Installation of Webmin differs slightly depending on which type of package you choose to install. Note that Webmin requires a relatively recent Perl for any of these installation methods to work. Nearly all, if not all, modern Unix and Unix-like OS variants now include Perl as a standard component of the OS, so this should not be an issue.
First you must untar and unzip the archive in the directory where you would like Webmin to be installed. The most common location for installation from tarballs is /usr/local. Some sites prefer /opt. If using GNU tar, you can do this all on one command line, like so:
# tar zxvf webmin-0.87.tar.gz
Or if you have a less capable version of tar, you must unzip the file first and then untar it:
# gunzip webmin-0.87.tar.gz # tar xvf webmin-0.87.tar
Now, change to the directory that was created you untarred the archive, and execute the setup.sh script, as shown below. The script will ask several questions about your system, and your preferences for the installation. Generally you need only accept the defaults in most cases. An example installation might look like this:
[root@delilah webmin-0.87]# ./setup.sh ******************************************************************** * Welcome to the Webmin setup script, version 0.87 * ******************************************************************** 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/webmin-0.87 ... ******************************************************************** 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. Config file directory [/etc/webmin]: /usr/local/webmin-0.87/etc Log file directory [/var/webmin]: /usr/local/webmin-0.87/log ******************************************************************** 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): Testing Perl ... Perl seems to be installed ok ******************************************************************** For Webmin to work properly, it needs to know which operating system type and version you are running. Please select your system type by entering the number next to it from the list below -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Sun Solaris 2) Caldera OpenLinux eServer 3) Caldera OpenLinux 4) Redhat Linux 5) Slackware Linux 6) Debian Linux 7) SuSE Linux 8) Corel Linux 9) TurboLinux 10) Cobalt Linux 11) Mandrake Linux 12) Delix DLD Linux 13) Conectiva Linux 14) MkLinux 15) LinuxPPC 16) XLinux 17) LinuxPL 18) Linux From Scratch 19) Trustix 20) Cendio LBS Linux 21) Ute Linux 22) FreeBSD 23) OpenBSD 24) BSDI 25) HP/UX 26) SGI Irix 27) DEC/Compaq OSF/1 28) IBM AIX 29) SCO UnixWare 30) SCO OpenServer 31) MacOS Server X -------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating system: 4 Please choose which version of Redhat Linux you are running, by entering the number next to it from the list below -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Redhat Linux 4.0 2) Redhat Linux 4.1 3) Redhat Linux 4.2 4) Redhat Linux 5.0 5) Redhat Linux 5.1 6) Redhat Linux 5.2 7) Redhat Linux 6.0 8) Redhat Linux 6.1 9) Redhat Linux 6.2 10) Redhat Linux 7.0 11) Redhat Linux 7.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version: 9 Operating system name: Redhat Linux Operating system version: 6.2 ******************************************************************** 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. - The hostname of this system that the web server should use. - If the webserver should use SSL (if your system supports it). - Whether to start webmin at boot time. Web server port (default 10000): 10000 Login name (default admin): root Login password: Password again: Web server hostname (default delilah.swell.): Use SSL (y/n): y Start Webmin at boot time (y/n): y ******************************************************************** Creating web server config files.. ..done Creating access control file.. ..done Inserting path to perl into scripts.. ..done Creating start and stop scripts.. ..done Copying config files.. ..done Creating uninstall script /usr/local/webmin-0.87/etc/uninstall.sh .. ..done Changing ownership and permissions .. ..done Attempting to start Webmin mini web server.. Starting Webmin server in /usr/local/webmin-0.87 ..done ******************************************************************** Webmin has been installed and started successfully. Use your web browser to go to https://delilah.swell.:10000/ and login with the name and password you entered previously. Because Webmin uses SSL for encryption only, the certificate it uses is not signed by one of the recognized CAs such as Verisign. When you first connect to the Webmin server, your browser will ask you if you want to accept the certificate presented, as it does not recognize the CA. Say yes. [root@delilah webmin-0.87]#
Here you can see that I've chosen the default in some locations, and deviated from the default in others. The most likely changes you may want to make include changing the default installation directories, and altering the port on which Webmin will listen. Webmin also politely generates an uninstall.sh script that allows you to easily remove Webmin from your system.
Installing from an RPM is even easier. You only need to run one command:
[root@delilah root]# rpm -Uvh webmin-0.87.rpm
This will copy all of the Webmin files to appropriate locations and run the install script with sane default values. For example, on my Red Hat system, the Webmin perl files will be installed in /usr/libexec/webmin while the configuration files will end up in /etc/webmin. Webmin will then be started on port 10000, and you may log in using root as the login name and your system root password as the password. It's unlikely you will need to change any of these items from the command line, since they can all be modified using Webmin, but if you do they are set in the miniserv.conf in /etc/webmin.
To install on a Solaris machine using the pkg file, the steps are almost as simple as using the RPM. First unzip the file using gzip, and then use pkgadd to install the package.
root# gunzip webmin-0.87.pkg.gz root# pkgadd -d webmin-0.87.pkg
This will install Webmin into /usr/opt, and run the install script with sensible default values.