Episode: 324
Title: HPR0324: webmin
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr0324/hpr0324.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-07 16:21:41

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So if you've got a web server, you need to administrate virtual domains for mail and
for the web sites, you've got many web sites on one machine there, then you can use virtual
one to do that.
So that's quite much from that point of view.
It takes a lot of pain out of maintaining one of those systems.
And then userman provides your ordinary Linux users with a sort of web interface to maintain
the mail, the prop mail files, the official mail files, all that kind of stuff.
So it's quite nice at that point of view.
I haven't actually used it much myself, the userman part, but the virtual one part looks
like something that's worth looking into.
Okay, so now do we just want to tell our listeners how they can find webbing and how to install
it?
Yeah, that'll be a good idea.
Most distributions will have a webman already in their repositories, so if you're using
something like a debut and you're used to get, if you're using Red Hat or Fedora, you'll
use something like Yum.
And it gets a suzer, I think a new thing is called Zafar, ZYPPER, it's a new installation
package manager.
So you can probably find it in the repositories, and if not, I think you can go to the webman
home page and actually download a lot of the packages people there for form the webman
and the people that actually produce webbing.
Okay, and then we wanted to just touch on some security issues.
Yeah, yeah.
How have you set up a webman in the past, do you access it remotely over your network or
remote connections?
Remotely over my network and having to work through the firewall with more authority?
Yeah, but one of the issues that often comes up with when you mention webbing to people
is the issue of security, because you know, you can set up to work on ITTPS, but this
is something, you know, you feel inherently insecure, even that much power available on
a web server, even if it doesn't run on port, I know it doesn't run on port 80 by default,
it runs on port 10,000 by default, but it's, you know, sometimes you will feel a bit
insecure about doing that.
If you do, if you feel like it, then you can always just port for 10,000 over the SSH.
So the whole tunnel is encrypted radio, for it gets sent over the network, and then
if you've got a HTTPS running on there as well, it's via another layer of encryption.
So that's how often we do it, so if we do have to access machines on remotely, yeah,
another way to tell people to do it is the first VPN into the network, and then they,
you know, fire up the browser and access access webman that way, because that was another
way of having a secure connection on two webmen.
All right, so just to recap then, the advantages and the disadvantages we might see of this
program.
So I'll just talk what, again, to recap the advantages that I see, that it installs on
most most common distros, and like you say, it's in the repositories and easy to get to,
that many Linux administrators are familiar with it, and that it has a great GUI for people
to use instead of the text command line, and I can say to avoid those, just those little
typing errors that could cause a catastrophe.
Mark, what do you see some of the disadvantages of Webman?
I think, you know, for me, Webman is, it's an intermediate step until you become proficient
in the administration of the whole, of the machine or the box, but I mean, you know, having
said that it's also, it has its place in the sense that if you go a lot of machines in
Minister, they'll have a lot of time, sometimes graphically, the administration of the box
is a lot quicker.
So firstly, I prefer to configure things on the command line, but, you know, if you
got 50 clients and they all, you know, and you have to be configured and maintained,
and you have to provide a level of service that sometimes is best just to install Webman.
I always, at least have it as a backup tool as well, because if somebody comes with
the esoteric server that I've never installed before, I mean, let's say, for example,
and I'll mainly use PostFix for the MTE, SMTP server, when you go to some client to take
them over and they're using send mail, or what's the other one, or Q-mail, or one of those
kind of mail applications, which I'm unfamiliar with, you know, then I'll use Webman top
with the configuration, because I understand the concept behind parsing the mail server,
I don't need to know what all of the specific configuration options are for those different
servers. So that's when I'll also tend to use Webman when I'm feeling a little bit, you
know, I don't have enough time to read up on all of the different config options and I
understand, oh, and I want to make sure that it gets configured properly and has reasonable
defaults, then I'll use some in like Webman to assist with that.
Okay. Hen, Mark, you asked me if I had used any other remote and then tools, how about
yourself, the ones you're familiar with?
Well, as I say, I mainly use SSH to do the configuration from the command line. The other
remote tools I've been recently looking at is something called eBox, because what you
see is a whole sort of, all you call it, a Florence kind of software that's coming out
these days. You know, most of them sort of run on like firewalls, distributions, you'll
get like a GUI that can configure everything when DHCP servers, the DNS, and you know, obviously
the firewall and those kind of things, but you're also getting ones that help you demonstrate
users and the eBox looks like something that does that. So there's all things to be
looking into. It's smooth towards, Mark and he's smooth towards like a plants kind of
approach to networking and it's especially good for small businesses. And just like you
get your aches over to, you know, no one ever messes with that, you just turn it on and
turn it off and it works. You know, small businesses often lack that, you know, it's just
work. The switch it off, switch it on and it comes right. And I think that's where
a bunch of people are going to you with the sort of network management tool, basic networking
services as well. They don't want to have to set the click millions of buttons to get
something configured and working. And so this whole approach is sort of turning it into
an implant, it has a simple interface, click a few buttons, hit a few options, and then
it works. It's really where, you know, where a lot of the stuff is hitting. And I think
you'll see that as well with this whole administration of networks as well.
All right. And you also do you have some information like about the company that made a web
man or like there's philosophy at all? What I know is women a while ago they were run,
I think there was something across country or something like that was owned them. I see
now there is another company seems to have taken them over. So they've got a commercial
solution to the system as well. And I think that also leads a bit of a decline in the
community. Because you know, women at one stage was quite, you know, had quite a bit
of a man she seems to be decreasing over time. So I'm not sure whether that's related
to the changes in ownership of the code and the company that could just sort of basically
sponsoring the development for this application. But yeah, it does seem to be some issues
around there and maybe some of the listes out there will know a bit more about it. But,
you know, it seems, you know, that it's on the up and up in terms of using it as an open-source
solution in your business. And yourself and Darlene, have you had any feedback on using
web man? Yeah, it was, you know, I had recommended to me by several strong Linux users. And when
I had posted a comment that I was testing it on a bunch, right away, I had people come back saying
it was unsupported and, you know, this idea. And so I think to maybe they're not seeing it as
true open-source, but it is a valuable tool that you can integrate. And it does provide another
level of service and support to your system. So I think it's worth investigating.
Look, I think it does have value. A lot of these projects, I think it's one thing,
always going to look at when you actually use the open-source solution, is, you know,
which company is sponsoring the project. And this is a good community around the project.
And, you know, they all have a couple of these projects which were open-source and they seem to
have had a commercial entity take, take an interesting name. I think the podcast recently
about firewalls in one such distribution, for example, was RPCOP. And it does seem that there's,
you know, some companies are better to get the open-source mix route. So, yeah, so maybe they just
sort of need to find the way there and sort that out. But, you know, for you finally, we
some, I'm somebody on the other side of the radio broadcast now getting really frustrated because
you're not community, could be right ahead of the route, that idea was going on. But I think
that's our feeling on it. And, you know, if anybody knows any more about the company's
direction that is going, feel free to provide some feedback on it. I mean, I really think it's a
good project that, you know, indeed a bit more exposure and a bit more, could do with a bit more
people using a bit of community behind it. All right, well, that's all I have to share today, Mark,
and how about yourself? Yeah, that's, that's all for now. I think what we would do is look at
each episode, we've been getting out, maybe look at other tools that can be useful in multi-ministration.
But yeah, Whitman was the one that we covered today and I hope that some of our listeners find
this useful. So just to wrap up today, I really enjoyed the opportunity to co-host with you
and I look forward to our next podcast together. Let's go. Yeah. Okay, thanks, Tallin, for, for
Kai's in the show with me. I'd like to thank all our listeners for, for tuning into this
episode and we'll be releasing more episodes in the future in the future. So keep tuned. Thank you
very much. Thank you for listening to the Africa Public Radio. HPR is sponsored by Carol.net.
So head on over to C-A-R-O dot N-E-C for all of us here.
Thank you for listening to the Africa Public Radio.
Thank you for listening to the Africa Public Radio. HPR is sponsored by Carol.net. So head on
over to C-A-R-O dot N-E-C for all of us here.