summary: Starting from Plesk Obsidian 18.0.57, we dropped support for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2. To get the latest Plesk versions with new features, quality-of-life improvements, and important security fixes, you need to upgrade the Plesk server from Windows Server 2012 R2 to a supported OS version.

In this topic, you will learn how to upgrade your Plesk server from Windows Server 2012 R2 to a supported OS version. We will use Windows Server 2019 as an example.

Prerequisites

Before you start the in-place upgrade of your Plesk server on Windows Server 2012 R2:

Upgrading your Plesk running on Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2019

  1. Update Plesk to the latest version available for Windows Server 2012 R2.
  2. Make sure that your Plesk is up to date and works properly. To do so, log in to your Plesk server via RDP and run the plesk repair installation command.
  3. Remove unnecessary software from the server.
  4. Stop the firewall and antivirus programs. We also recommend that you completely uninstall all antivirus programs from the server before the upgrade.
  5. Install all available Windows Server 2012 R2 updates and the latest drivers.
  6. Reboot the server.
  7. Create a full backup or a snapshot of the server. That will help you revert the changes if anything goes wrong.
  8. Perform the in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2019:
    1. Download the Windows Server 2019 ISO file from the Microsoft website and mount it.
    2. Run the setup file and select the “Upgrade” option during the installation.
    3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade.
    4. After the upgrade is complete, make sure that your configurations, activation keys, profiles, and files are intact.
  9. (Optional) Free the disk space by removing temporary files created during the upgrade. Do both of the following:
    1. Run the Disk Cleanup tool.
    2. Manually remove the upgrade-related temporary files from the default user folder “C:UsersDefault”, if any. You can find such files by filtering the folder/’s content by date.
  10. Install all available Windows Server 2019 updates and the latest drivers.
  11. Reboot the server.
  12. Update your Plesk to the latest available version.
  13. (Optional) Make sure that your Plesk works properly. To do so, log in to your Plesk server via RDP and run the plesk repair installation command.

Your Plesk server has been upgraded. Now you will be able to get the latest available Plesk versions without limitations.