Been wanting to change cPanel for a long time. I succeeded in getting Webmin/VirtualMin installed inside a virtual machine (don’t get confused, that’s separate from my question) to test it out, so I can play around in it.
Here is a big question that occurred to me. Can I use Webmin/VirtualMin as my base system, and create a VPS, and in this VPS, can I then install cPanel/another webpanel?
Basically, what I’d like to do is use WebMin as my base server and then I can create VPS virtual machines inside it on the same machine, which are independent (paravirtualized) bootable systems, while the base server never needs to get rebooted. Then, I can use 1 server as several servers.
Then with the multiple server environments which are virtualized, then what I can do is I can put the sites which aren’t ready to leave cPanel on one virtual machine, and put the others inside the main machine.
Is Cloudmin also free?
And can it do as I described in the flow chart - create a fully virtualized environment in which it creates VPS, where Webmin/Virtualmin can be installed inside the virtualized container?
I hoped to use Cloudmin to make server management easier without the overhead costs.
Found one to do it. OpenVZ. Free and open source. In fact it replaces CentOS instead of being installed on top of it, which is appealing. And when I create containers, then I could still install CentOS inside one of the VPS containers. Looks like I have some learning to do, I’m going to try out OpenVZ. No matter what I try, I am starting from scratch so there will be learning to do. Best to do it using free and open source software.
Cloudmin GPL can host multiple VPS’ on a single physical machine. But hey, if it doesn’t meet your needs that’s fine. Find something else. No one is pressuring, just educating you.
The GPL version of Cloudmin is a designed to manage Xen or KVM instances on only a single host system
As I mentioned, you can use Cloudmin GPL on a “single” physical (aka host) machine. But you can setup as many “Virtual” servers (aka VPS’) that that machine can handle.
Yes. Ok, so maybe this is usable. What is the alternative that Pro offers, is it even possible to install a software across multiple host systems? Or what is Pro offering that GPL doesn’t, besides different types other than KVM or Xen?
Pro offers a “clustering” type of feature where you can manage multiple “physical” machines from a single instance of Cloudmin… If you are doing some hardcore VPS hosting, this comes in handy. There are a ton of other benefits like supporting different virtualization types and such that also come with Pro.
Oh. Ok. Yeah and I can understand why that would be a paid feature, by that point you’re probably making money. For my use I have one server and I just want multiple virtualized systems on it to decrease overhead while maximizing usage of my one server.
Really good support replies! I had written off this software, but turns out I didn’t understand what it meant by only having 1. This might work for me.
Tell me, which do you think is better for a single user like me managing a single server with multiple VPS, my needs are convenience and flexibility, and I am willing to learn, is OpenVZ or CloudMin a better option for starting out?
I’m very comfortable with managing a dedicated server but have limited experience with VPS/Virtualization. I was able to set up VirtualBox to install Webmin on a virtualized CentOS, but that’s almost the extent of my experience.
I edited my previous comments because what I wrote about it only supporting one on GPL was incorrect. I also think this is really cool that this open forum has a feature where I can see you are typing a reply, kind of like a live chat! Wow
OpenVZ vs Cloudmin is comparing “apples” to “oranges”.
OpenVZ started its days off as a “container” based virualization platform, later adding support for KVM based virtualization. As far as I understand they do build a custom distro based on RedHat to ease the deployment of their software, however if you want a “control panel”, you’ll need to turn your attention to their commercial product which has one.
Cloudmin is a “control panel” which allows you to deploy and manage various “virtualization” platforms including OpenVZ, KVM, Xen, etc. It is NOT itself a virtualization platform however.
GPL was deployed with people like you in mind, who want something simple and affordable. So the guys did the crazy thing, and launched FREE version of their Cloudmin software which yes, is limited to a single virtualization platform, but given KVM is popular, it’s also a steal of a day.
