Virtualmin Pro on Fedora Core 5 - good and bad?

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#1 Sat, 05/20/2006 - 12:10
ah...lifes...good

Virtualmin Pro on Fedora Core 5 - good and bad?

Hi,

I am contemplating purchasing Virtualmin Pro to install on Fedora Core 5.

For those currently usinng Virtualmin Pro, what are your feedback?

Good? Simplify all the processes of creating virtual websites, user/email/FTP accounts etc.? Better than other products out there?

Bad? Too many bugs? Not worth the money? Better alternative elsewhere?

Thanks in advance.

Sat, 05/20/2006 - 23:54
jpenix

Virtualmin is an excellent system, and it does indeed simplify the process of creating your virtual sites. I believe the most compelling feature is that it doesn't attempt to take over your entire system as other control panels do. It works well within the standard *nix setup, and is based on the years of development that have gone into Webmin.

It may note be as "pretty" as other panels like Plesk, but it's easily as functional if not more-so, and is much less finicky than anything I've dealt with in the past. The Pro version has an attractive theme to it that manages to make a very complex system appear reasonably simple. This is in stark contrast to the horrid screenfuls of text and vague options that you see with panels like cPanel/WHM.

Support from the Virtualmin team has been exceptional as well. Yes, I've run across the occasional bug, but everything I've found has been addressed within days. It is indeed worth the money.

If you find yourself still unsure, you can start by checking out the GPL version which lacks some of the additional features (spam/virus filter setup, web script installers, themes) that you find in Pro, but you'll get a good idea about the base system.

Sun, 05/21/2006 - 08:39
ah...lifes...good

Thanks very much Joshua for your feedback. Very well thought-out response!

BTW, we are not a web hosting company. Just looking for a piece of software to simplify the management of virtual websites on our server.

Mon, 05/22/2006 - 18:27
KassidyClark

Since you mention it...<BR><BR>

I've been looking for this kind of solution for almost a year now. An lightweight ISP solution that had
<BR>1) a one-click website creation (dns, postfix, apache, etc.),
<BR>2) a powerful interface for administrators,
<BR>3) a tier of resellers,
<BR>4) a simple interface for the customers and of course
<BR>5) free or low-cost.
<BR><BR>
After trying ISP-config, VHCS, Cube and one other "nameless" solution, I had been disappointed for one reason or another. They met some of my demands, but always had some major drawback. So my test server has been reformatted a dozen times trying to find the one-best-solution. I finally tried the GPL version, which to be honest, really made me skeptical about the Virtualmin Pro version. The GPL version offered the one-click website creation along side the powerful, existing Webmin interface, but I wasn't convinced to pay money (even though it's very little money) for that level of a solution. But, for some reason, I still decided to take a risk and pay for Virtualmin Pro, just hoping that you would surprise me. I paid, reformatted my test machine again, and ran the cript. I was nervous, sleepy and wondering if had made a mistake. But then...[BR><BR>

With each click of the mouse, from the login screen to one-click website creation, from the very clean default skin, to the symbiotic relationship with good ol' Webmin, I was seeing all my dreams coming true. One serious mistake of other products I've tried (I haven't tried ensim, cpanel or plesk, mind you) was that their approach to automation made it impossible or very difficult for the administrator to customize or tweak anything. The administrator's level of control was very limited. With Virtualmin Pro, I am able to get the automation I've been looking for yet without losing the control/customization. I think this has mainly to do with the use of Webmin in the solution. Webmin offers so much more control via the same interface, so after creating a website, I can easily tweak the dns entry, or group memebership for example.<BR><BR>

Creating and maintaining websites is a snap with Virtualmin Pro. It offers all the necessary automation, powerful controls, delegated authority (resellers), an intutitive design (great for those pesky customers) and it's worth every penny of it's very, very low cost. I agree that people should pay if they want professional-quality service and software. I recommend this above all other free/inexpensive solutions out there. It's ideal for a small but serious hosting environment.

Tue, 05/23/2006 - 08:34
ah...lifes...good

Thanks, Kassidy, for the feedback. Appreciate it!

On Kassidy's and Joshua's glowing recommendations, I finally bit the bullet and purchased Virtualmin Pro today. Hope to install it in the next day or two. If I ever regret it, you will hear from me! ;)

Tue, 05/23/2006 - 08:36
ah...lifes...good

By the way, what do we do with the install.sh file?

I bet you can tell that I am a finger-sucking newbie. ;-)

Tue, 05/23/2006 - 10:41 (Reply to #6)
ah...lifes...good

> By the way, what do we do with the install.sh file?

Bloody newbie... look in the Virtualmin Administrator Guide before you ask any question!

Okie... Sir Yes Sir !!! ;-)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

http://www.virtualmin.com/support/documentation/virtualmin-admin-guide/c...

Running the Install Script

Installation is performed automatically by the OS-neutral Virtualmin Professional install.sh script. This script sets up the license key in /etc/virtualmin-license and configures the appropriate package management and installation tool for use with the password-protected Virtualmin software repository. It will then install the virtualmin-base package, which performs the remainder of the installation, appropriate for your OS and version.

Download the file from the Software Registrations page at Virtualmin.com (all of your purchased products will be available for download throughout the life of your license period), and copy it to the server to be installed. Then, as root, run these two commands:

# chmod +x install.sh

# ./install.sh

After 15-30 minutes, depending on the speed of your network connection, your system will be configured for Virtualmin Professional and ready to login to. You can then login to Webmin and browse to the the Virtualmin Virtual Servers module under the Servers tab. The final step in the installation is to perform the configuration check, by clicking the Check Configuration button.

Thu, 07/27/2006 - 15:29
pnymat

If you don't need mysql5 and php5, prefer CentOS than Fedora. Fedora is a little unstable for hosting. CentOS is based on RHEL and very stable.

My dream ... virtualmin pro under Ubuntu Dapper Server :)

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