Webmin: Good for a server?

[rpindy]

I'd like to know what people who have tried it think about Webmin. In particular I'd like to know if there are any bad security problems in it or other issues/general opinions on it. If I used it I would likely use it on a FreeBSD server.

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by rpindy

I'd like to know if there are any bad security problems in it...

There have been in the past. Google for "webmin security".

I'd like to know what people who have tried it think about Webmin.

There isn't anything that can be done in Webmin which can't be done at the command-line. Webmin is a convenience that some make into a crutch.

[Carpetsmoker]

Why use webmin when FreeBSD already includes the vi(1) graphical control panel?

[TerryP]

Sorry for the OT post, but after reading that remark, we really need a like button on this forum xD.

Unix design generally makes a quality text editing and processing tools, your best friend in all matters.

[BSDfan666]

You mean, like the "Thanks" button? it works for that...

"Thanks for making my laugh my ass off".

[phoenix]

Webmin works well for allowing non-technical people (like school principals and teachers) to do limited admin work on servers (like managing user accounts and quotas). And for allowing limited admin access to semi-technical people (like Windows/Novell admins accessing Linux servers).

However, it does require a lot of planning and configuration and what-not. By default, it uses a "everything is permitted" security settings. It's up to you to limit what people can do.

We've been using it for almost a decade now, on all of our school servers. Initially to ease the migration from Novell to Linux, as everyone was used to a GUI admin tool. Then to allow more and more non-techy people to manage the things they need.

So far, no major issues. The only one was allowing a tech teacher to have root-level access to a file manager ... which he then used to completely hose the /home filesystem. Thankfully, that was after we starting using rsbackup, and it was a very simple rsync operation to fix everything.

[Lexus45]

i prefer the classical way, without any GUI frontends, but it's only my opinion

[rpindy]

Originally Posted by Lexus45

i prefer the classical way, without any GUI frontends, but it's only my opinion

That's the best way from a security standpoint. It's only when you have a lot of domains on a server that you're practically forced into using cPanel/WHM. It works well and is convenient but costs $25/mo and only works well on Red Hat and its spinoffs. I tried ordering a dedicated server with FreeBSD and cPanel, and the hosting company had to call cPanel to figure out how to install it. They also had to use FreeBSD 7.0 even though 7.2 was out since cPanel focused on Red Hat. The tech support also said it was an unstable combination, so we ended up reloading with CentOS. I asked about Webmin just in case I get the money and ended up transferring to a cheap dedicated server.