Question:Plesk for Windows Server shows 503 Service Unavailable: Cannot read configuration file
Symptoms
- When accessing Plesk, the following error appears in a browser:
Service Unavailable.
HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable.- The "PleskControlPanel" application pool at IIS Manager > SERVERNAME > Application Pools is stopped. After starting it manually, the application pool stops on the next attempt to open Plesk in a browser.
- The following error message appears in the Event Viewer Application log (Windows Logs):
The worker process for application pool 'PleskControlPanel' encountered an error
'Cannot read configuration file due to insufficient permissions
' trying to read configuration data from file '?\C:\inetpub\temp\apppools\PleskControlPanel\PleskControlPanel.config', line number '0'.
The data field contains the error code.
The worker process for application pool 'PleskControlPanel' encountered an error
'Cannot read configuration file
' trying to read configuration data from file '\\?\<EMPTY>', line number '0'.
The data field contains the error code.Cause
Plesk configuration file PleskControlPanel.config located at C:\inetpub\temp\appPools\PleskControlPanel is corrupted.
Resolution
- Connect to the Plesk server via RDP.
- Rename the PleskControlPanel.config file located at C:\inetpub\temp\appPools\PleskControlPanel. This file will be automatically generated on the next attempt to open Plesk.
- Start Plesk Reconfigurator at Windows Start > All Programs > Plesk.
- In Plesk Reconfigurator, click Repair Plesk Installation > select Check Plesk Services > click Check.
5.Restart IIS using the following command in a command prompt:
c:\>iisreset /restart
6.Open Plesk in a web-bowser.