Ubuntu 16.04 - Install Webmin

The Webmin site describes Webmin as: "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. See the standard modules page for a list of all the functions built into Webmin." - Webmin site

However the reason I am interested in it is because it is probably the easiest way to set up and maintain a Bind9 DNS server.

Steps

Run the commands below to install the webmin packages.

sudo echo "deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/webmin.list
wget -qO - http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt update
sudo apt install webmin -y

Set Root Password

Now let's set the root account's password for webmin. Please change the PASSWORD variable in the script before using it.

PASSWORD="pleaseChangeThisText"
sudo /usr/share/webmin/changepass.pl /etc/webmin root $PASSWORD

Login With Browser

Now use your browser to navigate to your server's IP or hostname on port 10,000. E.g.

https://server-ip-or-hostname:10000/

You will need to allow the SSL exception as we haven't provided certificates yet.

Login with the user root and the password you specified earlier.

You will now be able to see the webmin interface.

Conclusion

You have now installed webmin on Ubuntu 16.04. In future we will discuss how to add SSL certificates and set up a Bind9 DNS server.

References

• DigitalOcean - How To Install Webmin on Ubuntu 16.04