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Anyone use Virtualmin?
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Anyone use Virtualmin?

jhjh Member
edited September 2012 in General

Just getting a new server for my own sites and will be rethinking how to organise the sites I manage for myself. At the moment I'm using cPanel but I'm looking at alternatives that are perhaps more suitable for a single-user system. Virtualmin actually looks pretty good, and it's free. Thoughts?

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Comments

  • Yeah, I love it!! I was sick and tired of having to pay for cPanel, so I took the plunge. I'll be honest, it takes a little getting used to and you probably have to google a lot in the beginning. But once you figure it out, it's actually really powerful package. I haven't had a thing I couldn't do with VirtualMin that I could do with cPanel. I have to note, though, that I'm not using it for customers.

  • Just do everything yourself, edit the configuration files, etc.

    Not a fan of Virtualmin.

  • @mpkossen said: Yeah, I love it!! I was sick and tired of having to pay for cPanel, so I took the plunge. I'll be honest, it takes a little getting used to and you probably have to google a lot in the beginning. But once you figure it out, it's actually really powerful package. I haven't had a thing I couldn't do with VirtualMin that I could do with cPanel. I have to note, though, that I'm not using it for customers.

    Nice review, thanks. I won't be using it for customers, just to organise all of the sites I host for myself. How much memory does it use up?

  • @AsadHaider said: Just do everything yourself, edit the configuration files, etc.

    That's the alternative I'm looking at. Just thinking it may be useful to have a CP to handle backups and restores mostly.

  • PacketVMPacketVM Member, Host Rep

    I've used Virtualmin before, for clients, and for personal stuff and I think it's a great tool once you get used to it. Webmin (that it comes with) is a great feature to do server-side stuff too. You've got the best of both worlds: a section "Virtualmin" to manage your sites, and "Webmin" to manage your server.

    So yeah, I think it's great.

  • AlexBarakovAlexBarakov Patron Provider, Veteran

    Install the things by-hand. Make the configurations and setup a backup cron job. I think it is better than "studying" a new control panel.

  • @jhadley Once you've set it up and everything, it's pretty easy to configure vhosts as you need them. Make a bash script to handle backups, or just rsync directories via cron.

    Best way IMO rather than installing a bunch of crap.

  • Hmm? i am confused here.

    Webmin - website hosting
    virtrualmin - server management ?

    i just install webmin its nice and loads fast. I hope i am installing the correct product(site hosting)

  • @Alex_LiquidHost said: Install the things by-hand. Make the configurations and setup a backup cron job.

    No problem with any of that, however if the server I buy goes kaput for whatever reason then I have to reinstall everything by hand etc., whereas with a control panel I just run a script to get the same environment back, then restore the CP's backup to get the sites back. Easy ;)

  • @AsadHaider said: rsync directories via cron.

    Would probably want rdiff actually to hold multiple versions.

  • AlexBarakovAlexBarakov Patron Provider, Veteran

    @jhadley said: No problem with any of that, however if the server I buy goes kaput for whatever reason then I have to reinstall everything by hand etc., whereas with a control panel I just run a script to get the same environment back, then restore the CP's backup to get the sites back. Easy ;)

    Virtualize the server, set up a cron to backup the VPS itself and the restoration will be even easyer ;)

  • PacketVMPacketVM Member, Host Rep

    @Randy said: Webmin - website hosting

    virtrualmin - server management ?

    Other way around.

  • @jhadley said: No problem with any of that, however if the server I buy goes kaput for whatever reason then I have to reinstall everything by hand etc.,

    Not really, just sync the web/mysql server configuration files and data directories to the new server. Done.

  • Ha. Thanks for clarifying

  • PacketVMPacketVM Member, Host Rep

    @Randy said: Ha. Thanks for clarifying

    Np

  • I installed Virtualmin yesterday to play with.

    Someone mentioned to try Ajenti, however, when I tried it I wasn't able to figure out how to do virtual hosts with it. So it was back to Ajenti.

    Virtualmin's interface is very 1998, but the whole system works well, so who cares.

  • Virtualmin is better than cPanel IMO, straight up. We use it for backup and DNS for customers as well.

  • @jhadley said: won't be using it for customers, just to organise all of the sites I host for myself.

    Even all cPanell full backups run on Virtualmin and vice versa.

    @jhadley said: How much memory does it use up?

    512MB RAM is the low for middle size sites. Including mail tasks.

  • Full cpanel backups runs on VM? wow? i was not aware of that.

  • sleddogsleddog Member
    edited September 2012

    I used webmin/virtualmin for years doing shared webhosting and mail. It's a great product with a long & consistent development history. Technically I think it's extremely good. It's undervalued I think primarily because it's very different from cPanel -- which is what many people think a hosting panel should be like.

    IMO, webmin/virtualmin is to cPanel what Linux is to Windows :)

    Back when I used it, a primary support channel was a mailinglist, where the developers and the pro users provided endless, patient, thorough tech support to anyone and everyone. A great example of an OSS community at work.

  • edited September 2012

    I'm with @sleddog and @Damian. Used it for many years as a system and shared hosting management tool. I will ack that it has a very pre-y2k layout.

    Bottom line though, everything simply works. I very much recommend it. You won't be sorry.

    I really found it useful when at remote terminals that don't allow telnet/ssh access. At many internet cafes and at vendor offices overseas, having access to the web based interface for doing work on the server is really useful.

  • @acarrascope said: @jhadley said: How much memory does it use up?

    512MB RAM is the low for middle size sites. Including mail tasks.

    webmin/virtualmin itself uses very little memory. There's a tiny httpd daemon for login.

    It's writting in perl. When you do something you're running perl scripts, which take memory -- how much depends on what it's doing.

    The rest of your memory usage is system daemons, same as on a panel-less server.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    Virtualmin is great but if these are just websites I'd take minstall over it any day. Even though it's command line, it's still faster to use.

  • Played around with zPanel X. Pretty nice system, pretty easy to setup and use.

  • @jkr1711 said: Played around with zPanel X. Pretty nice system, pretty easy to setup and use

    is full english now?

  • @acarrascope Yup all in English

  • Installed it and using it now. It's awesome, and comes highly recommended :)

  • Zpanel? i cant find a installl guide its confusing. can any kind souls link me? thanks!

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