How to install Webmin on RHEL OR CentOS 5 ?

How to install Webmin on RHEL OR CentOS 5 ?


What is Webmin ?

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix. Using any modern web browser, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing and much more. Webmin removes the need to manually edit Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd, and lets you manage a system from the console or remotely.
You can download webmin through " www.webmin.com/download.html".

How do i install it to start web administration of my server ?

1. NOTE : Please note down that to use Webmin, you should have proper static IP.


2. Two methods of Webmin installation;

A. By rpm package,

  Here i am installing "webmin-1.530-1.noarch.rpm" on CentOS 5.3,

#rpm -ivh webmin-1.530-1.noarch.rpm

Here in the above snap as shown, after installation you will get the login link,

https://localhost.localdomain:10000/

e.g.

https://192.168.44.128:10000/

Instead of writing "localhost.localdomain", if you are login remotely provide "IP" or hostname of your server with "10000" port number. Note that it always work on secure "https" connection with only port number "10000". For login always remember that you can access it with your current "root" username & same password.

B. Installation by source code compilation : Generally on production server we use this installation because here you can set installation path, port number, user etc.

1. Make sure you have installed all the package related to compiler,

#rpm -qa make gcc

2. Download the source of Webmin "webmin-1.530.tar.gz" & Untar it,

#tar -zxvf webmin-1.530.tar.gz

3. Go to the extracted folder,

#cd /root/Desktop/webmin-1.530

4. run "setup.sh" script,

#./setup.sh

Now you have to give some answers for proper configuration you need . like Below,




[root@localhost webmin-1.530]# ./setup.sh
***********************************************************************
*            Welcome to the Webmin setup script, version 1.530        *
***********************************************************************
Webmin is a web-based interface that allows Unix-like operating
systems and common Unix services to be easily administered.

Installing Webmin in /root/Desktop/webmin-1.530 ...

***********************************************************************
Webmin uses separate directories for configuration files and log files.
Unless you want to run multiple versions of Webmin at the same time
you can just accept the defaults.

Config file directory [/etc/webmin]: <Press Enter>
Log file directory [/var/webmin]: <Press Enter>

***********************************************************************
Webmin is written entirely in Perl. Please enter the full path to the
Perl 5 interpreter on your system.

Full path to perl (default /usr/bin/perl): <Press Enter>

Testing Perl ...
Perl seems to be installed ok

***********************************************************************
Operating system name:    CentOS Linux
Operating system version: 5.3

***********************************************************************
Webmin uses its own password protected web server to provide access
to the administration programs. The setup script needs to know :
 - What port to run the web server on. There must not be another
   web server already using this port.
 - The login name required to access the web server.
 - The password required to access the web server.
 - If the webserver should use SSL (if your system supports it).
 - Whether to start webmin at boot time.

Web server port (default 10000): <Press Enter>
Login name (default admin): root
Login password:
Password again:
Use SSL (y/n): y
Start Webmin at boot time (y/n): y
***********************************************************************
Creating web server config files..
..done

Creating access control file..
..done

Inserting path to perl into scripts..
..done

Creating start and stop scripts..
..done

Copying config files..
..done

Configuring Webmin to start at boot time..
Created init script /etc/rc.d/init.d/webmin
..done

Creating uninstall script /etc/webmin/uninstall.sh ..
..done

Changing ownership and permissions ..
..done

Running postinstall scripts ..
..done

Enabling background status collection ..
..done

Attempting to start Webmin mini web server..
Starting Webmin server in /root/Desktop/webmin-1.530
Pre-loaded WebminCore
..done

***********************************************************************
Webmin has been installed and started successfully. Use your web
browser to go to

  https://localhost.localdomain:10000/

and login with the name and password you entered previously.

Because Webmin uses SSL for encryption only, the certificate
it uses is not signed by one of the recognized CAs such as
Verisign. When you first connect to the Webmin server, your
browser will ask you if you want to accept the certificate
presented, as it does not recognize the CA. Say yes.

[root@localhost webmin-1.530]#



Thats it, you installed Webmin on server properly.


_Enjoy :)