Of course, I'm most interested in answers that apply to my specific configuration, but even if I just had some more general answers, it would make it easier for me to apply it to my own situation. I will describe my particular set up, in case folks can provide specific answers, but general answers will also be helpful.

I'm currently running several Plesk 11.0.9 servers using CentOS 6.4 with Postfix. It's my understanding that my VPS provider (ServInt) uses Virtuozzo on the host machines.

I would like to understand how various updates should work in a recommended environment...

Regarding Plesk updates...

Other than Plesk/PSA software updates, what other updates are automatically pushed to Plesk 11 servers via the Plesk auto-update mechanism?

We have seen the version of PHP updated (5.3 to 5.4), once in the past (Aug 11, 2013), without any action on our part. I don't know if that came from Plesk, our VPS provider, or Virtuozzo.

It's my understanding that Plesk installs and/or supports specific versions of PHP and MySQL. If there are minor version updates, or security related updates, to PHP or MySQL, do those get automatically installed by Plesk? If not, then how should minor version and security updates for PHP and MySQL be handled? Installing an unsupported version of PHP or MySQL could causing Plesk to stop working, yes? If PHP and MySQL updates are not automatically installed, how do I determine which updates are compatible, have been tested, and should be installed? I'm happy to just use the supported versions on PHP and MySQL for the version of Plesk we are using, however, if security updates are needed, how should these be handled?

Currently we have servers with the following versions of PHP and MySQL...

Server#1

# yum list installed | grep -i php
php.x86_64                         5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-cli.x86_64                     5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-common.x86_64                  5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-devel.x86_64                   5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-gd.x86_64                      5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-imap.x86_64                    5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-mbstring.x86_64                5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-mysql.x86_64                   5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-pdo.x86_64                     5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-pgsql.x86_64                   5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php-xml.x86_64                     5.4.26-32.el6.art                   @atomic
php5-ioncube-loader.x86_64         4.0.14-12042719                     installed
psa-php5-configurator.x86_64       1.6.2-cos6.build110120608.16        installed
psa11-php-fakepackage.x86_64       11.0.9-cos6.build110120608.16       installed

# yum list installed | grep -i mysql
mysql.x86_64  5.5.36-21.el6.art  @atomic
mysql-connector-odbc.x86_64  5.1.5r1144-7.el6  installed
mysql-libs.x86_64  5.5.36-21.el6.art  @atomic
mysql-server.x86_64  5.5.36-21.el6.art  @atomic
mysqlclient16.x86_64  5.1.59-2.el6.art  @atomic
perl-DBD-MySQL.x86_64  4.013-3.el6  installed
php-mysql.x86_64  5.4.26-32.el6.art  @atomic

# yum repolist enabled
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
Repository PPB_11_0_9-dist is listed more than once in the configuration
Repository PPB_11_0_9-thirdparty is listed more than once in the configuration
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
PSA_11.0.9-thirdparty  | 2.9 kB  00:00
SITEBUILDER_11.0.10-dist  |  951 B  00:00
SITEBUILDER_11.0.10-thirdparty  |  951 B  00:00
base  | 3.7 kB  00:00
extras  | 3.3 kB  00:00
plesk  | 2.9 kB  00:00
rmmagent  | 1.3 kB  00:00
updates  | 3.4 kB  00:00
repo id  repo name  status
PSA_11.0.9-thirdparty  Parallels product PSA_11.0.9 thirdparty  3
SITEBUILDER_11.0.10-dist  Parallels product SITEBUILDER_11_0_10 dist  3
SITEBUILDER_11.0.10-thirdparty  Parallels product SITEBUILDER_11_0_10 thirdparty  0
base  CentOS-6 - Base  6,508+10
extras  CentOS-6 - Extras  15
plesk  Plesk Server Administrator  114+1
rmmagent  Advanced Monitoring Agent for Linux (CentOS_6)  6
updates  CentOS-6 - Updates  174
repolist: 6,823

# yum repolist disabled
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
Repository PPB_11_0_9-dist is listed more than once in the configuration
Repository PPB_11_0_9-thirdparty is listed more than once in the configuration
repo id  repo name
C6.0-base  CentOS-6.0 - Base
C6.0-centosplus  CentOS-6.0 - CentOSPlus
C6.0-contrib  CentOS-6.0 - Contrib
C6.0-extras  CentOS-6.0 - Extras
C6.0-updates  CentOS-6.0 - Updates
C6.1-base  CentOS-6.1 - Base
C6.1-centosplus  CentOS-6.1 - CentOSPlus
C6.1-contrib  CentOS-6.1 - Contrib
C6.1-extras  CentOS-6.1 - Extras
C6.1-updates  CentOS-6.1 - Updates
C6.2-base  CentOS-6.2 - Base
C6.2-centosplus  CentOS-6.2 - CentOSPlus
C6.2-contrib  CentOS-6.2 - Contrib
C6.2-extras  CentOS-6.2 - Extras
C6.2-updates  CentOS-6.2 - Updates
C6.3-base  CentOS-6.3 - Base
C6.3-centosplus  CentOS-6.3 - CentOSPlus
C6.3-contrib  CentOS-6.3 - Contrib
C6.3-extras  CentOS-6.3 - Extras
C6.3-updates  CentOS-6.3 - Updates
PPB_11_0_9-dist  Parallels product PPB_11_0_9 dist
PPB_11_0_9-thirdparty  Parallels product PPB_11_0_9 thirdparty
PSA_11_0_9-dist  Parallels product PSA_11_0_9 dist
PSA_11_0_9-thirdparty  Parallels product PSA_11_0_9 thirdparty
SITEBUILDER_11_0_10-dist  Parallels product SITEBUILDER_11_0_10 dist
SITEBUILDER_11_0_10-thirdparty  Parallels product SITEBUILDER_11_0_10 thirdparty
atomic  CentOS / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - atomicrocketturtle.com
atomic-testing  CentOS / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - atomicrocketturtle.com - (Testing)
c6-media  CentOS-6 - Media
centosplus  CentOS-6 - Plus
contrib  CentOS-6 - Contrib
debug  CentOS-6 - Debuginfo
repolist: 0

Server#2

# yum list installed | grep -i php

php.x86_64                         5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-cli.x86_64                     5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-common.x86_64                  5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-devel.x86_64                   5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-gd.x86_64                      5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-imap.x86_64                    5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-mbstring.x86_64                5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-mysql.x86_64                   5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-pdo.x86_64                     5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-pgsql.x86_64                   5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php-xml.x86_64                     5.4.25-31.el6.art                  @atomic
php5-ioncube-loader.x86_64         4.0.14-12042719                    installed
psa-php5-configurator.x86_64       1.6.2-cos6.build110120608.16       installed
psa11-php-fakepackage.x86_64       11.0.9-cos6.build110120608.16      installed

# yum list installed | grep -i mysql
mysql.x86_64  5.5.36-21.el6.art  @atomic
mysql-connector-odbc.x86_64  5.1.5r1144-7.el6  installed
mysql-libs.x86_64  5.5.36-21.el6.art  @atomic
mysql-server.x86_64  5.5.36-21.el6.art  @atomic
mysqlclient16.x86_64  5.1.59-2.el6.art  @atomic
perl-DBD-MySQL.x86_64  4.013-3.el6  installed
php-mysql.x86_64  5.4.25-31.el6.art  @atomic

# yum repolist enabled
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
base  | 3.7 kB  00:00
extras  | 3.3 kB  00:00
rmmagent  | 1.3 kB  00:00
updates  | 3.4 kB  00:00
repo id  repo name  status
base  CentOS-6 - Base  6,508+10
extras  CentOS-6 - Extras  15
rmmagent  Advanced Monitoring Agent for Linux (CentOS_6)  6
updates  CentOS-6 - Updates  174
repolist: 6,703
[root@plesk2 log]# yum repolist enabled
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
base  | 3.7 kB  00:00
extras  | 3.3 kB  00:00
rmmagent  | 1.3 kB  00:00
updates  | 3.4 kB  00:00
repo id  repo name  status
base  CentOS-6 - Base  6,508+10
extras  CentOS-6 - Extras  15
rmmagent  Advanced Monitoring Agent for Linux (CentOS_6)  6
updates  CentOS-6 - Updates  174
repolist: 6,703

# yum repolist disabled
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
repo id  repo name
C6.0-base  CentOS-6.0 - Base
C6.0-centosplus  CentOS-6.0 - CentOSPlus
C6.0-contrib  CentOS-6.0 - Contrib
C6.0-extras  CentOS-6.0 - Extras
C6.0-updates  CentOS-6.0 - Updates
C6.1-base  CentOS-6.1 - Base
C6.1-centosplus  CentOS-6.1 - CentOSPlus
C6.1-contrib  CentOS-6.1 - Contrib
C6.1-extras  CentOS-6.1 - Extras
C6.1-updates  CentOS-6.1 - Updates
C6.2-base  CentOS-6.2 - Base
C6.2-centosplus  CentOS-6.2 - CentOSPlus
C6.2-contrib  CentOS-6.2 - Contrib
C6.2-extras  CentOS-6.2 - Extras
C6.2-updates  CentOS-6.2 - Updates
C6.3-base  CentOS-6.3 - Base
C6.3-centosplus  CentOS-6.3 - CentOSPlus
C6.3-contrib  CentOS-6.3 - Contrib
C6.3-extras  CentOS-6.3 - Extras
C6.3-updates  CentOS-6.3 - Updates
atomic  CentOS / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - atomicrocketturtle.com
atomic-testing  CentOS / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - atomicrocketturtle.com - (Testing)
c6-media  CentOS-6 - Media
centosplus  CentOS-6 - Plus
contrib  CentOS-6 - Contrib
debug  CentOS-6 - Debuginfo
repolist: 0

Continued...

 

[Bobbbb]

Continued from last post...

I see that the installed versions of PHP and MySQL were installed from the Atomic Repo. I assume this was done by Plesk, by our VPS provider (ServInt), or by GlowTouch (when they migrated our physical Plesk servers to VPSs) when the servers were initially set up.

What is the recommended method to keep these (PHP and MySQL) up-to-date with minor version or security updates, while remaining supported and compatible with Plesk?

Regarding the underlying OS updates (CentOS)...

We're currently using CentOS 6.4. What OS updates are recommended in a Plesk environment? Would an update/upgrade from CentOS 6.4 to 6.5 be recommended, compatible, and safe? What is the best method to accomplish this? What should NOT updated, and how do we prevent those updates, when using YUM?

How do we avoid installing unwanted updates from the base CentOS repo, such as something that would attempt to remove or update PHP or MySQL, and break Plesk? How do we avoid installing updates from the wrong repo that might also attempt to remove or update PHP or MySQL, or otherwise break Plesk?

I see, in a KB article (http://kb.odin.com/en/234), that it is suggested to edit /etc/yum.conf with "exclude=kernel* sendmail bind-chroot caching-nameserver". But that doesn't address PHP or MySQL.

I see in another KB article (http://kb.odin.com/en/119803) that it suggests to "Prohibit PHP and MySQL updates in the custom repositories configuration".

These suggestions are spread out in different articles, addressing specific update problems, after they have occurred. I would like to avoid the problems to begin with by understanding the correct/supported/recommended way to configure and install updates.

What about Virtuozzo?

I've seen mentioned that some operating system updates can be, or are, pushed out via Virtuozzo, which my VPS host (ServInt) uses on the VPS host machines, but I know nothing about Virtuozzo.

How does this work? What is, or is not, automatically updated by Virtuozzo? What about kernel updates? What about updating from CentOS 6.4 to 6.5?

More than a year ago I opened a ticket with my VPS provider asking how they handled updates. I got so much conflicting information, after 25 messages back and forth, that I did not gain any additional insight. Some messages claimed that they automatically run Yum on the host machines and that updates packages on the VPS. Other messages in the same thread suggested that wasn't that case.

Current concerns...

Currently we want to update CentOS 6.4 to 6.5, since, it appears, CentOS 6.4 is no longer supported.

We also want to update OpenSSL, due to the recent issues, but I believe we have to update to CentOS 6.5, first.

We want to be using fully patched, and supported, versions of all other software for the running services on the server such as Apache, PHP, MySQL, Postfix, IMAP/POP, FTP, SSH, etc.

Thanks, in advance, for any help, suggestions, insight, or information folks can provide.

Regards,
Bob

 

[Bobbbb]

Hopefully, there are some Plesk and RH/CentOS experts out there that wouldn't mind sharing their knowledge...

 

[IgorG]

Plesk doesn't ship client's PHP and MySQL, it only downloads it from original OS vendor repo and it is quite likely it may be outdated there (especially for older OS). If your OS comes with PHP 5.6, for example, then Plesk would run PHP 5.6 for clients. You can also use therd-party repositories - Atomic in your case. So, updating PHP and MySQL is OS related task but not Plesk. Actually, this is task of server administrator. Plesk has only list of supported and tested versions of components. You can find it in Release Notes - http://download1.parallels.com/Ples...ls-plesk-panel-11.5-for-linux-based-os.html#5 If you need to use any other version of components - install and use it on your own risk.

For Plesk we recommend to use CentOS or Debian. Plesk does not support major OS upgrade (dist-upgrade). Use migration or backup/restore methods for replacing Plesk on server with newest version of supported OS.

All Virtuozzo related questions you can ask in special forum section - http://talk.plesk.com/categories/parallels-cloud-server.686/ Virtuozzo experts will help you there.

 

[Bobbbb]

Much thanks for your helpful reply!

For Plesk we recommend to use CentOS or Debian. Plesk does not support major OS upgrade (dist-upgrade). Use migration or backup/restore methods for replacing Plesk on server with newest version of supported OS.

Would going from CentOS 6.4 to 6.5 be considered a major OS upgrade, and therefore, not be recommended/supported?

When doing OS updates, what should we avoid updating? I read, in some KB articles, that certain updates might try to update PHP & MySQL and cause trouble.

Thanks, again, for your time and help!

 

[IgorG]

I think that you can use upgrade from CentOS 6.4 to CentOS 6.5 because it is minor update.

 

[kevint@firedrum]

I did a yum update on a plesk vps 10.4.4.

I would like to rollback the yum updates (because the server is no unstable)
but yum undo fails?

I believe I need to add a package repo mirror that would have the older versions?

>yum history undo 47
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, priorities
Undoing transaction 47, from Tue Jan 27 21:55:40 2015
Updated OpenIPMI-2.0.16-12.el6.i686 @base
Update 2.0.16-14.el6.i686 @base
Updated OpenIPMI-devel-2.0.16-12.el6.i686 @base
Update 2.0.16-14.el6.i686 @base
Updated OpenIPMI-libs-2.0.16-12.el6.i686 @base
Update 2.0.16-14.el6.i686 @base
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* atomic: www5.atomicorp.com
* base: mirror.umd.edu
* extras: mirror.nexcess.net
* updates: mirror.millry.co
atomic | 3.4 kB 00:00
base | 3.7 kB 00:00
extras | 3.4 kB 00:00
updates | 3.4 kB 00:00
131 packages excluded due to repository priority protections
Updated audit-libs-2.2-2.el6.i686 ?
Update 2.3.7-5.el6.i686 @base
Updated authconfig-6.1.12-10.el6.i686 ?
Update 6.1.12-19.el6.i686 @base
Updated automake-1.11.1-1.2.el6.noarch @base
Update 1.11.1-4.el6.noarch @base
Updated avahi-libs-0.6.25-11.el6.i686 ?
Update 0.6.25-15.el6.i686 @base
Updated bash-4.1.2-15.el6_5.2.i686 @@updates
Update 4.1.2-29.el6.i686 @base
Updated bind-32:9.8.2-0.10.rc1.el6_3.5.i686 ?
Update 32:9.8.2-0.30.rc1.el6_6.1.i686 @@updates
Updated bind-libs-32:9.8.2-0.10.rc1.el6_3.5.i686 ?
Update 32:9.8.2-0.30.rc1.el6_6.1.i686 @@updates

Many more ……

Failed to downgrade: OpenIPMI-2.0.16-12.el6.i686
Failed to downgrade: OpenIPMI-devel-2.0.16-12.el6.i686
Failed to downgrade: OpenIPMI-libs-2.0.16-12.el6.i686
Failed to downgrade: audit-libs-2.2-2.el6.i686
Failed to downgrade: authconfig-6.1.12-10.el6.i686
Failed to downgrade: automake-1.11.1-1.2.el6.noarch
Failed to downgrade: avahi-libs-0.6.25-11.el6.i686
Failed to downgrade: bash-4.1.2-15.el6_5.2.i686
Failed to downgrade: 32:bind-9.8.2-0.10.rc1.el6_3.5.i686
Failed to downgrade: 32:bind-libs-9.8.2-0.10.rc1.el6_3.5.i686

Many more ……

Error: No package(s) available to install