How to Install Debian GUI (Webmin) on Debian 11. Webmin, also known as Debian GUI (Debian Graphical User Interface), is a web based interface to manage and administer a Linux system.
It provides a graphical user interface that can be used remotely via the Web browser and on terminal consoles.
Webmin enables remote control or automation of computer systems, manages network resources, monitors processes and services and controls common server applications such as the Apache HTTP Server and CUPS printing system.
In this article, we will be looking at how to install the Debian GUI called Webmin on your system.
What is Webmin
Webmin is an open source web based interface for system administration that uses the LSB (Linux Standard Base) as its underlying basis. The LSB is a specification specifying how Unix like operating systems should be organized and structured. With Webmin, you can configure and administer your server or other GNU/Linux machine from any browser.
It combines common UNIX utilities into one easy to use package that can be installed on any version of Linux or Unix.
Webmin offers a flexible and powerful way to administer your server. It provides features like user management, file sharing, remote access, and configuration management tools. It provides easy access to many common services like DNS, SMTP, FTP, iptables and NFS.
In addition to these basic features, Webmin offers many other helpful tools that can help you manage your servers more efficiently.
In other words, it simplifies the administration and configuration of services on your local network and provides the user interface for doing so.
Webmin Features
Some of the prominent features of Webmin are:
- System Management.
- Remote administrative management includes remote login into distant machines, starting/stopping services, etc.
- Automated backups.
- Real time system statistics like CPU usage and swap space.
- User authentication and management.
- User, network, and system monitoring.
- System alerts and logs.
- Bind DNS options like RNDC, zones, clustering, and implementing DNSSEC.
- The Apache web server, email servers, and PHP support.
- Graphical file management.
- Native server security features like IPTables firewall, log viewers, RAID configuration, directory protection and two factor authentication are supported.
Advantages of Webmin
Webmin is an extremely convenient tool for system administrators, providing benefits like:
- Webmin is open source, so it’s cost effective.
- It is easy to use since you do not need command line tools or shell programming languages.
- Webmin automatically detects the hardware and configuration of your server.
- You can control and configure your server via the use of a web browser locally or remotely.
- Webmin can help you with system maintenance since Webmin’s update manager makes it simple to update different components of your system, including packages.
- With Webmin’s user management, you may add new users to your server without having any technical expertise.
- You can keep an eye on server performance using Webmin system monitoring, which also displays resources like RAM, CPU and disk space utilization.
- Webmin helps you create backups of system databases.
- Webmin supports and provides a wide variety of tools that can help with systems like Bind DNS, HTTPS, Apache, PHP, and server authorization and security.
Follow this post to learn how to install Webmin Debian GUI on Debian 11.
How to Install Debian GUI (Webmin) on Debian 11
Prerequisites
You will need:
- Debian 11 system.
- A user with root or sudo privileges.
- A network connection.
Update Your System
Update your system to make sure that all system packages are the latest.
sudo apt update
Install Dependencies
Next, you need to install the apt-transport-https dependent package to access repositories with a secure protocol (HTTPS) with the following commands.
sudo apt install wget apt-transport-https software-properties-common
Output:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
software-properties-common is already the newest version (0.96.20.2-2.1).
software-properties-common set to manually installed.
…
Also install gnupg2 for encryption and curl for data transfer with the following command.
sudo apt-get install gnupg2 curl -y
Output:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
curl gnupg2
…
Download and Add the Webmin GPG Key
Next, download and add the Webmin GPG key with the following command.
wget -qO - http://www.webmin.com/jcameron-key.asc | sudo apt-key add -
Output:
Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
OK
Add Webmin Repository to APT
After adding the GPG key, you can add the Webmin repository to the sources list with the following command.
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://download.webmin.com/download/repository sarge contrib" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/webmin.list'
Now, update your system again to update the sources list.
sudo apt update
Now, update your system again to update the sources list.
Install Webmin
Finally, your system is ready to install Webmin. Run the following command to install Webmin.
sudo apt install webmin
Output:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
libauthen-pam-perl libio-pty-perl
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libauthen-pam-perl libio-pty-perl webmin
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
…
Manage Webmin Service
Once you install Webmin, the Webmin service will automatically start. You can verify that by checking the service status with the following command.
sudo systemctl status webmin
Output:
● webmin.service - Webmin server daemon
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/webmin.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2022-07-13 14:21:33 EDT; 7s ago
Process: 6483 ExecStart=/usr/share/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf (code>
Main PID: 6484 (miniserv.pl)
…
You can start the service manually or enable Webmin to start at boot with the following commands.
sudo systemctl start webmin
sudo systemctl enable webmin
Configure Firewall to Allow Webmin
Run the following command to allow Webmin through the firewall.
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw allow 10000
Reload the firewall and check the status to verify the changes have taken effect.
sudo ufw reload
sudo ufw status
Set the Webmin Root User’s Password
You can set or root the Webmin user password with the following command.
sudo /usr/share/webmin/changepass.pl /etc/webmin root 1234
Output:
Password for Webmin user root updated successfully
Access Webmin on Debian
Open the following URL in the browser to access Webmin.
https://[your server's IP]:10000/
You will have an SSL certificate warning because the browser does not recognize the Webmin SSL certificate. Proceed to Webmin by going to Advanced > Accept the Risk and Continue.
Next, enter your username and password.
You will see the Webmin dashboard with various system statistics and options.
That’s it for the Webmin installation on Debian 11.
How to Install Debian GUI (Webmin) on Debian 11 Conclusion
In this guide, you have learned how to install Debian GUI on your system.
Webmin is a web based interface for system administration for Unix-like operating systems. The software can be used to configure and administer a server, including SSH access and access control.
It is primarily intended for system administrators who need to manage a large number of systems, as the GUI supports multiple users and multiple remote servers, so you can manage them all from one central location.
Webmin allows you to easily configure and administer these Linux systems from the comfort of your browser.
Explore our other content on Webmin if you want to learn more.
