Virtualmin offers both a command-line API and an HTTP-based remote API for extensive server management, including handling servers, users, databases, etc.

The command-line API is powerful but might not be ideal in every situation, particularly because it requires Unix shell with root access. For greater flexibility, an HTTP API can be used remotely.

The remote API

To make remote calls:

  • Remote calls must be made through the CGI, e.g:
    https://yourserver:10000/virtual-server/remote.cgi
  • Provide a program parameter for the command-line program to invoke.
  • Additional parameters can be included in the URL as CGI parameters.
  • Example URL for creating a mail alias:
      https://yourserver:10000/virtual-server/remote.cgi?program=create-alias&domain=domain.com&from=sales&to=user@domain.com

Both GET and POST HTTP requests are supported. POST requests are recommended for security reasons, as they do not expose the command-line program and its parameters in the URL.

Reading output

The output from remote.cgi is plain text, including the command-line program’s output and an exit status line indicating success or failure.

JSON and XML output

For JSON output, add json=1 to the API call. For XML, use xml=1. Perl format is available with perl=1. Use multiline with any list-* API calls to get detailed output.

Authentication

  • The remote API requires authentication using the same system as the web interface.
  • It is accessible only by the master administrator for security reasons.
  • Include HTTP authentication headers in your requests.
  • Example command using wget for authentication:
      wget -qO- --http-user=root --http-passwd=pass 'https://yourserver:10000/virtual-server/remote.cgi?program=list-domains'

Example usage

PHP example

<?php
$result = shell_exec("wget -O - --quiet --http-user=root --http-passwd=pass --no-check-certificate 'https://localhost:10000/virtual-server/remote.cgi?program=list-domains'");
echo $result;
?>

Perl example

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

$result = `wget -O - --quiet --http-user=root --http-passwd=pass --no-check-certificate 'https://localhost:10000/virtual-server/remote.cgi?program=list-domains'`;
print "$result\n";

Perl LWP example

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use LWP;

my $browser = LWP::UserAgent->new();
$browser->credentials("localhost:10000", "Webmin Server", "root" => "pass");

my $result = $browser->get("https://localhost:10000/virtual-server/remote.cgi?program=list-domains");
print $result->content;