Hello,
I was using ISPconfig 3 before just to try it out, however I’ve gained a few clients and I’ve decided to buy Virtualmin.
That said, I need a way to move all my existing clients with minimal disruption.
So, is there a way I can install Virtualmin/webmin on top of Ispconfig or otherwise?
Thanks,
–Michael
I dont think I would even try this.
I would if in lack of a second server, rent a VPS for a month, move the clients to that and then reinstall the server to have a clean system.
On the VPS I would install virtualmin pro and move the clients there.
Then reinstall the production server, install virtualmin pro, make backups of the VServers on the VPS and SSH them to the production server. Then restore them on it.
test test test and finally make them active. There is some DNS changes involved so downtime will happen.
Else you can make backups of the VServers, reinstall the server and restore the Vservers, all at night while first inform your clients.
I agree. Installing two hosting control panels on one system can mean only one thing: major trouble. 
To minimize downtimes due to DNS changes, set the TTLs to a short value (like a few seconds to a minute) a day before doing the move.
True, having two hosting panels does sound like it would lead to problems, that said, both suggestions involve manually moving the clients which is what I’m trying to avoid
Is there another way around this issue?
Thanks
Yeah, since control panels tend do to things in different ways – it usually doesn’t work well to install two control panels onto the same system.
With Virtualmin – when looking to migrate to it from something like cPanel or Plesk, you’re able to generate a backup file from within those control panels, and import that backup file into your Virtualmin server. Unfortunately, ISPConfig isn’t one of the supported migration formats, though we’ll likely take a look at that and see what’s involved in supporting it. But at best, that’s still a little ways down the road.
Note though, that even in the case of a supported migration – it still involves moving them to another server. Too much breaks when trying to put two control panels onto the same system
The Virtualmin installer only works on a newly installed distro, it’ll cause breakage on a server with live sites already working on it.
If you really don’t want to move to another server – the only possible way I can think of to make that work would be to perform a manual Virtualmin installation, then to use Add Servers -> Import Virtual Server within Virtualmin, and see if that’s able to pull in your domains.
You can see the manual installation instructions here:
http://www.virtualmin.com/documentation/installation/manual
Manual installations are much more complex and require a lot more expertise than the automated installs.
I don’t recommend trying that on your live server without testing that process on a test server first, as there’s plenty of risk for downtime
Really, I don’t recommend that at all – I’d highly recommend getting a second server, setting up Virtualmin on that second server, setup your accounts and websites onto that server, then once it’s all working, make it live. With some testing, you can do a switch like that with minimal downtime. That’s the way I’d suggest
Good luck!
-Eric
I forgot to address this in my previous reply but I do already have multiple servers, one running Virtualmin GPL already.
Really, the biggest issue I have is recreating all the domains on the new server. I was reading like andreychek mentioned that Virtualmin supports importing already setup domains, so I was hoping that I could do that.
Sorry if I come off as lazy, I only have like 12 clients, but they’re all people who believe in registering a bunch of domains for each site 
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, I guess I’ll change the TTL times and start porting people over.a
–Michael
Howdy,
Well, you’re not lazy at all… no one wants to manually move a bunch of accounts.
It’s just that, unfortunately, there’s currently no upgrade path for ISPConfig.
If you don’t mind waiting a little bit, we could look into what’s involved in supporting an ISPConfig backup. If it’s fairly straight forward, that sort of thing could make it into one of the upcoming Virtualmin releases. I don’t know exactly how long that would take, but I’ll offer that I’d be surprised if it were before August
However, if you don’t mind waiting – I can push that up a bit higher on my plate to research that
-Eric
I don’t mind waiting too much. I guess I can use Virtualmin for new customers, then migrate the old customers once that feature is available.
I await the changes
–Michael