FreeBSD Install and Configure Webmin Web-based Interface ( Control Panel )

Q. How do I install webmin control panel for my FreeBSD server?

A. Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix including FreeBSD. Using any browser that supports tables and forms, you can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing, firewall and so on. Webmin consists of a simple web server, and a number of CGI programs which directly update system files like /etc/inetd.conf and /etc/master.passwd.

Install webmin

To install webmin, update your ports, enter:
# portsnap fetch update
Install webmin from /usr/ports/sysutils/webmin, enter:
# cd /usr/ports/sysutils/webmin
# make install clean

Configure webmin

Now, webmin is installed. Start webmin on startup, enter:
# vi /etc/rc.conf
Append following line:
webmin_enable="YES"
Save and close the file. You need to run /usr/local/lib/webmin/setup.sh script in order to setup the various config files, enter:
# /usr/local/lib/webmin/setup.sh
Sample output:

***********************************************************************
*            Welcome to the Webmin setup script, version 1.420        *
***********************************************************************
Webmin is a web-based interface that allows Unix-like operating
systems and common Unix services to be easily administered.

Installing Webmin in /usr/local/lib/webmin ...

***********************************************************************
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.

Log file directory [/var/log/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:    FreeBSD
Operating system version: 7.0

***********************************************************************
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):  [Press Enter]
Login password: [type password]
Password again:
Use SSL (y/n): y
***********************************************************************
Creating web server config files..
..done

Creating access control file..
..done

Creating start and stop scripts..
..done

Copying config files..
..done

Changing ownership and permissions ..
..done

Running postinstall scripts ..
..done

How do I view webmin?

Fire a webbrowser and enter url:
https://your-domain.com:10000/
OR
https://your-server-ip:10000/
You should see login html form as follows:

(Fig. 01: - Webmin in action under FreeBSD)

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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

1 phat 07.20.08 at 12:10 am

It very goods. Thank you

2 smooth 07.28.08 at 6:28 pm

how can i fix this problem

An error has occurred building a program for listing mounted filesystems on your system :

/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c: In function ‘main’:
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c:18: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘exit’
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c: In function ‘expand_flags’:
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c:34: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ’strcat’
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c:38: error: ‘MNT_NODEV’ undeclared (first use in this function)
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c:38: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c:38: error: for each function it appears in.)
/usr/local/lib/webmin/mount/freebsd-mounts-5.c:48: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ’strlen’

thanks in advance

3 Moktar 08.13.08 at 5:28 pm

I got the same thing after the install said “Permission Denied” when running postinstall scripts.

4 GregMo 09.16.08 at 6:59 am

If you get this error:

An error has occurred building a program for listing mounted filesystems on your system

…then you’re running an outdated version. I found this page because I was as well. You can use Webmin itself to upgrade to the latest version and this will work fine.

Cheers,
GregMo

5 smooth 09.19.08 at 4:18 am

thanx allot GregMo i had 2 update my ports :P

6 beto 10.21.08 at 11:16 am

is very nice to be conected

7 Holy Diver 03.13.09 at 10:19 am

Typing Error:
To install webbin, update your ports, enter:

8 unsecur3d 04.10.09 at 7:59 am

When i install webmin i dont get no error whatsoever, however it doesnt work when i go to the webpage, why is this ? it just doesnt load at all ?

9 Danu 05.04.09 at 4:22 am

good article
thank you very much

10 Amir 06.02.09 at 10:36 am

I got Running postinstall scripts …
permission denied

any help in this matter?thanks in advance.

11 Pete 06.10.09 at 10:51 pm

same here, postinstall scripts = permission denied * 2 the first time, tried running it again and it spits it out once. Once I learn where logs are for it I’ll see if I can dredge up more details.

12 Vivek Gite 06.10.09 at 11:47 pm

If you are running ‘portsnap fetch update’ first time, enter:

portsnap fetch extract

It should work…also, portsnap is not available for FreeBSD 5.x or older in base system.

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