Archive for the 'Webmin Support' Category

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Virtualmin GPL Installer

Virtualmin GPL Installer

The installer should only be used on systems that are not currently running Webmin or hosting any websites. Ideally, it should be run on a system that has a fresh install of either CentOS 5, Debian 4.0, Ubuntu 8.04 or Solaris as at the moment those are the only supported operating systems. Further documentation on supported systems and install requirements is available on the Virtualmin download page.

The Linux installer can be downloaded from install.sh.

Once you have it on the Linux system you want to run Virtualmin on, execute it with the commands :

chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

Because it downloads numerous packages from the Virtualmin website and your Linux distribution’s repository, it may take up to 30 minutes for the install to complete. Once it is done, you can login to Webmin at https://yourserver:10000/ to see the Virtualmin user interface.

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Setting up Virtualmin

Setting up Virtualmin

To work properly, Virtualmin requires that several servers like Apache, Postfix and BIND be configured and running, and that their corresponding Webmin modules be setup too.

You can follow the basic steps below :

* Install Webmin, if you don’t already have it. If so, make sure it is upgraded to the latest version.
* Visit Webmin’s modules for Apache, BIND, Postfix and MySQL to ensure that all those servers are installed and running. If you prefer Sendmail, it may be used instead of Postfix.
* Go to the Webmin Configuration module and click on Webmin Modules. Then install both the virtual-server….wbm.gz and virtual-server-theme….wbt.gz files linked above.
* In the Webmin Configuration module, click on Webmin Themes and select the Virtualmin Framed Theme.
* Logout of Webmin and log back in again - you should see the new Virtualmin framed user interface.
* Click the button labelled Re-check and refresh configuration. This will list any problems found on your system, such as missing or im-properly configured servers.
* Fix all the problems, and re-try clicking the button. Repeat this until no problems are found.
* Click the Create virtual server link on the left menu to add your first domain.

If you installed using the Virtualmin install script, all of these steps are automated for you. But that is only suitable for systems not currently hosting any websites or DNS domains.

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Installing Virtualmin

Installing Virtualmin

If you have a fresh system running CentOS 5 or Debian 4.0 and want to install the full Virtualmin GPL stack (including Webmin, Apache, Postfix and other dependencies), the easiest way is to use the Virtualmin GPL install script. Otherwise, you should add it to an existing Webmin install, as described here.

Virtualmin can be downloaded in Webmin module format from:

http://download.webmin.com/download/virtualmin/virtual-server-3.73.gpl.wbm.gz (1.3 MB)

The Virtualmin framed theme in Webmin module format can be downloaded from:

http://download.webmin.com/download/virtualmin/virtual-server-theme-7.4.wbt.gz (2.2 MB)

You can install it by going to the Webmin Configuration module, clicking on Webmin Modules and use the first form on the page to install the downloaded .wbm.gz file. Or install it directly from the above URL. After installation the module will show up in the Servers category.

To install the theme, go to the Webmin Configuration module, click on Webmin Themes and install the downloaded .wbt.gz file. Once this is done, you should use the Webmin Themes page to make the new theme the default, if your system is to be primarily used for virtual hosting.

The same theme file can be used with Usermin too, to provide a similar user interface style and a better framed interface for reading email. To install it, go the Usermin Configuration module, click on Usermin Themes and install from the .wbt.gz file.

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The Squid Proxy Server module

The Squid Proxy Server module

If you want to set up or configure Squid from within Webmin, you will need to use the Squid Proxy Server module, found under the Servers category.

If you have not configured or started Squid on your system before, the cache directory has probably not been set up yet. The module will detect this and display a message like *Your Squid cache directory /var/spool/squid has not been initialized* above the table of icons. To initialize the cache, follow these steps :

If you are unhappy with the displayed cache directory, now is the time to change it.
Follow the instructions in the Adding cache directories section to define your own directories before continuing.

In the as Unix user field enter the name of the user who will own the cache files and who the daemon process will run as.

Typically this will be a special squid user created for the purpose (and the field will default to squid if such a user exists), but in fact any user will do.

I recommend using the Users and Groups module to create a user called squid whose home directory is the cache directory if needed though.

Click the Initialize Cache button.

The Squid configuration will be updated to use your chosen username, and the command squid -z will be run to set up the cache directories.

All output that it produces will be displayed so that you can see how the initialization is progressing.

When the process is complete, return to the module’s main page and the error message should have disappeared.

If Squid is not installed at all on your system (or installed in a different location to the one Webmin expects), an error message like The Squid config file /etc/squid.conf does not exist will appear on the main page instead of the table of icons.

If you really do have it installed, read the *Configuring the Squid Proxy Server module* section for instructions on how to change the paths the module uses.

On the other hand, if it really is not installed you should use the Software Packages module (covered on SoftwarePackages) to install the squid package from your Linux distribution CD or website.

If no such package exists for your operating system, you will need to download, compile and install the latest version of Squid from www.squid-cache.org. As long as you have a compiler installed on your system, this is a relatively simple process with no dependencies.

Once the server is installed, if you want to make use of it in the long term you should arrange to have it started at boot time, using the Bootup and Shutdown module (which chapter 9 explains how to use). All Linux packages include a bootup action script for Squid, although it may be disabled by default thus requiring you to enable it in that module.

Otherwise you will need to create an action that runs a command like =/usr/local/squid/bin/squid -sY=, assuming that you have Squid installed in /usr/local/squid.

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Webmin Proxied Through Apache

Webmin Proxied Through Apache

If you just want Webmin to be accessible via an URL subdirectory (like /webmin) on an Apache server without going to the trouble of configuring Apache to run the CGI scripts directly, there is a simpler method that can be used.

This is also useful if your system is only accessible on port 80, and you want access to both Webmin and a normal website. This is the recommended method of making Webmin run within an existing website hierarchy.

The steps to follow are:

Make sure mod_proxy is installed on your Apache webserver.

Add the following directives to the Apache configuration file:

ProxyPass /webmin/ http://localhost:10000/
ProxyPassReverse /webmin/ http://localhost:10000/

Add the lines webprefix=/webmin and webprefixnoredir=1 to /etc/webmin/config.

In /etc/webmin/config, add the line referer=apachehost, where apachehost is the hostname eg; hostname after the http:// from the URL used to access Webmin via Apache.

If the referer line already has some hosts listed, add apachehost to it or you can disable referrer checking all together by just using referer=1

Edit /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf and disable ssl redirect ssl_redirect=0 and ssl=0

Re-start Apache and Webmin to apply the configuration.

All requests to /webmin on the Apache server will then be passed through to the Webmin server on localhost port 10000. All features should work fine, including themes, with the exception of IP access control (because as far as Webmin is concerned, all connections will be coming from localhost).

This method can also be used to make Webmin accessible via an Apache virtual host, like http://webmin.yourdomain.com/.

The steps to follow are :

Make sure mod_proxy is installed on your Apache webserver.

Add a virtual host to your Apache configuration file like:

ServerName webmin.yourdomain.com
ProxyPass / http://localhost:10000/
ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:10000/

In /etc/webmin/config, add the line referer=apachehost, where apachehost is the hostname from the URL used to access Webmin via Apache. If the referer line already has some hosts listed, add apachehost to it.

Re-start Apache to apply the configuration.

No changes need to be made to /etc/webmin/config, because no prefix is appended to the URL path.

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