Couple of days ago I set up a new machine for someone. I installed Virtualmin from the vmin install script. Now there are new versions of webmin and usermin available, but when I go to the webmin configuration section I do not have an "upgrade webmin" option. I do have the "upgrade usermin" when I look into the usermin configuration section.
On my old system, that was setup years ago, I had installed Webmin first, then at a latter point I installed Virtualmin on top of it, then couple of months ago, I also installed Usermin. On it I do have the "upgrade webmin" option, and it is the way I upgrade Webmin, Virtualmin and their modules and themes.
Is there a different way to upgrade webmin and virtualmin if they are installed via the Virtualmin install script, or is something either missing or turned off?
Setup on the system in question: Operating system CentOS Linux 5.2 Webmin version 1.450 Virtualmin version 3.66.gpl GPL Theme version 6.7<br><br>Post edited by: thetitan, at: 2009/03/20 05:06
Howdy,
The versions you mentioned above are actually the most recent version available in the repositories -- there is a newer version of Webmin on webmin.com, but it has a few outstanding bugs, and Joe avoided adding that to the repository for Virtualmin users.
Joe mentioned that Jamie just gave him the green light on Webmin 1.47, so we should be seeing that pretty soon.
Once it does come out there, there's a few different ways to ugprade it.
My personal favorite -- the install script sets up a yum repository for it, so you can just upgrade Virtualmin/Webmin/Usermin alongside the other packages on the system by running a "yum update".
-Eric
Thank you for the response Eric.
Even though I don't have a problem with using yup, I use it to update and install everything else, when it comes to updating the 'min family I prefer doing it from the min interface.
Is the upgrade option removed on purpose or is it simply turned off somewhere?
Webmin 1.47 came out on the 18th, so now I'm trying to upgrade but that option is not in the webmin configuration section.
Going back to yum. When I run "yum update" to see a list of available packages, the system returns "No Packages marked for Update". Yet, the new webmin and usermin versions are available, because I was able to run the "upgrade webmin" on my old server and it upgraded without any problems.
I did find "Virtualmin Package Updates" under webming>>System, but I find it confusing, and after refreshing and filtering both "only virtualmin related" and everything, I don't see the webmin and usermin upgrades.
Crap! This silly forum just ate my post. Joe, hurry up with that new site :-)
(after a few minutes of grumbling)
Anyhow, I'm hoping that Joe can chime in, as I'm not super-experienced with how the updates are handled behind-the-scenes.
But, I suspect what you're seeing is a product of how the two systems were installed.
When Virtualmin is installed using the install.sh script, it searches for updates using the software.virtualmin.com repositories.
So while there is a Webmin 1.460 update in Webmin.com, Joe doesn't actually want Virtualmin installs to see it -- it has some outstanding issues, and he never put it into the Virtualmin repository.
OTOH, your original install had been done differently, and may be configured to look at Webmin.com for updates, rather than (or in addition to) Virtualmin.com.
Long story short, I believe what you're seeing is the expected behavior. Folks that install with the install.sh script pull down updates from software.virtualmin.com -- and the versions that you mentioned above are the latest available in that repository.
When there are updates, they should show up on the System Information screen as you log into Virtualmin.
-Eric
ok, that makes sense.
On my server I do look for updates on webmin.com. While, I'm guessing, because on the new machine I directly installed virtualmin, and it was from the virtualmin.com, the repos are different. I will just have to wait.
BTW, "Virtualmin Package Updates" is nice. Everything new is confusing when it is used for a first time.
OK, authoritative word on all of this:
1. The Upgrade Webmin option is hidden on Virtualmin systems that have good package managers (yum or apt-get), by default. It was confusing having two ways to upgrade Webmin on these systems, so the less capable method was removed. Virtualmin Package Updates is the recommended way to maintain all of your Webmin-related packages in a Virtualmin system.
2. The packages in the Virtualmin.com repositories receive more QC testing than those in the Webmin.com repositories. Different target audiences have different reliability requirements (generally). Open Source users are more forgiving of bugs than folks who are paying for software. And, folks who are running production web hosting servers tend to be particularly unforgiving of bugs.
3. In some cases, I have knowledge of issues in a new Webmin version that will effect Virtualmin users, and so I wait until those issues are fixed before rolling a new version of Webmin. That is the case here. If you upgraded to 1.460 (manually, bypassing the Virtualmin repositories and going straight to Webmin.com), you would have run into a handful of bugs in the new module system. I knew about these issues (not with any specificity...I just knew the major module system overhaul was going to cause widespread breakage) and opted not to roll 1.460 for Virtualmin users until some of those issues had been shaken out. They have now mostly been shaken out, and 1.470 will almost certainly roll today (still testing, but no problems have revealed themselves yet).
4. We sometimes roll updates that need to sync up. Upgrading one without the other could lead to annoying issues; we try very hard to make sure that "nearby" versions will all work, but sometimes we miss a spot where an eval wrapper is required for a particular function. The versions we provide in the Virtualmin.com repositories are tested in the exact combination they are made available...but maybe not in other combinations.
Sometimes Jamie or I <i>will</i> suggest upgrading Webmin to a devel version or a version not currently in the Virtualmin.com repository, in order to address a specific bug or issue that effects your specific deployment but not everybodies. But, in general, unless you know you have some reason to upgrade outside of the normal channel, I don't recommend it. I'm not smarter than most folks, but I do happen to know more than most folks about issues in various versions and combinations of versions of Webmin, Virtualmin, and Usermin. If you just use the latest packages I roll out to our yum/apt repository, you'll have the most reliable combination of packages currently available, to the best of my knowledge (and my knowledge tends to be deeper than anyone other than maybe Jamie, in this particular area).
--
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Joe,
Thank you for your extended response.
All of the confusion arise from the fact that I have not setup a server from the virtualmin repo, before. Now I know.
I also agree with why you do the things you and Jamie do. As a business you guys have to provide reliable software, otherwise you won't be in business for a very long time.