Plesk has released Obsidian 18.0.80, an update of particular interest to system administrators, hosting providers, and developers. The release adds support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing real server administration tasks to be delegated to AI agents. It also introduces a new DNS diagnostic tool, MariaDB 12.3 support, SFTP improvements, updated cryptographic policies, and important lifecycle changes for Debian 11.

Plesk Obsidian 18.0.80 in 30 seconds

Plesk can now connect to AI agents through MCP to inspect, diagnose, and modify servers and subscriptions.
Administrators can restrict each key by server, subscription, tool, and read-only or read-write permissions.
The release adds DNS, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC diagnostics, currently available in beta.
It also introduces MariaDB 12.3, SFTP for additional FTP accounts, and improvements to Laravel, Docker, TLS, and DNSSEC.
Obsidian 18.0.80 will be the final Plesk release supporting Debian 11.

Released on 4 August 2026, the update marks a significant change in the way Plesk environments can be managed. The MCP integration is not simply another chatbot inside the control panel. It enables compatible assistants to perform operational tasks against real infrastructure, within the permission boundaries defined by the administrator.

MCP turns AI agents into a new server administration interface

The Model Context Protocol, better known as MCP, allows a language model to discover and use external tools through a standard interface. In Plesk, this means that an AI agent can move beyond answering questions and begin working on specific server administration tasks.

Examples provided by Plesk include provisioning a new subscription, diagnosing an email delivery problem, identifying the cause of an HTTP 500 error, or handing a website bug directly to an AI coding agent.

To enable this capability, administrators must first add the Plesk server to the WebPros Dashboard. Once connected, they can issue MCP keys with different scopes.

Available control	Practical use
Subscription-scoped token	The agent can only access a specific customer’s hosting subscription
Administrator token	Enables management of the entire server or multiple systems
Tool selection	Individual MCP tools can be enabled or disabled
Read-only access	The agent can inspect information but cannot make changes
Read-write access	Allows the agent to carry out authorised modifications
Activity logging	Every tool call is recorded with its date and the tool used

This permission model is one of the most important parts of the integration. Giving an AI assistant unrestricted access to an entire server would be difficult to justify in most environments. Plesk reduces that risk by allowing administrators to restrict both the token scope and the tools available to the agent.

The Plesk REST API OpenAPI specification now also includes the x-readonly extension. Endpoints that only retrieve information are marked with x-readonly: true, while operations that create, modify, or delete data are treated as write actions. This classification makes it possible to enforce read-only restrictions directly at the MCP key level.

The feature does not remove the need for human supervision. An agent with write permissions can still make mistakes, misunderstand an instruction, or perform an action that is technically valid but operationally undesirable. Full activity logs help with auditing, but administrators should continue applying least-privilege principles and avoid issuing credentials with broader access than necessary.

The AI Support Assistant reaches more Plesk servers

Plesk is also expanding the availability of its AI Support Assistant, which is built directly into the administration interface. The assistant can answer questions about configuration, services, control panel features, and common troubleshooting scenarios.

Its answers are grounded in the Plesk knowledge base and official documentation. For now, it is only available to server administrator accounts.

With Obsidian 18.0.80, the assistant is enabled by default on new servers that meet the following conditions:

They use a retail Plesk licence.
They were deployed after 4 August 2026.
They run Plesk Obsidian 18.0.80 or a later release.

On older servers that have been upgraded, the feature can be enabled through panel.ini:

[copilot]
chat.enabled = trueCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

It is important to distinguish the AI Support Assistant from the MCP integration. The assistant is mainly designed to guide administrators through Plesk features and troubleshooting. MCP allows external agents to connect to the server and use actual administration tools.

New DNS diagnostics through the CLI and REST API

The release introduces a new tool for troubleshooting DNS resolution and reviewing configurations related to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, three technologies widely used to authenticate email and reduce sender spoofing.

The feature is currently in beta and can be run from the command line:

plesk repair dns -check-resolution example.comCode language: CSS (css)

It also supports simulation and JSON output options and is available through the REST API endpoint:

GET /domains/{id}/dns/resolution

This tool may reduce troubleshooting time in cases where a DNS zone appears correct inside Plesk, but delegation, published records, or external resolution are still failing.

The update also changes the handling of spoofed local email. Messages that pretend to originate from a mailbox hosted on the same Plesk server will no longer receive a valid DKIM signature.

MariaDB 12.3 support for Linux and Windows

Plesk Obsidian 18.0.80 adds support for MariaDB 12.3 on both Linux and Windows, although the behaviour depends on the operating system and installation type.

On Windows Server 2019 or later, MariaDB 12.3.2 is installed by default as part of new Plesk 18.0.80 installations. On Linux and on servers upgraded from earlier Plesk versions, MariaDB is not updated automatically, although administrators can start the upgrade from the Plesk interface.

There are several exceptions. MariaDB 12.3 is not available on Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04, Debian 10, CentOS 7, or systems covered by Extended Lifecycle Support programmes. On CloudLinux, upgrading to MariaDB 12 through the Plesk interface is not possible and must be handled using the operating system’s standard tools.

Other changes relevant to administrators include:

A script to automate upgrades from Ubuntu 22.04 to Ubuntu 24.04.
Docker extension support for CloudLinux 8 and later.
Management of 64-bit ODBC data sources on Plesk for Windows.
Cloud images for Plesk on Windows updated to Windows Server 2025.
Site Import and Plesk Migrator support for Ubuntu 26.04.

SFTP for additional accounts and better Laravel queue management

Plesk for Linux can now enable SFTP access for additional FTP accounts. The implementation uses a separate ProFTPD instance listening on its own port.

The setting is available under Tools & Settings > Security Policy, through the “Allow SFTP for FTP accounts” option. The feature is enabled by default, although the controls can be hidden through:

[ftp]
sftpManagement = off

The Laravel extension also improves queue management. Administrators and developers can now create multiple named queues, enable or disable each one, and define the number of worker processes separately. This is useful for separating workloads such as email delivery, report generation, or payment processing.

DNSSEC, TLS, and wildcard certificates receive security updates

The release removes several deprecated or insecure cryptographic algorithms from the DNSSEC extension: RSAMD5, DSA, NSEC3DSA, ECCGOST, RSASHA1, and NSEC3RSASHA1.

The new defaults are:

ED25519 on Plesk for Linux.
ECDSAP256SHA256 on Plesk for Windows.

SSL It! restores and improves the screen used to manage TLS versions and cipher suites, following Mozilla’s 5.8 recommendations. Synchronisation also removes legacy DHE-RSA ciphers from the intermediate and old profiles.

Wildcard certificates can now validate both the main domain and the wildcard through the dns-01 challenge. This is an opt-in, server-wide setting that remains disabled by default:

[ext-sslit]
forceDnsChallengeForWildcardOrders = trueCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

The SSL It! CLI tool now displays all pending DNS TXT records for a certificate order instead of showing only the first one.

Debian 11 reaches its final Plesk release

Plesk Obsidian 18.0.80 will be the last version supporting Debian 11, whose vendor end-of-life date is 31 August 2026.

Servers still running this distribution should be upgraded to Debian 12 using the Plesk dist-upgrade tool, or their subscriptions should be migrated to another server running a supported operating system.

Plesk has also announced another compatibility change for Obsidian 18.0.82: XML-RPC protocol versions earlier than 1.6.9.1 will be deprecated and removed. Older integrations should be updated before that release arrives.

Beyond the long list of bug fixes, Plesk Obsidian 18.0.80 stands out because it turns artificial intelligence into an operational interface for server management. MCP can reduce repetitive work and speed up diagnostics, but it also requires administrators to treat AI agents like any other privileged automation system: use minimum permissions, separate access by customer, prefer read-only credentials whenever possible, and review activity logs regularly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can MCP do in Plesk Obsidian 18.0.80?

It allows AI assistants and agents to inspect information or perform real actions, including subscription management, error investigation, and service diagnostics. Access depends on the permissions assigned to each key.

Does an agent need full server access?

No. Keys can be limited to a single subscription, restricted to selected tools, and configured as read-only.

Does Plesk automatically upgrade MariaDB to 12.3?

Only new compatible Plesk for Windows installations receive MariaDB 12.3.2 by default. On Linux and servers upgraded from previous releases, the change must be started manually and is not supported on every operating system.

What should administrators do with servers still running Debian 11?

Plesk recommends upgrading them to Debian 12 using its dist-upgrade tool or migrating the hosted domains to a server running a supported operating system.