How to Install Webmin on Debian

Are you a system administrator? Bored working with the black and white console screen? Why not give Webmin a try? Webmin is a tool that offers a nice web-based interface for controlling the system. You can access it remotely, using any modern web browser. It can manage almost every single part of the system, for example, server configuration, package management, user and group management, disk quotas, and much more.

In this guide, check out how to install Webmin on Debian.

Prerequisites

Performing any system change on Debian requires that you have access to the root account or a user with sudo privilege. The same goes for installing Webmin.

If your server is running a firewall, then it also has to be configured to allow Webmin traffic. In this guide, I’ll be using UFW as the default one.

Installing Webmin

Assuming you have access to the root account (or any account with sudo privilege), let’s get started installing Webmin.

There are two ways to install Webmin on Debian. The first one involves grabbing the Webmin DEB package and installing it manually. The second method involves configuring the Webmin APT repository. I recommend using the second method as APT will automatically keep Webmin up-to-date.

Webmin DEB package

Grab the Webmin DEB package.

Once the download is complete, it’s time to install it. For installing any DEB package, using APT is the best idea as it’ll automatically determine and install any necessary dependency.

$ apt update && apt install ./webmin_1.955_all.deb

Webmin APT repo

Webmin offers APT repo for all the Debian and Debian-based distros (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and others).

First, install the following components.

$ apt update && apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https wget

The next step is to add the Webmin GPG key.

$ wget -q http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc -O- | apt-key add -

The system is ready to add the Webmin repo.

$ add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] http://download.webmin.com/download/repository
sarge contrib"

The APT repo is added successfully. Update the APT cache.

$ apt update

Install Webmin from the Webmin repo.

$ apt install webmin -y

Configuring firewall

By default, Webmin listens to the port 10000 on all network interfaces. Assuming your server is using a firewall, you have to allow traffic on port 10000.

If the server is using UFW, then run the following command to open the port 10000.

$ ufw allow 10000/tcp

If the server is using nftables for filtering connections, then run the following command.

$ nft add rule inet filter input tcp dport 10000 ct state new, established counter accept

Using Webmin

Webmin is now successfully configured. To access the Webmin dashboard, go to the following URL. Any modern browser will do the job.

$ https://<server_ip_or_hostname>:10000/

Webmin will ask for the login credentials for the server.

This is the dashboard of Webmin. It reports basic information about the server.

Let’s have a quick look at some useful shortcuts. From the left panel, go to System >> Software Package Updates. From here, you can manage package updates.

To install or upgrade packages, go to System >> Software Packages.

To manage the firewall, go to Networking >> Linux Firewall. For IPv6 firewall, go to Networking >> Linux IPv6 Firewall.

To configure Webmin behavior, go to Webmin >> Webmin Configuration.

Want a more comfortable look to the Webmin interface? Turn on the night mode.

To run commands in the console through Webmin, go to Others >> Command Shell.

Final thoughts

Webmin is incredible software for system admins. It offers more convenient access to various parts of the system without having to work using the console. For completely mastering Webmin, there are plenty of tutorials available online. Check out the official Webmin wiki for the most detailed information.

Interested in configuring Webmin on Ubuntu? Check out this guide on how to install and configure Webmin on Ubuntu.

Happy computing!