Last
Updated: 01/28/2026
( 12 minutes reading )
Keeping your server up to date is essential for security, performance, and stability. System updates include operating system patches, Plesk version upgrades, updated components, and critical bug fixes.
Plesk provides a built-in Updates & Upgrades tool that lets you easily install updates, check for new versions, upgrade components, and automate system patching - all from a simple, user-friendly interface.
In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of updating your system in Plesk.
First and foremost, please ensure you are logged in to your Plesk control panel. To do that, please enter your IP address, hostname, or domain name inside your web browser’s search bar and add “:8443” at the end. It should look something like: “https://yourdomain.com:8443”. By doing so, you will be prompted by a login form that requests your username and password.
After logging in with your username and password, Plesk will automatically display the “Websites & Domains” page, which will serve as the index page from where you can manage everything related to your websites and domains on Plesk.
To begin the update process, please locate and click on the “Tools & Settings” option from the left-hand menu.
Performing the action above will redirect you to the “Tools & Settings” page ,where you will find many tools that can help you manage all aspects of your Pleks server.
From there, please locate the “System Updates” functionality and click on it. It should be under the “Server Management” section.
When you are redirected to the “System Updates” page, you will notice a couple of things from the start. In the middle, you will see when the last check was performed. Plesk will automatically check for:
If new updates are available, they will be displayed in the list, which is inside a table section. On the left side, you will see the package that can be updated, in the middle, you will see a description for the package, and on the far right side, you will see the new version to which you are going to update it.
If no updates are available, you will see a button in the middle of the table section that will allow you to scan for available updates. After pressing it (if updates are available), it will be populated with them.
To begin updating, you must first select a package, using the checkbox corresponding to the package you want to update.
Afterward, please click on the “Update” button located on the top right side of the table section.
Performing the above will generate a prompt that you need to confirm, and upon doing so, Plesk will begin applying the updates. This may take several minutes, depending on the server's speed and the update's size.
Important Note: During the update, you can expect services to restart, depending on the package you are updating temporarily. Websites should remain functional in most cases, and the Plesk interface may become temporarily unavailable.
Sometimes, you may have more than a single package to update, in which case it will take a long time to go through each package and install updates individually. This is why Plesk offers the option to mass-update all available packages at once. To do that, please click the “Update All” button at the top of the page.
You will receive the same prompt as earlier, and once confirmed, the package update process will start.
The last thing we will discuss is how to lock and unlock packages. “Locking” a package means that you will essentially prevent it from being updated. You may want to lock a package version if its updated variant is incompatible with another vital package you are using. If you see a warning message pop up, or your webmaster/system administrator or developer requests this, you can perform this action from this page by marking the package with the checkbox and then clicking the “Lock” button at the top left of the table section.
Similarly, if you want to unlock a previously locked package due to incompatibility, you can do so by selecting the same package and pressing the “unlock” button on the right side of the “lock” button.
To ensure your server is secure, reliable, and up to date, we recommend enabling automatic updates. To do that, please open the “Settings” tab, located on the right side of the “All Packages” tab.
On the “Settings” tab, you will see a few other settings, in addition to enabling the automatic updates. Let’s go over all of them.
Automatic updates help prevent vulnerabilities and ensure your server remains stable and up to date. Enabling and receiving notifications also ensures you are informed when this process completes, so you can check whether everything went as expected.
To save the settings on this page, please either click on the “Ok” button to save them and get redirected to the “Tools & Settings” page, or click the “Apply” button to save your changes and remain on the page.
Before performing major updates, we recommend that you take into consideration the following:
Updates rarely cause issues, but preparation ensures a smooth upgrade.
As you can see, Plesk makes it easy to perform system updates and keep your server secure and up to date. Whether you are installing OS patches, upgrading Plesk itself, or updating server components, the Updates & Upgrades tool provides a safe and user-friendly way to perform all necessary maintenance.
We hope this tutorial was helpful, and we kindly encourage you to run updates regularly or enable automatic updates for the best security and performance.
Nikola is an accomplished tech-savvy extraordinaire with over six years of experience in the web hosting field. He started as a customer care representative and quickly rose the ranks to become a support supervisor and, eventually - the head of the technical department in HostArmada. His deep understanding of the client's needs, combined with his technical knowledge, makes him the perfect man to create the ideal harmony between client satisfaction and professional problem-solving. You will often find him creating helpful tutorials, articles, and blog posts that help existing customers get around.
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