Learn how to switch hosted domains from AWStats to GoAccess or Webalizer for web statistics reporting. Beyond security, this release expands the capabilities of the Plesk REST API, adds support for Microsoft SQL Server 2025, and delivers a wide range of stability, compatibility, and usability improvements for Linux and Windows servers.Servers that already have AWStats installed prior to upgrading to Plesk Obsidian 18.0.79 can continue using it after upgrading. However, AWStats can no longer be installed on servers running v18.0.79 and later.
Security First
The Secret Keys Manager extension now displays the owner of each secret key and allows administrators to create keys directly for customers and resellers from within the Plesk interface. Additionally, this release includes further security hardening and platform stability improvements.
- SSL/TLS certificate verification in the Linux license management component is now stricter, closing a gap in how the key authentication server was validated.
- In Plesk for Linux, DKIM signing is now applied automatically to emails sent locally via /usr/sbin/sendmail, automating a previously manual configuration step.
- Enhanced email authentication reliability through DMARC-related fixes.
- Key third-party security components including ModSecurity, the OWASP Core Rule Set, OpenSSL, and more, have been updated to their latest versions.
Expanded REST API Capabilities
Additionally, this release includes further security hardening and platform stability improvements.
- Resolved multiple Code Editor issues affecting file saving, navigation, scrolling, and file copying.
- Fixed rendering issues on the reseller ‘Domains’ page when viewed on smaller screens or at high zoom levels.
- Fixed an issue where the plesk bin subscription –update command could report success even when some hosting settings were not applied.
- Fixed Joomla! Toolkit instance removal failures when associated databases had already been deleted.
- Improved .NET application reliability after extension updates.
- Corrected false DNSBL blacklist reports in Plesk Email Security.
The default theme for new Plesk installations has changed from Light to Contrast, offering higher contrast by default.
- Enhanced DMARC enforcement and email authentication reliability.
- Improved GoAccess stability and error handling.
- Fixed MariaDB startup issues on SELinux-enabled servers.
- Resolved Docker Proxy Rules nginx configuration issues.
- Fixed Git repository creation failures.
- Improved AlmaLinux 10 compatibility.
Plesk now supports Microsoft SQL Server 2025 for user databases.
- Corrected PHP error log timestamp discrepancies.
- Fixed unexpected .ssh directory creation when using the Git extension.
Both the chat assistant and the knowledge base search are opt-in and configured separately via panel.ini; see the full setup details. Note, it does not yet support conversation history or automated actions.
Updated Third-Party Components
This release updates a number of third-party components and dependencies across Linux and Windows environments, including nginx, OpenSSL, .NET, PHP, Dovecot, ModSecurity, and the Sophos antivirus engine, among others. Security was a top priority for this update. v18.0.79 addresses multiple vulnerabilities across the platform and brings several hardening improvements designed to reduce operational risk without adding friction to your day-to-day work.
Update Recommended
The ngx_pagespeed module has been removed from nginx due to a security vulnerability in the PSOL library (libwebp). On Linux, improvements include: Highlights include:
