Linux administration. Introduction to Webmin. Web-based server management using webmin in Ubuntu Server Webmin installing modules
One of the challenges in moving from administering a Windows environment to administering Linux is learning the new tools at your disposal. As an administrator, you want to learn all the details of the operating system to get the most out of it. However, while you are studying, you need to get the job done on time. In order to increase your productivity on Linux, install a program called Webmin.
"Webmin is a web-based interface for Unix administration. With it you can configure user accounts, Apache, DNS, file server, etc., using any browser that supports tables and forms (and Java for the file manager module Webmin consists of a simple web server and a set of CGI programs that directly update system files, such as /etc/inetd.conf and / etc / passwd. The web server and all cgi programs are written in Perl 5 and do not use non-standard Perl modules. "
Webmin works on virtually all * nix platforms, including Linux, AIX, HPUX, Solaris, OS X and others. It provides a web interface to many administrative tasks in Linux. It can work on any graphical browser both locally and remotely. In order to avoid information leakage, Webmin can be additionally secured with SSL. While you are learning Linux, Webmin will save you a tremendous amount of time. Webmin can also help with boring and tedious tasks that you haven't automated yet.
Webmin is easily extensible. The author provides development guidelines, and a number of third-party modules are available. You can also develop your own custom modules so that Webmin can always be tailored to your needs.
Installing Webmin
The first step in working with Webmin is to install it. Webmin is included in several distributions, however it is not a problem to download it from the Webmin site.
The correct installation method depends on the distribution you are using. If you are using Red Hat Linux or one of the UnitedLinux distributions (SuSE, Turbo, Connectiva, or Caldera), then you need to download the RPM package. If you are using any other distribution, then in order to determine the best method for you, you need to consult your distribution's documentation and instructions for installing Webmin.
Consider installing using RPM.
First you need to check if Webmin is installed on your system. In a text terminal, type the following:
If Webmin is installed, you will see the version number:
If not, a message stating that Webmin is not installed:
package webmin is not installed
Even if Webmin is already installed, it is most likely an older version than the one available for download. In this case, you can update or reinstall the program using the following command:
rpm -Uvh webmin-1.090-1.noarch.rpm
A verbose update occurs with a progress bar displayed with # signs.
Once Webmin is installed, it starts automatically. However, Webmin is installed with SSL disabled. SSL requires the installation of a Perl module called Net :: SSLeay. Until it is installed, the only safe way to use Webmin is to only run it locally. Using Webmin
Connect to Webmin using your favorite web browser. Two modules - a file manager and a telnet / ssh client - are implemented as applets and require the Java Runtime Environment to be installed in your browser. These modules are handy, but not critical. There are no special requirements for all other modules.
To use Webmin, connect your browser to port 10000 on your system. If you are using a browser on your local system, you must use http: //localhost.localdomain: 10000 /. This link will take you to the Webmin login page.
Webmin users are separate from operating system users. This allows you to configure users for Webmin administration outside of the standard Unix identity scheme. However, if you have users on your system that you want to allow to use Webmin, you can add them to the Webmin user list, and Webmin will authorize them through standard Unix mechanisms, rather than through an internal authentication scheme. Access to various Webmin modules can be configured for each user. For example, Helpdesk employees will only have access to password management, while all other employees can have access to all modules.
The root user is created automatically during installation with the system password for the root user. Webmin tracks user actions by their login, so in a system that is administered by several people, it is better to create an administrator group with root rights and create users for everyone who works in the system. You must be root for your first login.
Webmin Sections
The first page you will see is the Webmin Configuration Section. Here you can configure Webmin users, modules and view activity logs (logs). The top row of icons allows you to switch between different sections of Webmin. All modules are customizable, you can rearrange them according to your needs.
The System section is related to the general settings of the operating system. Here you can configure file systems, users, groups, and system boot behavior. You can manage the services running on the system and control whether they are automatically started by the Bootup and Shutdown icons. These services are configured in the Servers section. Of particular interest is the "Software Packages" utility. It allows you to easily view the packages installed on your system, and also provides interfaces to the distribution's update repository and rpmfind.net, a public RPM repository on the Internet.
The Servers section contains modules for configuring various services that can be launched on your system. The utilities for configuring BIND and DHCP are very convenient. It is also very easy to use the utility to configure Samba - file and print servers for Windows and other clients. Webmin will also save you the hassle of configuring Sendmail's SMTP server, which is notorious for its complex configuration file.
The Networking section allows you to configure the network equipment as well as a number of complex network management functions such as firewalling. All utilities work with standard configuration files, so everything you do in Webmin will be displayed on the command line.
The Hardware section is for configuring physical devices, principally printers and storage devices. The Logical Volume Management (LVM) utility is especially interesting because it allows you to visually manage dynamic volumes on your Linux system.
The Cluster section contains utilities that you can use if you are clustering a system. In this context, a cluster is a set of related systems for which it is necessary to synchronize their settings. Systems can synchronize users, groups, packages, and more, tracking system failures. These utilities allow you to configure powerful fault-tolerant systems, as well as systems for which synchronization is important. Clustering is a complex topic that may require installing packages that are not included in your distribution.
The Others section contains a variety of utilities that you may find useful. "SSH / Telnet Login" and "File Manager" are implemented as applets and cannot be launched until the browser has the JRE installed. The "Perl Modules" utility is useful for serving Perl modules, and allows you to directly connect to the CPAN in. "File Manager" provides access to the server's file system with an interface similar to Explorer, and allows you to move and copy files without moving them through the memory of your workstation (if you are working remotely). "SSH / Telnet Login" is a utility that allows you to access the console of a remote machine through your browser.
Summary
Webmin is a web application written in Perl for administration. Webmin is extensible and available besides Linux and for other * nix-like operating systems. Once Webmin is installed, it can be accessed via a special port (usually 10000), either locally or by a remote browser. It provides a point-and-click interface to a variety of Linux administrative tasks, including user management, network firewall management, and network device configuration.
Webmin is free (both to install and to use) and is great for managing a running Linux environment while moving away from the Windows graphical utilities. The Webmin modules are the front end to the console utilities, so the configuration process is the same and administration can be safely done with both sets of utilities.
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There are many web server control panels, both specialized for hosting and general purpose. Today I will install one of these panels - Webmin on a CentOS 7 server. In my opinion, this is one of the most popular tools for remote server management through a browser.
If you have a desire to learn how to work with microtic routers and become a specialist in this area, I recommend using the program based on information from the official course MikroTik Certified Network Associate... The course is worthwhile, read all the details here. There are free courses.
Webmin is a web panel for administering a unix server. It is cross-platform and is installed on various unix distributions. I once described one of its uses in an article about on freebsd. With webmin, you can perform almost all popular administrative actions on the server, such as:
- Configure network connections
- Add users
- Mount partitions
- Configure firewall
- Shutdown or restart the server
- Update packages
and much more. There are modules for various software that can be controlled via webmin. For example samba, or web server, mysql server and many other packages. The list of modules is extensive, you can see the list of third-party custom modules on the official website, or in the panel itself after installation, the list of official modules. Through webmin, you can access the server console, upload or download files from the server. This is sometimes convenient.
I myself almost never use this panel, there is no need, I'm used to setting everything up in the console. But I know people who have been actively administering servers using webmin. These were not very advanced admins in Linux, but nevertheless this panel allowed them to manage the server normally without proper knowledge and skills.
I almost always use webmin on mail servers. It is convenient for me to analyze and search for something in huge mail logs using the log viewer. Something simpler and more convenient to me did not come across. For example, you have a log per day of 100-300 megabytes, dozens of events are recorded in it every second. You have the id of the letter. You can enter the letter id in the search bar and see all the log lines in which it appears. It is very convenient. The usual search in such a situation is indispensable. You can, of course, boggle the output of cat, or come up with something else, but this is less convenient. Especially if you need to compare values from different log files. You just open different logs in two browser windows and analyze.
Let's start installing Webmin on a server under the control of CentOS 7. The process is described on the official website in the corresponding section. There is nothing complicated. You need to add the webmin repository, and then install the package itself and dependencies.
Add the repository:
# mcedit /etc/yum.repos.d/webmin.repo name = Webmin Distribution Neutral # baseurl = http: //download.webmin.com/download/yum mirrorlist = http: //download.webmin.com/download/yum / mirrorlist enabled = 1
Import the GPG key:
# rpm --import http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc
Install Webmin:
# yum install -y webmin
Once installed, it will automatically launch. We just have to add it to startup:
# chkconfig webmin on
We go to the web interface webmin by the link https://192.168.56.10:10000 , where 192.168.56.10 is the IP address of the server. Be sure to specify the https protocol, you cannot go without it. Enter your root username and password. The main webmin page opens:
I will not describe all the possibilities, you yourself can climb through the menu on the left and see what can be configured via webmin. I would like to draw your attention to several important points. There is an opinion that webmin is not secure and through it the server can be hacked. I don't know how justified these fears are, but it's better to restrict access to the server just in case.
If you enter from static addresses, then restrict access to only these addresses. Done right there, in the next setting IP Access Control... This is the setting that I recommend. Personally, I would not open webmin to the world without special need.
If you want to see a panel with Russian, then there is no problem. You can choose it in the section Language... Translated as a whole is normal, everything is clear. But it is better, of course, to get used to English, without it in system administration anywhere. But if you don't understand, you can also use Russian. In the end, webmin is most useful for those who do not understand servers, but need to administer something. After changing the language, you need to forcibly refresh the browser page so that the entire interface becomes Russian.
That's all, with the rest of the capabilities and settings you can figure it out on your own, there is nothing complicated in the webmin.
Online course Linux Security
If you have a desire to understand in more detail the processes of setting up and ensuring the security of the local and network infrastructure built on the basis of the Linux OS, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with online course "Linux Security" in OTUS. The training lasts 3 months, after which the successful graduates of the course will be able to pass interviews with partners. The course program is developed in the form of a series of practical workshops and is aimed at trained students who already have knowledge and experience in Linux administration. What you will learn:- Apply the best world practices and standards of information security (Debian, RedHat, MitRE);
- Use tools to detect and exploit vulnerabilities in Linux;
- Install and configure network attack detection and prevention systems;
- Work with Docker-based monitoring and containerization systems;
Usually the linux server is configured using the command line. However, there is another possibly more convenient access using the webmin service in the ubuntu server. The best tool for managing unix systems through a web interface.
Through webmin - you can not only conveniently view logs, make changes to the configuration of installed services, but also install packages, remove them, update the system, etc. Even get access to the terminal!
Webmin is a ready-made web server with a whole bunch of scripts. All the delights of using it can be felt after installation.
Installing Webmin
First of all, you need to add the webmin repositories to the /etc/apt/sources.list file
Sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Add two lines to the very end of the file:
Deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib deb http://webmin.mirror.somersettechsolutions.co.uk/repository sarge contrib
We save and close the file. Now import the keys
Wget http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc sudo apt-key add jcameron-key.asc
Updating the list of package sources
Sudo apt-get update
install webmin
Sudo apt-get install webmin
Launching Webmin
After successfully installing the package, open a browser and go to the address
https: // Server IP: 10000 /
instead of " Server IP”Enter either the IP address of the server or its name. If everything is done correctly, then you will see an invitation to enter your username and password.
Enter your login and password to the server in the fields, after which you will be taken to the main page of webmin
The first thing we will do is change the language to Russian. To do this, go to the menu item “ Webmin” - “Change Language and Theme”And set the encoding Russian (RU.UTF-8)
After applying the changes, you need to refresh the page. Fine! Now you have a fully Russified webmin
A small overview of webmin
I will not describe all the menu items, take a look yourself and you will find a lot of interesting things for yourself. I draw your attention to the most basic points.
In the “Webmin” section, there are tools for working with the webmin module itself. Setting up users, access, backup, etc.
In the “System” section, there are tools for working with the main functionality of the server. In this section, you can find logs, conduct operations with users and groups, update software, manage active processes, work with the task schedule (Cron) and much more.
The Services section provides links to tools for working with installed services, in my case DHCP Server, BIND DNS Server, Squid Proxy. You can both configure existing configuration files and manage new rules and service processes.
In the "Network" section, you can configure network interfaces, as well as configure a firewall
In the “Hardware” section, you can view the equipment connected to the server, as well as view the partitions of local disks.
I will not describe the Cluster section. Didn't work with clusters.
Now you can configure webmin in ubuntu server and use it from anywhere in the world.
It is not always convenient to configure the system through the terminal. Many administrators prefer a graphical interface to a terminal for simple tasks. It is not customary to use a full-fledged graphical interface on servers so as not to waste valuable computing resources, but web interfaces are very often used for configuration.
Using the web interface, you can access the web server configuration from anywhere where there is Internet access and you only need a browser. One such open source web interface is webmin. It is very popular with Linux users due to its simplicity and great functionality.
In most cases, you can do without the command line to administer the server, but simply perform all the actions through the web interface. Let's take a look at what features Webmin supports:
- Creation and deletion of user accounts;
- Configuring services and services using special modules, for example, Apache or DNS;
- Creation of mailboxes of users;
- View system usage statistics.
The default distribution Webmin contains more than 500 scripts that implement the connection between the options of the web interface and the command shell of the system. And to all this, additional modules can be added to further expand the functionality of the program. Webmin is completely written in Perl and, as I said, is available for free. In this article, we will walk you through the installation of Webmin on Ubuntu Server 16.04.
Installing Webmin on Ubuntu Server
Before proceeding with installing Webmin on Ubuntu, you need to add the official program repository to the application sources. To do this, open the file /etc/apt/sources.list and add the lines there:
sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib
deb http://webmin.mirror.somersettechsolutions.co.uk/repository sarge contrib
Then add the GPG key for the repository:
sudo wget http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc
$ sudo apt-key add jcameron-key.asc
It remains to update the package lists:
sudo apt-get update
Only now the installation of webmin ubuntu 16.04 can be done:
sudo apt-get install webmin
When the installation is complete, to allow access to the web interface from the outside, you need to open port 10000 with a firewall. To do this, run:
sudo ufw allow 10000
Configuring Webmin on Ubuntu 16.04
You can access the Webmin interface simply by typing your server address and port 10000 in the address bar of your browser. Webmin uses https by default, so you will need to apply that protocol too. The address will look like this:
https: // ip_address: 10000
The browser will warn you that the SSL certificate is not trusted, this is because webmin automatically generates its own certificate after installation. And since this certificate was issued by a non-certification authority, the browser cannot consider it to be trusted. But we know that this is our server, so we can continue.
On the next screen, you will need to enter your username and password on the server to enter the web interface. This user must have superuser permissions:
This is how the home page will look like:
The first page shows general information about the system to help you understand which system you are currently dealing with. It will also show Webmin updates, if any.
On the left side of the screen, you will find a navigation menu through which you can access the various Webmin modules and manage your server. The Webmin section contains settings for the Webmin program itself, other sections are responsible for other system services or parameters.
conclusions
That's it, the installation of Webmin on Ubuntu Server 16.04 is complete and you can now configure your system remotely. This can be very useful when you can't or don't want to use the terminal. If you still have questions, ask in the comments!
Using the "Terminal" is not always convenient even for professionals. Therefore, today, graphical interfaces are increasingly used - even for those tasks where using text commands leads to faster results. A separate topic is the installation of Webmin Ubuntu - this is the ability to use a graphical web interface to manage the server.
Installing Webmin is required to work in graphical interfaces instead of the terminal.
Why is this so relevant? In the technical community, the speed of systems is highly valued. Working with solutions that would slow down the server is unacceptable. Especially if the resources available are not that great. That is why such complexes as Webmin are especially appreciated. Thanks to them, you can access the server resources anywhere you have a computer, Internet access and a browser for work.
Webmin is a web-based interface for managing servers based on Unix-like systems. It is one of the simplest and most convenient solutions for solving problems of this kind. Here are the benefits:
- Helps save time on server management.
- Allows you to configure networks, as well as firewalls for them.
- Supports data backup.
- Allows you to fine tune the OS.
- And it has many other useful features.
Technically, Webmin consists of a simple web server, as well as numerous scripts that make it flexible and fast to work with. Files with program settings can be changed either manually or using the "Webmin Configuration" block in the graphical interface.
If you would like to install Webmin for Ubuntu for commercial use, it is completely free to do. The program is distributed under a BSD license.
Go to installation
First, you need to edit the sources.list file:
"Sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list"
The following lines should be inserted at the end of the file:
"Deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib
deb http://webmin.mirror.somersettechsolutions.co.uk/repository sarge contrib "
"Wget http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc
sudo apt-key add jcameron-key.asc "
Made? Now update the list of data sources to load:
"Sudo apt-get update"
Now on Ubuntu Server, installing Webmin is a matter of two seconds. Run the command:
"Sudo apt-get install webmin"
Launch
To start Webmin, you need to enter "https: // (domain name or IP server): 10000" in the address bar of your browser. It remains only to enter your username and password when entering the server. This must be done with administrator rights. Everything!
