Life without Linux as a server system is hard to imagine. Excellent performance, fabled stability, and impressive scalability have helped Linux conquer an increasing share of the server market. Despite this success in the server room, setting up, managing, and maintaining the services is often a complex task that requires in-depth knowledge of services and config files.

Various graphical tools have appeared to facilitate easier configuration. Whereas most tools are limited to a couple of services, Webmin [1], a free Perl-based remote management application, lets you manage a full range of Linux services through a single, standardized interface. A single interface configures daemons and firewalls, as well as watches logfiles, disk partitions, system processes, and configuration parameters. The project also offers a useful collection of modules [2] that extends the reach of Webmin's graphical oversight.

Installation

Most distributions have Webmin in their repositories, although the Webmin packages are missing from Debian and Ubuntu. Webmin is available in both RPM and DEB package format and as a generic tarball with detailed documentation for any other distribution. A compatibility list of the supported Linux versions is available online [3].

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