Webmin Web interface

Experienced Linux user probably knew about this tool...

Me no, and WOW !!! Allow me to see, understand, access, change my configuration easily...

To install Webmin, I recommend to add webmin repository.

Edit the /etc/apt/sources.list and add:
deb https://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib

Yes, Debian version "sarge", is quite old, but the repo is uptodate...

$ sudo wget https://download.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc | apt-key add jcameron-key.asc

Install needed packages and webmin:

# sudo apt install apt-transport-https
# sudo apt update
# apt install webmin

If you are using a pc with very limited resources it might be unnessecary to allways run webmin. Also when using the laptop on public net, it can bee good not to broadcast the service.
You can easy disable start of webmin and start it only when you need it.

To disable start of webmin, in terminal type

$ sudo systemctl disable webmin.service 

To start Webmin, type:

$ sudo systemctl start webmin.service 
or oldstyle,
service vice webmin start

To login in and configure webmin surf to https://localhost:10000.

Links
Do not miss his book https://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/0131408828/downloads/0131408828.pdf

Webmin homepage: http://www.webmin.com
On http://www.webmin.com/books.html, there is soe outdated links to books available in PDF format. The link to Youtube Channel YouTube, is working.
jamies book "Managing Linux® Systems with Webmin", is available here

I've used webmin quite a lot but got a tad worried as it's maintenance fell short IMO.
I've never used it to change settings but it was an OK web interface to check on my machine remotely.

Good to see it has been revived.

Yes for noobies or even experienced people, it allows to have a global overview of what is happening on a simple workstation... What is enable at startup, packages, etc etc etc

I played with it a while and discovered some stuff I didn't know was "happening under the hood"

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Cool.. just received a NOTIFICATION from Webdmin that one of my App had an update (FireFox)... And updated it through the Webinterface

I'm now the cronjob king LOL

And the Package king LOL

Hi @yoda,

this was my first impression in roundabout 2002, as well. But there are also a few downsides.
If the configuration scheme of a program/service change, webmin is useless.
If you have a different (not even complex) configuration, webmin will break down soon. Often listed as bugs, but sometimes it 'worked as designed' and the specific situation isn't possible with this kind of system without rewrite.

And webmin got many security issues. It is good at home or for a short POC. But never use it productive! Your security and your ability to react will decrease.
There are not so much CVEs as I've expected. Webmin : Security vulnerabilities

Most issues on webmin also applies to phpmyadmin and backwards.

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Thank you for pointing the security issues out clearly. :+1:

I never did trust webmin enough to run it on my server but had hoped that some stuff had been seen to by now.
I'll just stick too ssh and the commandline to administer my server. :smiley:

@LupusE

For a simple workstation, not accessible from internet but with internet access, would you trust it ?

TKS !

@yoda short answer: No.

The security isn't a Showstopper here. But the other issue: You are limited to the possibilities the frontend provides you.
Don't even try to make a little adjustment in the config files by hand, sooner or later it will break. Sometimes it needs a few days to get seen. And than you'll need to remember what your adjustment was. The reverse engineering is no fun.
In fact, you'll bind your whole configuration to Webmin. Plenty of great HowTo are not useful for you, anymore.

It is enough to get in touch with a system. It even is a good choice to build fast a test environment with people who are not familiar with the system below.
But it will never be a solution for every day use. You'll see this at least at the next big upgrade. It is a little more difficult with rolling releases.

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trying to understand

Are your saying Webmin is messing up/tweaking/Altering config files or it will just stop being able to manage somes of those config files ?

I suppose someone installing it and removing it, do not break a system ?

Just evaluating if I will leave it on my Workstation.

Tks for your time

I am saying, If you are using Webmin, you'll stuck at Webmin.

  1. You don't know what is going on under the hood. Even if it is working for now, there is no way to fix any issue without the possibility of break the system (Webmin, not the system below).

  2. Sometimes you want to have a special setup.
    For example, I'm using OMV (OpenMediaVault) at the moment. In OMV is the Docker Plugin activated and here lives a VM with PiHole ... So now I want PiHole with two network interfaces. Maybe it is possible to dirty hack PiHole itself, but it is nearly impossible to get this configuration in the VM over Docker managed in OMV. Too much abstraction layers.

As I used it, I couldn't get Webmin to setup Postfix (later Exim4) with virtual domains in a MySQL backend.
Also with Apache2 some configurations won't work. Because Webmin could only show what it knows.

This was a few years ago. Maybe the parser is better, today. But at least you don't get to know a service. You get to know Webmin. If the magic is enough, fine.
I won't say "don't use Webmin". But I want to say "Know what is the effect of using Webmin". I know some German Forums, that stops support if the request contains the word Webmin.

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