I can also confirm this random startup issue, including on Debian 12 servers on OVH and Hetzner dedicated servers or VPS.
It’s become second nature for years to run pstree to check if it’s actually active.
But in this case, it only happens after a “prerelease” installation:
./virtualmin-install.sh -B prerelease
Operating system Debian Linux 13
Webmin version 2.610 Usermin version 2.500
Virtualmin version 7.50.0 GPL Authentic theme version 26.20
Kernel and CPU Linux 6.12.43+deb13-amd64 on x86_64
…works fine here since ~2 months now 
It’s more like a bug in Debian 11 and 12 where sometimes firewalld does not start up.
Debian devs “fixed” it in Debian 13 by marking firewalld and cloud-init conflicting. Thus not allowing firewalld if cloud-init is present 
Looking at the bug reports for both firewalld and cloud-init it will probably not be fixed any time soon.
Does this mean no virtualmin for Debian 13?
No, we will support installations of Virtualmin on Debian 13, it’s just that the cloud-init package will be removed until the issue is fixed upstream.
Hi Ilia,
I used this method on Debian 13.2.
The installation went fine, but it cannot be accessed via port 10000 in the browser.
I have a log file and I don’t see anything strange in it.
Do you have any idea how I can fix this Virtualmin 8 installation?
Webmin has its’ own log file. If you are on a hosted site, do they have a firewall that needs to be opened up?
Oh yes, sorry, I could have been clearer.
This concerns a fresh installation of Debian 13.2 on a VPS, where I used this method. (I have since restored it with a snapshot.)
The installation program does indeed have its own log file.
As a relative newbie, I’m not quite sure where to start.
What firewall software is active after installation?
I hope you can help me further.
Virtualmin will use firewalld BUT that shouldn’t be a problem as the proper ports are open during software installation/setup. If you don’t mind telling us where your VPS is located, then perhaps someone familiar with the provider may know IF there they have firewall ports you need to open in addition to what the software provides. Usually this firewall is listed in the access portal of the provider where you set up the VPS.
Exactly what did your browser do/report when if failed to access the site?
The VPS runs at the company Netcup.
The SCP does have a firewall, but I haven’t configured it, so it’s not enabled.
When I try to enable it, I first get a pop-up with the message:
Configure Firewall
Are you sure you want to configure Firewall for this Interface? This step is irreversible.
It has no effect on the server’s connectivity. By default, all traffic is allowed.
So that cannot be the cause.
And, if firewalld is open by default when Virtualmin is installed, what else could be blocking it?
I don’t have the exact message from the browser anymore, but it was something like this:
Unable to connect
Firefox cannot connect to the server at vserver3.mt-ict.nl:10000.
Should an installation of Virtualmin 7.5 on Debian 12.5 still work properly after a Debian upgrade?
Did webmin start?
root@main:~# netstat -ap |grep 10000
udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:10000 0.0.0.0:* 1724/perl
root@main:~#
mit@~:nmap -A 159.195.51.249 -p 10000
Starting Nmap 7.95 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2025-12-14 14:24 EST
Nmap scan report for vserver3.m-ict.nl (159.195.51.249)
Host is up (0.12s latency).
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
10000/tcp closed snet-sensor-mgmt
Service detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at https://nmap.org/submit/ .
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 1.58 secondsTo morrow I will run the install script again and then I will test webmin starting.
It’ s a bit here now and I need some sleep. (Netherlands).
Thank you so far.
I ran ILia’s script and then checked whether port 10000 was open. Unfortunately, I got the same results.
Below is what I did:
root@vserver3:/tmp# ss -ap |grep 10000
--> remains empty
root@vserver3:/tmp# ss -ap | grep LISTEN
--> : relevant services:
apache is running (http).
root@vserver3:/tmp# systemctl list-units --type=service --state=active
--> networking.service loaded active exited Raise network interfaces
No other services, not for http, no firewall.
root@vserver3:/tmp# systemctl list-units | grep -E “firewalld”
--> Unit firewalld.service could not be found.
root@vserver3:/tmp# apt install firewalld
--> this installs the firewalld.
root@vserver3:/tmp# ss -tulnp
-->
Netid State Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address:Port Peer Address:Port Process
udp UNCONN 0 0 159.195.51.249:68 0.0.0.0:* users:(("dhcpcd",pid=30843,fd=3))
udp UNCONN 0 0 [fe80::15:d64c:4f0:17d9]%ens3:546 [::]:* users:(("dhcpcd",pid=30801,fd=3))
tcp LISTEN 0 128 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* users:(("sshd",pid=1116,fd=6))
tcp LISTEN 0 511 *:80 *:* users:(("apache2",pid=890,fd=4),("apache2",pid=889,fd=4),("apache2",pid=887,fd=4))
tcp LISTEN 0 128 [::]:22 [::]:* users:(("sshd",pid=1116,fd=7))
No http service runnig so:
root@vserver3:/tmp# firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-service=http
--> success
Test in browser http://vserver3.mt-ict.nl/ --> Apache 2 Debian Default Page
root@vserver3:/tmp# firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=10000/tcp
--> success
I need some advice what to do next.
Can anyone help me further?
I don’t see that webmin is running.
If you installed Firewalld AFTER running the Virtualmin install script, then it won’t be setup I don’t believe.
root@main:~# ss -tulnp |grep 10000
udp UNCONN 0 0 0.0.0.0:10000 0.0.0.0:* users:(("perl",pid=1724,fd=7))
tcp LISTEN 0 4096 0.0.0.0:10000 0.0.0.0:* users:(("perl",pid=1724,fd=5))
tcp LISTEN 0 4096 [::]:10000 [::]:* users:(("perl",pid=1724,fd=6))
This should probably be a new thread. 32 posts in I have no idea what script that is/was.
OK. I missed this, but still, I don’t see Webmin listenening. Also, Webmin sets up a range of ports 10000 -10100 I believe.
This is the script from Ilia:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/virtualmin/virtualmin-install/refs/heads/master/virtualmin-install.sh
sh virtualmin-install.sh -s --branch unstable
apt-get upgrade
In my understanding, the necessary software should be installed and the necessary settings should be configured.
I can’t figure this out.
Does anyone have the right solution?
This is may be a good idea.
For me it’s getting too complex.
This only sets up our repos. So, you haven’t actually installed Virtualmin or Webmin, if that’s all you did.
Ahaaa. Sorry I didn’t understand that. I’m a relative newbee in this matter.
Okay, I will start again with a fresh installation of Debian 13.2.
What is the correct order for setting up Virtualmin 8 / Webmin, the one that works with Debian 13.2?
There is no “order”. If you install Virtualmin it installs Webmin. It’s one step.
If you really need to install an OS without stable support, you’ll need to use Ilia’s dev install script:
sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/virtualmin/virtualmin-install/refs/heads/master/virtualmin-install.sh)" -- --bundle LAMP --branch rc
You used the -s flag, which is “setup” which sets up repos. It does not install any software.
But, also, you’re installing a development version of Virtualmin with this command (which is necessary as Debian 13 is not yet supported in our stable installer…there are challenges in both newer Debian/Ubuntu versions and in EL versions, packages we’ve used in the past are broken or missing from newer distro repos, nothing critical, but it does mean it’s not exactly the same system you’d get on a stable install…and that’s still changing until we call it stable).
We generally recommend you and everyone else just follow our installation documentation on a grade A supported OS.
Hello Joe, thank you for your answers.
I tested the script and was able to install and set up Virtualmin 8 / webmin without any problems.
However, I will follow your advice to start working with Debian 12 and Virtualmin 7.5 stable first.
I still have a question.
After installing the stable version of Virtualmin / webmin on Debian 12, I believe I will have an older version.
Suppose I want to upgrade Debian and Virtualmin after six months. Will that still be possible, or do I have to set up a new server?