The initial security configuration of all disks on a Plesk-managed server is performed during Plesk installation. Plesk applies its own security settings to all existing Windows objects on the server according to the disk and hosting security policies.

Once security has been configured, you have several options to manage security settings for Windows objects. We recommend that you use Plesk’s security metadata files to set and edit security settings for Windows objects on Plesk-managed servers. The changes made in the files can be then applied to Windows objects by running the plesk bin repair utility.

You can also modify the security settings for each object individually either through Plesk GUI or Windows Explorer directly by going to Security tab in the object’s Properties. However, the latter option is not recommended, because while changes made to the security settings via the Plesk GUI are included in the .security file, those made via the native Windows means are not, and will be overwritten by the plesk bin repair utility, or the Reconfigurator.exe utility.

The following advantages are afforded by using the security metadata files to configure security settings for Windows objects:

• The ability to apply security rules to multiple objects at once.
• Easy track of security settings changes.
• Easy portability of customized security settings between domains and servers.