Webmin is a web-based dashboard that allows sysadmins to manage Linux and Unix-like systems (especially servers). Webmin allows system administrators to manage user accounts, updating packages, system log files, configuring firewalls, email, database, postfix, etc.
In this tutorial, we learn how to install Webmin on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Earlier we had an installation on Ubuntu 18.04 with Let's Encrypt, the following steps should work as well.
Step 1: Update Ubuntu
Before anything else, it's always a good idea to first update the system packages and repositories. So, to start off, run the command:
$ sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y
Next, install dependency packages that will help you in managing software repositories as follows:
$ sudo apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https
Step 2: Enable Webmin repository
With all the system packages updated to their latest versions, you need to enabled the Webmin repository. This is informed by the fact that Webmin's repository is not yet available in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
So firstly, add Webmin's GPG key as shown
$ sudo wget -q http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Next, manually add Webmin's repository as following:
$ sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib"
Step 3: Install Webmin
So far, we have updated the system, installed Webmin's GPG key and manually added the required Webmin repository. To install Webmin, now simply run the simple command below and press 'Y' when prompted to continue.
$ sudo apt install webmin
Once Webmin's installation is complete, check it's status by running the command:
$ sudo systemctl status webmin
From the output , we can see that already Webmin is running to configured to start upon installation.
To check the version of Webmin installed issue the command:
$ dpkg -l | grep webmin
From the output above, we can see that we have installed Webmin version 1.941. With Webmin installed and running, now let's access it via the browser.
Step 4: Configuring the firewall
By default, Webmin listens on the TCP port 10000. To access your server externally, you need to open the port on the firewall. To do so, execute the command:
$ sudo ufw allow 10000/tcp
Then reload the firewall for the changes to be effected.
$ sudo ufw reload
To verify the status of the firewall run:
$ sudo ufw status
Step 5: Logging in to Webmin
To login to Webmin's dashboard, open up your browser and browse your server's IP as follows:
https://server-IP:10000/
Initially, you will get the following web page indicating that there's a potential risk ahead. But don't worry. It's not a big deal. This happens because Webmin generates its own self-assigned SSL certificate which the browser doesn't consider safe.
To go around this obstacle, simply click on the 'Advanced' tab and then 'Accept the Risk and Continue'.
Login to Webmin as root, using the same password as the root Unix user on your Linux system.
Provide the username and password and click on the 'Sign In' button,
And finally, the Webmin dashboard will be displayed as shown below.
You can now proceed and configure your Ubuntu 20.04 system according to your specifications. To upgrade your Webmin installation after every release, simply run the following commands:
$ sudo apt update $ sudo apt upgrade
Conclusion
Ajenti and CockPit are good alternatives to the Webmin tool. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS has good early support for Webmin and Virtualmin using an install script.
Virtualmin adds a nice theme and good in managing domains, email, databases, best suites in a shared hosting environment.
This tutorial we have a walk through the installation steps on Webmin on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and I hope it has helped you.
If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment.
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