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

Posted on in Categories , , , last updated March 13, 2009

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)

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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23 comment

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

  4. 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

  8. 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 ?

  10. I got Running postinstall scripts …
    permission denied

    any help in this matter?thanks in advance.

  11. 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. 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.

  14. Just to clarify what Steve said:
    I got the “permission denied” because I don’t have apache, which is not needed. Because it is not found the setup script does not launch webadmin when it completes.

    Try to run webmin start as Steve says. It worked for me.

    I found the explanation here

  15. “Permission Denied” when running postinstall scripts. Same Problem under FreeBSD 8.0
    Is there any solution? Thanks! Earl

  17. iv’e got this error :

    /libexec/ld-elf.so.1: /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.9/mach/auto/SDBM_File/SDBM_File.so: Undefined symbol “sdbm_open”

    FreeBSD 8.0 64 bit version
    perl version perl-5.8.9_3
    webmin version webmin-1.490

  21. what is web-base interface??what is a good design project for it??or a thesis proposal for it..

  22. Please help me !

    Web server port (default 10000):
    Login name (default admin):
    Login 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 ..
    : Permission denied
    : Permission denied
    syslog-ng: not found
    ..done

    Enabling background status collection ..
    ..done

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