Clever Geek Handbook

Overview of ISPmanager - hosting and site control panels

Not so long ago, we published a review of “ What's New in Web Consoles 2019 ”, after which we parsed the Plesk panel in detail and now we want to parse another site and server control panel - ISPmanager.







ISPmanager is one of the most popular VPS or dedicated Linux server control panels in Russia and the CIS. It provides convenient tools for creating users, sites, domains, e-mail addresses, etc. The panel is integrated with site builders, antiviruses, Let's Encrypt and other modules. You can create your own plugin using the API.



Key Features





About the panel, brand and company



ISPmanager is a commercial product of Irkutsk developers of ISPsystem , a leader in the Russian market for hosting automation software. The company in IT for more than 15 years. Positions itself as “a team of 150 employees in love with their work”, whose motto and mission is: “maximize automation”. Two-minute video about the company .



â–ŤISPsystem offers several core products





And a few additional products





All products are multilingual. Written in C ++ mainly under Linux, a little under Windows.



Info center



The documentation for all products of the company is collected here . There is a very lively forum and blog . There is a help center and a small knowledge base . There is also a service where you can send a request for improvement of any ISPsystem product, and the company also provides rewards for helping to improve the quality of its products. To get technical support, you need to write a request through your account on the site. VK , FB , Twiter .



Getting started in ISPmanager Lite



We will talk about the current version of ISPmanager Lite 5 in 2019, since it is designed specifically for the server administrator. Instead of the next version 6, which was planned to be “sharpened” more for the unprofessional owner of its website, two, ISPsystem developed a separate product Vepp , which I recently wrote about on Habré here and here . This is a tool for creating a site for a beginner.









Vepp



The company “threatens” to completely replace ISPmanager with Vepp, as evidenced in the commentary on the article by Vepp product Anastasia Vukmirovich:











Let us return to ISPmanager Lite 5, which is thought out in such a way that without resorting to documentation (by the way, conveniently structured and written in a simple understandable language), work in it will seem simple even to a technically untrained user. Often an intuitive interface, hints, the ability to rearrange blocks as you wish - all this makes ISPmanager Lite one of the most convenient server and site control panels.



â–Ť System requirements



Hardware part. x64 (amd64) platforms with minimum requirements: CPU 226 MHz, 1 core, 768 MB RAM, 10 GB HDD.

OS CentOS 7, Debian 8 and 9, Ubuntu 16 and 18.



â–ŤSupported software









Software Supported by ISPmanager Lite



â–Ť What's new compared to the previous version





At the very beginning, it is recommended to perform basic settings, after which any site quickly installed on the server will work correctly:



  1. Create Admin Account
  2. Perform server settings
  3. Set up automatic updates (or update manually, but this is less convenient)









  4. Create user templates based on which restrictions will be set for them.
  5. Used software will be installed automatically. You can select and configure additional services or remove unnecessary ones using the “features” documentation section.


See the topic documentation for how to make the rest of the settings:





Interface



After authorization, the Dashboard opens with a small task and information panel about the account located in the blocks: the number of users, sites, traffic consumption, information about the system and installed packages, statistics on server resources and more. Blocks can be collapsed and moved.









Dashboard



The left menu of the panel displays all its features by category. It has three states: complete, selected, and popular. At the top there are buttons for adjusting the display of the menu and a window for quickly searching for menu items (by the first three letters). The branches of the menu tree, like itself, can be minimized to save space.









Left menu



A global search at the very top of the panel window allows you to search inside it for various data, such as a website or database.



Different users of the panel working in it simultaneously may have different rights: the owner of the server has maximum rights; at the administrator - advanced for setting up and managing users (can enter the panel with the rights of its users); users only have access to customize their sites. The current user's settings are opened by clicking on the drop-down list in the upper right corner.









Current User Settings



The panel has a built-in system of tooltips and the ability to see articles from the documentation related to this section (icon with a green question mark in the upper right).









Tooltips



The main workspace is a table with lists of panel items. Above the table is a toolbar where you can select actions on elements. Some may be inactive - this means that the action is not applicable to this element or the desired line is not selected. After you select the items in the table, the buttons become active. Under certain conditions, the buttons may still remain inactive, in some cases, the reasons can be found in the tooltip for the button.









Table



The appearance of the table can be customized for itself through the button "configure the table view" in the same place, in the upper right. For example, remove unnecessary columns or add the necessary ones.









Table Settings Menu



To sort the table entries, click on the column heading (its width can be changed). You can filter lists through the search field on the right (there is an advanced filter in the same place) or by pressing Ctrl + Shift + F.



At the bottom of the table, statistical information about the list items is displayed. If no rows are selected in the table, this information applies to all records. Otherwise, only to selected entries.



Each menu item opens in a separate tab. You can open several tabs at the same time, as well as easily switch between them and close modules that are no longer needed.









Tabs



To select one line, click on it with the mouse. To select multiple lines, use Ctrl + click. Many lines can be selected by clicking on the first and Shift-click on the last.



To exit and reset the data from the browser, click "Logout" in the drop-down menu in the upper right corner under the settings of the current user.



Read more about the panel interface in the documentation for it.



Additional integration modules





Conclusion



We hope you found the review helpful. As always, write in the comments, if we missed something or you noticed a mistake, we will amend the article. Recall that now for all new RUVDS customers there is a special offer , according to which you can get a free license for the ISPmanager or Plesk panel when purchasing VPS before the end of 2019.







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