Installation failure

Stegan · April 17, 2026, 1:13pm

SYSTEM INFORMATION
OS type and version	REQUIRED
Virtualmin version	REQUIRED

This is infuriating,

I have lost count of the number of installs i have sucessfully done but this one just has not worked.

done for a friend on Digital Ocean using the default install script.

	sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://download.virtualmin.com/virtualmin-install)" -- --bundle LAMP
```

It took much longer to run than usual.

```
	root@debian-12-lond:~# sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://download.virtualmin.com/virtualmin-install)" -- --bundle LAMP
	[INFO] Installation log is written to /root/virtualmin-install.log

	  Welcome to the Virtualmin GPL installer, version 8.1.2

	  This script must be run on a freshly installed supported OS. It does not
	  perform updates or upgrades (use your system package manager) or license
	  changes (use the "virtualmin change-license" command).

	 Continue? (y/n) y

	  The systems currently supported by the install script are:

		Enterprise Linux and derivatives
		  - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9, and 10 on x86_64 and aarch64
		  - AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 8, 9, and 10 on x86_64 and aarch64
		  
		Debian Linux and derivatives
		  - Debian 12 and 13 on i386, amd64, and arm64
		  - Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and 24.04 LTS on i386, amd64, and arm64
		  
	  If your OS/version/arch is not listed, installation will fail. More
	  details about the systems supported by the script can be found here:

		https://www.virtualmin.com/os-support

	  The installation will require up to 2 GB of disk space. The selected
	  package bundle is LAMP and the type of install is full. More details
	  about the package bundles and types can be found here:

		https://www.virtualmin.com/installation-variations

	  Exit and re-run this script with --help flag to see available options.

	 Continue? (y/n) y

	▣◻◻◻ Phase 1 of 4: Check
	Checking system time                                                         ✔ 
	Checking Perl installation                                                   ✔ 
	Checking CA certificates package                                             ✔ 
	Checking HTTP client                                                         ✔ 
	Checking GPG package                                                         ✔ 

	▣▣◻◻ Phase 2 of 4: Setup
	Cleaning up software repo metadata                                           ✔ 
	Installing Virtualmin 8 stable repository                                    ✔ 

	▣▣▣◻ Phase 3 of 4: Installation
	Checking and installing system package updates                               ✔ 
	Installing Virtualmin 8 and all related packages                             ✔ 

	▣▣▣▣ Phase 4 of 4: Configuration
	[1/20] Configuring AWStats                                                   ✔ 
	[2/20] Configuring Apache                                                    ✔ 
	[3/20] Configuring Bind                                                      ✔ 
	[4/20] Configuring ClamAV                                                    ✔ 
	[5/20] Configuring Dovecot                                                   ✔ 
	[6/20] Configuring Etckeeper                                                 ✔ 
	[7/20] Configuring Firewalld                                                 ✔ 
	[8/20] Configuring Fail2ban                                                  ✔ 
	[9/20] Configuring MariaDB                                                   ✔ 
	[10/20] Configuring Postfix                                                  ✔ 
	[11/20] Configuring ProFTPd                                                  ✔ 
	[12/20] Configuring Procmail                                                 ✔ 
	[13/20] Configuring Quotas                                                   ✔ 
	[14/20] Configuring SASL                                                     ✔ 
	[15/20] Configuring Virtualmin                                               ✔ 
	[16/20] Configuring SSL for the hostname                                    ███Killed
	▣▣▣ Cleaning up

	[WARNING] The following errors occurred during installation:

	  ◉ Postinstall configuration returned an error.
```


but still could log in with the http://IP4 address:10000/ to complete the install

even captured LE cert OK and confirmed it.

then updated the missing package, which requested a reboot.

then nothing it seems lost cannot http(s) 

the only thing of note is the domain name is a bit odd (a series of digits like `012345.com`) so vmin internally renames as `zero12345.com` !

Ilia · April 19, 2026, 9:23pm

That means something killed the process. Check the kernel logs for any OOM records and review the virtualmin-install.log file for more details.

Joe · April 20, 2026, 6:01pm

Yep, almost certainly the OOM killer. Adding swap memory may get you past this specific point, but you’ll want to keep an eye on memory, and make sure you’re not asking too much of however much the VM has. I’m surprised it didn’t fail during package installation, though, if it’s memory…apt-get is a memory hog when installing a lot of packages, and I thought it was when memory usage peaked during installation.

Randomz · April 21, 2026, 2:51am

I found that even creating a 1Gb swap file in a 1Gb RAM server made a big difference.
I have since switched to creating 3Gb swap as standard on small servers which allows good use of parked pages - works really well.

Stegan · April 21, 2026, 10:10am

Sorry everyone, I’ve been chasing my tail on this and other unrelated problems and ended up blowing it out completely with a new image.

but although moved on a little (not killed) the basic problem remains:

normally when i start a new VM

i go to my favourite registrar to register a domain;
i set the nameservers there to point to my favourite VM provider;
i go to the VM provider to select a OS image, location. memory, etc;
i use the VM provider’s gui to set up the DNS records (A, AAAA, MX) on their provided IP4/IP6;
i log in to the IP4 and install Virtualmin;
i log in to Virtualmin

and voila, works every time.

obtain cert from LE (sometimes have to wait for propagation) but usually flawless.

this is different though:

i can access the registrar and the nameservers all point to (ns1,ns2,ns3).digitalocean.com
this is a VM from Digital Ocean.
the image is a clean Debian 12 (it was a Debian 13 that failed)
for the first time i am attempting to enable Virtualmin to manage DNS

Stegan · April 21, 2026, 1:12pm

failed again!

same place

▣▣▣▣ Phase 4 of 4: Configuration
[1/20] Configuring AWStats                                                   ✔ 
[2/20] Configuring Apache                                                    ✔ 
[3/20] Configuring Bind                                                      ✔ 
[4/20] Configuring ClamAV                                                    ✔ 
[5/20] Configuring Dovecot                                                   ✔ 
[6/20] Configuring Etckeeper                                                 ✔ 
[7/20] Configuring Firewalld                                                 ✔ 
[8/20] Configuring Fail2ban                                                  ✔ 
[9/20] Configuring MariaDB                                                   ✔ 
[10/20] Configuring Postfix                                                  ✔ 
[11/20] Configuring ProFTPd                                                  ✔ 
[12/20] Configuring Procmail                                                 ✔ 
[13/20] Configuring Quotas                                                   ✔ 
[14/20] Configuring SASL                                                     ✔ 
[15/20] Configuring Virtualmin                                               ✔ 
[16/20] Configuring SSL for the hostname                                    Killed
███▣▣▣ Cleaning up

[WARNING] The following errors occurred during installation:

  ◉ Postinstall configuration returned an error.

but cannot get in to virtualmin with IP4 this time, i can using Digital Ocean’s Web Console which allows me to use nano to see virtualmin-install.log some 5519 lines but nothing easy to identify

i have never seen anything like this before

Randomz · April 21, 2026, 2:55pm

No details about how it doesn’t work.

It may be tightened browser security not liking a local certificate.

Try using a Private Window in Firefox, might be called something else on other browsers.

I have to use that on all Webmin installs now, and some VMin too.

Once logged in, get the server LE cert done and then normal browser window will work.

Or it might be something else.

Stegan · April 21, 2026, 3:09pm

tried to go in through Virtualmin again using IP4 and port 10000 and get this odd response

it is odd because that was where the install failed “configuring SSL for the host name”

according to DO everything is working and they are as clueless as me

something is going wrong somewhere in that virtualmin-install.log but i am just not seeing the wood for the trees.

Ilia · April 21, 2026, 7:30pm

What is the output of free -h on the system where the installation is failing?

Randomz · April 22, 2026, 12:27am

Stegan, you have been around long enough to know we need some clues.

Even so we are offering help, it appears to be ignored?

Can you please tell us what the RAM allocation for this server is?

Slow then fail matches with not enough RAM and can be fixed by creating a swap file.

Run this on the server before doing anything else, before updates, before installing VMin. Just copy then paste and hit Enter.

# fallocate -l 3G /swapfile
fallocate -l 3G /swapfile
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile
swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' >> /etc/fstab

Stegan · April 22, 2026, 9:27am

root@lon:~# free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 960Mi 780Mi 167Mi 7.4Mi 157Mi 179Mi
Swap: 3.0Gi 27Mi 3.0Gi
root@lon:~#

sure it is a pretty minimal droplet (much like I have used for my own work using linode VM) and have upscaled later. i have suggested a different VM provider but am waiting a response, installing with DNS management is not my normal process so i am stumbling.

Ilia · April 22, 2026, 10:22am

It’s still unclear why Webmin is being killed, but you can skip the “SSL for the hostname” set up step by adding the --no-hostname-ssl flag to your install command.

Stegan · April 22, 2026, 10:57am

is that a start from scratch install?

the install did not reach the usual instruction to go to http://ip4address:10000so could not log in. the server was created with a public key not a root password.

the owner is also going to try a VM from Gandi.net but i have no experience with them either, i am waiting for access details.

Ilia · April 22, 2026, 11:10am

Yeah, start from scratch unless you’re confident you can handle any issues that come up.

Stegan · April 22, 2026, 12:27pm

ok, i have destroyed the original and increased the number of CPU and Memory and attempting a clean install on Debian 12, it is still crawling…

but has at least completed in the usual way so now i will try to log on…

Stegan · April 22, 2026, 1:27pm

well slight improvement managed to log on and complete post instal wizard

but back to that age old LE cert refusal even after package update and by selecting “domain names listed here” which normally resolves the issue.

and yes i can put/see a file in .well-known

jimr1 · April 22, 2026, 2:31pm

this may be due to not having the correct dns .. you stated this is the first time you have used webmin (bind) as the nameserver. You could be in a chicken/egg situation.

Stegan · April 22, 2026, 3:37pm

could be, the problem when new at this is finding a way out.

what has worked in the past is not working now, it is not Virtualmin now as i think the new droplet build solved that one. i am guessing it is some DNS promblen.

Stegan · April 23, 2026, 9:34am

a bit more digging and i do not understand where and why the LE cert is being requested at a IP4 different from the IP4 listed by the VM and in system hostname. it could explain why the request keeps failing but how to fix this.