ServerBuddies Support Blog

How can I create a Webmin user who can only configure one Apache virtual server or DNS domain?

In the Webmin Servers module.

Create a new user and give him access to only the Apache Webserver module.

After saving, click on Apache Webserver next to the user’s name in the list of Webmin users and use the form that appears to deny him access to everything except one selected virtual server.

Many other modules can also be configured in a similar way to restrict the access of a user to only certain DNS domains, Unix users or mail aliases.

My browser complains about the Webmin certificate when in SSL mode.

This happens because the default SSL certificate that is generated by webmin is not issued by a recognized certificate authority.

From a security point of view, this makes the certificate less secure because an attacker could theoretically redirect traffic from your server to another machine without you knowing, which is normally impossible if using a proper SSL certificate.

Network traffic is still encrypted though, so you are safe against attackers who are just listening in on your network connection.

If you want to be really sure that the Webmin server you are connecting to is really your own, the only solution is to order a certificate from an authority like Verisign that is associated with your server’s hostname and will be recognized web browsers.

This certificate should be placed in the file

and be in the same certifcate+key format as the existing miniserv.pem file.

To request a certificate, follow these steps :

Run the command

This will create the file key.pem which is your private key.

Run the command

When it asks for the common name, be sure to enter the full hostname of your server as used in the URL, like www.yourserver.com. This will create the file req.pem, which is the certificate signing request (CSR).

Send the CSR to your certificate authority by whatever method they use.

They should send you back a file that starts with —–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—– which can be put in the file cert.pem.

Combine the private key and certificate with the command

Re-start webmin (making sure it is in SSL mode) to use the new key.

After logging into Webmin, I get the error message - You do not have access to any Webmin modules.

Follow these steps to fix it:

Login to your server via telnet or at the console as root.

Edit the file

and make sure the line starting with root: or admin: (depending on which you use to login to Webmin) exists and looks like :

Login to Webmin again, and go into the Webmin Users module, which will be the only one you have access to.

Click on your username in the list, grant yourself access to all the modules, and click Save.

How can I change Webmin’s list of allowed IP addresses from the shell?

The file you need to modify is

If the allow= line exists, it contains a list of all addresses and networks that are allowed to connect to Webmin. Similarly, the deny= line contains addresses that are not allowed to connect.

After modifying this file, you need to run

for the changes to take effect. Naturally, the file can only be edited by the root user.

Webmin error message Unable to identify operating system

When installing the Webmin RPM, I get the error message Unable to identify operating system.

This happens if Webmin cannot identify your OS by looking at your /etc/issue file, possibly because it has been changed from the default contents. The best solution is to install the .tar.gz version of Webmin, which asks for the OS name and version manually.