As a reseller with Nan Resources, you have the ability to manage subscriptions for each of your customers in the Plesk hosting environment. Subscriptions allow you to allocate resources and define hosting features based on each customer’s specific plan. This guide will help you understand how to manage subscriptions effectively, including the concepts of Synced and Locked Subscriptions.
What is a Subscription?
A Subscription in Plesk is a service package that includes all the resources and features assigned to a specific customer, such as disk space, bandwidth, email accounts, and databases. Each subscription is based on a Service Plan, which standardizes the resources and features provided, ensuring that customers receive the services they signed up for.
Key Features of a Subscription:
- Resource Allocation: Each subscription includes predefined resources, such as disk space, bandwidth, and email limits.
- Feature Access: Controls what tools and services the customer can access, such as database management, SSL certificates, and email services.
- Isolated Environment: Each subscription is isolated, so customers have secure, individual access to manage their own hosting.
Synced vs. Locked Subscriptions
In Plesk, subscriptions can either be synced or locked in relation to the service plan they are based on.
Synced Subscriptions
A Synced Subscription is a subscription that follows the original settings of the service plan it is based on. When changes are made to the service plan (such as adjusting disk space limits or adding new features), synced subscriptions are automatically updated to reflect these changes. This helps ensure consistency across multiple customer accounts using the same service plan.
Key Points:
- Changes to the service plan are applied automatically to synced subscriptions.
- Synced subscriptions are ideal when you want all customers on the same plan to have identical resources and features.
Locked Subscriptions
A Locked Subscription is disconnected from its original service plan. Any changes made to the service plan will not affect locked subscriptions, allowing you to customize a customer’s resources and features without impacting other customers on the same plan.
Reasons to Lock a Subscription:
- If a customer has unique resource requirements or features that differ from the standard service plan.
- If you want to prevent future changes to the service plan from affecting a specific subscription.
How to Lock a Subscription:
- Go to Subscriptions in Plesk.
- Select the subscription you want to lock.
- In the subscription settings, choose Lock.
To revert a locked subscription back to synced status, you can unlock it by reconnecting it to the original service plan.
Note: Locked subscriptions will not receive updates if you make changes to the service plan, so be mindful when using this option.
Out of Sync Subscription
A subscription that is out of sync does not include certain resources or permissions offered by the hosting plan. To resolve this, the subscription has to be synced (Subscriptions > click the name of the subscription > Sync).
When syncing a subscription, you may encounter the Synchronization Failed screen.
This means that the sync procedure failed for one or more domains assigned to the subscription. The most likely cause is the fact that the hosting plan on which the subscription is based includes resources or permissions that are unavailable to you. In the example above, the sync procedure failed because the PHP version and handler management permission, which is included in the hosting plan (note the Plan value column), is not, in fact, available (note the Available value column).
Note: To see a list of resources and permissions available to you, go to Home > My resources and permissions overview.
To resolve this situation, you need to either remove the resources and permissions that are unavailable to you from the hosting plan (Service Plans > click the name of the plan), or contact your hosting provider to discuss making those resources and permissions available.
Creating a Subscription
To learn how to create a subscription for a new or existing customer, please see our detailed guide: Creating a Subscription for a Customer.
Changing the Subscriber of a Subscription
If you need to transfer a subscription to a different customer, refer to our guide: Changing the Subscriber of a Subscription.
Modifying a Subscription
If a customer’s needs change, you can modify their subscription’s resource limits or features:
- Navigate to Subscriptions:
- From the Plesk dashboard, go to Subscriptions and find the subscription you want to modify.
- Select the Subscription:
- Click on the subscription name to view its settings.
- Adjust Resources or Features:
- Update the resource limits (e.g., disk space, bandwidth) or enable/disable specific features as needed.
- Save Changes:
- Confirm the modifications by saving your changes.
The updated subscription will now reflect the new resource limits and features.
Upgrading or Downgrading a Subscription
If a customer needs more or fewer resources, you can easily upgrade or downgrade their subscription to a different service plan:
- Go to Subscriptions and select the customer’s subscription.
- Click Change Plan.
- Choose the new service plan that reflects the upgraded or downgraded resources.
- Confirm the change, and Plesk will adjust the resources and features based on the new plan.
Suspending or Removing a Subscription
If a customer’s account needs to be temporarily suspended (e.g., for non-payment) or permanently removed:
- Suspending a Subscription:
- Select the subscription, then click Set Status > Suspend. This will temporarily disable access to the account’s resources without deleting data.
- Removing a Subscription:
- To permanently delete a subscription, select it and click Remove. Confirm the deletion, and Plesk will remove all associated data.
Note: Removing a subscription is irreversible, and all data, websites, and configurations will be permanently deleted.
Summary
With Plesk’s subscription management features, you can effectively allocate resources, tailor service plans, and manage customer access. Understanding the difference between synced and locked subscriptions gives you greater control over how changes to service plans affect each customer. Subscriptions provide the flexibility to adapt to your customers’ needs while ensuring a secure and organized hosting environment.