subdomain accessible with www

Problem

subdomain & www in Plesk

Solution

Follow the 4 steps to make your subdomain accessible with www .

step 1: update vhosts.conf

Add one line to the special configuration file for the subdomain. Normally this file is located in /srv/vhosts/domain/subdomains/subdomain/vhosts.conf .

Create the file, if there is no file yet. Add the following line, save it and exit the editor.
ServerAlias www.subdomain.domain.com

What does ServerAlias www.subdomain.domain.com mean?
This is a Apache configuation that says that Apache will also serve the subdomain if you access it with www. This is normally used for the domain name, but also working for sub-domains.

step 2: update dns settings (optionally)

(optional – maybe necessary in Plesk 7/7.5, but works without in Plesk 8)

  1. Add a record type in the DNS zone of the domain for the subdomain starting with www. Select the following menu entries:
    Server => Domains => domain.com => DNS
  2. There you’ll see a list of DNS entries for the domain. Check the IP address for the subdomain entry – copy to clipboard or write it down, if you don’t know it.
  3. Now you create a new entry with the button Add new entry – use the following values:
    • Record type: A
    • Domain name: www.subdomain (Plesk 8)
    • IP address: enter the IP address that you copied in step 2.2, e.g. 111.111.111.111

    Press OK to add the new entry to the DNS.

  4. Check if there is a new entry wit the following value:
    www.subdomain.domain.com A 111.1111.111.111

step 3: update plesk config file

Recreate the Plesk / Apache configuration for the whole domain with this command:
/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/websrvmng -u --vhost-name=domain.com

step 4: restart apache

Restart Apache to read the new configuration and serve pages with www.subdomain.domain.com

apache2ctl restart