try to install on Debian 11 but get this error… [ERROR] No repos available for this OS. Are you running unstable/testing?
saw that, but its already the end of the month and expected to see some support for deb 11,
is there a way to force the install?
Maybe I’m just old-school… but I plan my server hardware and software maintenance years ahead. I never “jump to” a new OS on a server, in fact, I don’t bother even testing a new OS for 6 months to a year.
I’ve been webhosting for over 20 years and am currently running Debian 9. I will be leasing new hardware in 2022 and installing Debian 11 and Virtualmin 7.
I know it’s “exciting” to tinker with a new OS, I really do, but for the production side of the house, I move slow and steady.
My users still enjoy PHP 8 but don’t have to worry about instability or downtime. And, if you have users that “demand the latest OS”… tell them to find it somewhere else. I’ve found those types of users are usually high-maintenance anyway.
I’m not trying to poke anyone who wants to run their business differently, but I do want to encourage more stability and uptime! : )
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The vast majority of problems people have with all things, not just software, is that they immediately buy the “latest and greatest” before it has any real world testing at all to sort the bugs out.
I’ve seen nothing but issues from people on this site lately that immediately installed php8 the instant it came out and wound up breaking half the programs they used that weren’t compatible with it yet.
A new car is no different. Never buy the 1st year model change.
An OS is no different. Give it time to be made fully compatible.
Agree with your assessment 100%
I’m not opposed to folks using the latest supported version of any OS. I recommend it, in fact. But, Debian 11 is not supported. So…the latest supported version is 10, so that’s what I recommend.
Guys, pushing it will not speed up the process. Also not questions which are already answered before you asked them. 
Good things take time. 
Just be a bit patient and wait for it. I am sure @Joe, @Ilia and the others are doing their best.
jimdunn, if I may ask a couple of questions:
- Since that you aim for stability, why not go with RHEL or CentOS? They’re designed for the ultimate stability, as I understand.
- I’m an IT veteran, but new in the hosting business and trying myself out. My main issue currently is misuse by the clients, whether intentional or otherwise. How do you handle cases like, for example:
- One of them has a hanging script that keeps one CPU core at 100% for uncomfortable periods.
- Another is sending spam. Even in small quantities it is causing IP reputation issues.
- Wordpress login pages are constantly under dictionary attacks. There’s at least one site being attacked at any given time. Trying to convince the users to use a CDN for protection does not work with everyone.
Thank you for any tips you can provide.
STABILITY: I’ve been using Debian for a LONG time now, and have never had a “stability” issue. I have, however, seen non-Debian OS instability when admins go “install crazy.” Remember that those commercially-owned OS companies spend a lot on marketing. I have been personally burned by a non-Debian OS, but I blame most of that on Plesk (which is another reason to use Virtualmin! : )
SCRIPTS: I tell users that if their scripts impact the performance of the system, they must remove them. I have associates that “bend over backwards” for problem clients. I just calmly say “remove the script or find another hosting provider.”
SPAM: I do not host email, not anymore. It was hard enough to stay off “black lists” before these rude IP REPUTATION groups got involved. I found working with them to be less than sustainable.
So I told my clients “you must acquire an external email account, then forward any contact page entries to that external email – do NOT send email to anyone but yourself from the server.” OR… a better option is to configure G-Suite (or whatever the name is now) for them. At $5/month, I can throw it in for free and give them amazing email services with me without my server incurring any email traffic or IP reputation issues.
WORDPRESS: Tell them to either have 24-character passwords or install a WordFence-like plugin. I tell my users THEY are responsible for the security of their site. I do backups and restore if they are hacked (I used to charge them a few $$ to restore but found that wasn’t necessary, they don’t get hacked very often). I know this can “open a can of worms” but sometimes you need to help them learn about Password Managers. I don’t care which they use and don’t bother arguing about them. Everyone is offering one today and even keeping passwords in their browser is better than a short password on their Wordpress site. I told one user “I’m available for $1000/day, just name the time and I’ll fly out to you, set it all up, train you, and then take you out to dinner.” You’d be surprised how many people will agree to pay you $500/day and cover your expenses if they only knew you were willing to do it.
FIREWALL: I also run CSF and that blocks tons of people every day. I counted 800 hack attempts per minute (and more during holidays) so you should run some CSF-like firewall. My upstream provider used to provide a hardware firewall but that blocked FTPS so running my own is better for me.
I just want to be stable. I have policies and procedures and want to follow them. I don’t ask “how high” when they say “jump.” I keep a stable, dependable service and let them know I’m here if they are dissatisfied somewhere else. I don’t worry about “keeping up with the Jones’…” I try to have a modest price, I try not to be greedy, I try to work smart instead of “by the seat of my pants.” I let the scripters and the spammers host from someone else. Every year I try to pick a new client group and cater to them since I can’t be “everything to everyone.” One year I market Realtors (they are good people). The next year I market pastry shops. The next year health clubs. Word of mouth really does the marketing for you.
Whew, I guess that was more than you asked for… sorry about that. : )
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Hi, @jimdunn my primary goal is to survive, yes that’s why I chose Debian…my post here was to make aware some people like advanced users or whatever just I’m not to push here… happy days there…
Not pushing 
, but when will we have vs7 with Debian 11 support?
I mean not an exact date, but can you @Joe or @Ilia give us a rough estimate at this moment, in order to plan stuff? Running CentOS 7 on a host and some VMs so kind of eager to migrate directly to Debian 11.
@vending_makina in todays Celebrating diversity episode:
I am more on the “try it while it’s fresh else you run Windows 95” side; and it worked fine mostly. Otherwise no one will ever enjoy stability, if we don’t harden the ecosystem ourselves. Through pain 
Myself included, because stability is what I am aiming for in the life cycle of an OS. So who else is going to try the OS in production if not us? Who is going to report all the bat sh… weird problems upstream?
Also in my opinion the dangers of trying Debian or RHEL clones when released is low if your whole stack can run them. I mean we are not talking rolling distros here but vetted software with healthy and mature versions.
And the ugliest disasters I have seen are generated by the “don’t touch it if it works” attitude - so I am the dude that has no problem restarting Linux servers - just so I know that it boots fine and not running on smoke. Happened twice to me with a IBM and a HP, and fellow admins saw most of the other brands. Machines with “awesome” uptime but not able to pass POST when that happens. So now I build anything I can, upgrade everything and reboot stuff like monke after each kernel update, hosts at a slower pace. Also I run my own email servers, there is work involved but a rewarding one. My opinion is that anyone can and should do it instead of always delegating DNS and email to Big Tech. Reputation wise I am usually good until I am not, but effectively it is enough to just solve the problem. Any CMS has some kind of extension to help you with brute force, fail2ban, captchas and 2FA go a long way. Enforce those when problems mount. The hanging script issue - limits everywhere, discuss things with people and have monitoring. But with a CMS, forums, Wiki and other FOSS web apps that almost never happens, it will already be a bug that was already reported and already with a proposed solution. That would be a big problem in the core, so unless someone runs the worst and oldest extension/plugin… Point where you get to explain stuff and send them to someone else if they persist in ignoring the plethora of other healthy extensions.
Happens mostly with custom software, and have too few of those so I consider out of my depths here.
As @jimdunn said I too nonchalantly invite users after a few discussions to find better hosts if they feel like spamming, entitled to everything for 5E/month or abuse my resources in any way. Takes a bit of inner strength and grinding. So I am left with a very few but reliable clients - it works for me and most important for them as I invest everything in this. Like all the good people here.
BTW Webmin worked fine from day one - I bluntly updated a Zabbix machine with Webmin from 10 to 11. No problems.
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@fakemoth I share your enthusiasm for stability etc, Debian 10 is stable well enough, give virtualmin folks some space. I said happy upgrading in my post basically it will works flawlessly if you upgrade distribution with distro full… terminal will ask you few annoying questions but if you know what you are doing, you’re safe.
why people even reply to this post, it was mentioned for few advanced people…I am in impression that I was not very obvious in first place in my initial post. ilia and others should only reply… it was meant to be for Devs only…sorry.
Debian 10 doesn’t even expire until 2024. Why anybody would bother going from 10 to 11 at the outset is beyond me.
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I’ve corrected my mistake.happy days.
@Gomez_Adams I do, just for testing and having fun with broken stuff…as I said and you’re correct…it was posted in wrong forum part…sorry for noisy respirations.
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I hate mobile phones to replying…Tara till next shunning day.
Because the universe is complex and filled by people with all kind of opinions. So your recipe might not encompass everything, right?
Just offered an alternative view, otherwise people new here might figure there is only a way to go. That is not true.
BTW Debian 10 has security updates untill next year. That “LTS” has a very different meaning than for Ubuntu.
So you are asking why would I upgrade a non critical machine that is a month old (see how you don’t have all the facts?) to a newer OS version? Because I can and because I should if I am to have a decent setup, also to figure and report problems. And than there is curiosity.
Each one of us paves his own roads.
@unborn you worry too much man
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So the old adage of “If it is not broken, don’t fix it” doesn’t apply here. Gotcha! 
@Gomez_Adams it was actually windows slogan @fakemoth well since I don’t know you I do not give a finger towards your issue…sorry buddy.
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Talking about not upgrading to the latest version of something.
One of my servers is still running Ubuntu 14.02 LTS with Virtualmin.
Today I decided to ditch Ubuntu and finally upgrade.
Setup a new machine with Debian 11 and was greeted with the install message that only up to 10 is supported.
I guess this upgrade can wait for a bit longer. Hopefully this year I will be able to.
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