How to install Webmin on Ubuntu 20.04

[Wamuran4512CH]

Managing Linux servers can be very difficult at times. It can be very hard for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with the command-line tools. In my own personal case, I'm trying to reduce the impact whilst nursing RSI.

In addition, it’s also difficult for administrators to manage their servers while on the go. Logging in from a terminal emulator on a mobile device isn’t the most comfortable way to work. Running several SSH sessions ( multi-tabbed ), I made the rookie mistake of running sudo reboot thinking I was on the correct session to the correct host - it rebooted my own desktop machine - tsk, tsk ( and lost much unsaved work on text files as a scratchpad ).

This is where control panels such as Webmin come in. Webmin is a web-based control panel for Linux systems. It provides an intuitive, easy-to-use interface for managing your server.

Webmin is an essential tool if you want to streamline your system administration process. With Webmin, you do not need to go and manually change the Unix configuration files. Instead, you can do all that from an easy to use interface, directly in your browser. You can manage your accounts, DNS, disk usage, Apache, and more through Webmin. This is a guide for downloading and installing Webmin on the latest version of Ubuntu, which is 20.04. So let’s get started.

Before you start, make sure that you have the root access to the Ubuntu server. If not, log in as the root user.

Step 1) Update the list of dependencies

To get started, you need to make sure that your Ubuntu has the latest version of the dependencies. This will ensure that the latest version of the software is installed. To do that, run the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update

Step 2) Download the Webmin .deb file

To download the Webmin .deb file, you need to use Wget through your terminal. Run the following command on your terminal to start the download:

Code: Select all

wget https://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.955_all.deb

You can also download the .deb file from the download page on Webmin’s website:


Step 3) Installation

Once the .deb file is downloaded, go to the directory where the file is located. You can install the .deb file by running the following command:

Code: Select all

dpkg –install webmin_1.955_all.deb

You can also install the package by double-clicking on the file.

If you get an error regarding missing dependencies, run the following command to resolve the issue:

apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl apt-show-versions python

You are done with this step; the terminal would output that the installation of Webmin is installed. Webmin is now running on your Ubuntu 20.04 server.

Step 4) Open the web interface for Webmin using eg the Chrome or Firefox browser:

Code: Select all

https://Your-Server’s-IP-Address:10000

If you can’t access the Webmin web interface, you need to allow your firewall to let Webmin run on port 10000. To do that run the following command on your Ubuntu server terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo ufw allow 10000/tcp

After that, you will be able to access the web interface.

If your web browser warns you about an invalid certificate, you do not need to worry as Webmin utilizes a self-signed certificate. However, there is no risk, and you can ignore the warning.

Step 5) Log in to Webmin

Once the Webmin interface is open in your web browser, it will ask you for your credentials to log in. You should enter the credentials for your root user to get started.

Once you are logged in, you would be greeted with an easy to use interface, and you will be able to manage your system with just a few clicks.


or for example the File Manager: