| SYSTEM INFORMATION | |
|---|---|
| OS type and version | Ubuntu Linux 16.04.2 |
| Webmin version | 1.821 |
| Virtualmin version | 5.04 |
| Webserver version | Apache |
| Related packages | ? |
Trying to upgrade an old server. Is there an upgrade path for virtualmin/webmin? It seems when I bring ubuntu to version 20 webmin quits functioning. I was able to upgrade webmin but then lose virtualmin and it’s config.
I don’t know what “quits functioning” means. I can’t help with zero information.
Did you also upgrade to a current Webmin version during this process? Current Webmin works with every Linux version going back many years. So, you need to find more information than “quits functioning”, and you do that by reading the errors (and posting them if you don’t understand them) and checking the relevant logs (and posting the relevant portion if you don’t understand them). Webmin logs to several places in /var/webmin, and on systemd systems, there will be journal entries for the webmin unit.
But, really upgrading in place from so far back is a very high risk idea, regardless of Webmin and Virtualmin being installed. You should do a migration to a new system with a current OS. We have a guide for that: How to Migrate to a New Server | Virtualmin — Open Source Web Hosting Control Panel
Ahh sorry, I was more or less looking for a high overview answer if moving from that far back was possible. Basically webmin stops accepting connections and will not start. I didn’t dig into it too much.
I’m working with a copy(ies) of a vm so no worries about trashing the system. I’ll try and bringing webmin forward as as possible in each step and see how it goes.
Updated system to Ubuntu 18.04.6
Started with
webmin 1.821
virtualmin 5.04
Got the install script and did:
virtualmin-install.sh --setup
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade webmin-virtual-server
apt-get upgrade webmin
Brought me up to:
Webmin: 2.520
Virtualmin: 7.50.0
And it appears to work. Now upgrading to Ubuntu 20. We will see what happens 
If you don’t have a really good reason to do that upgrade in place, I still would recommend you migrate to a new system running a fresh install of the OS instead of doing a bunch of “do-release-upgrade” cycles. Things are going to break either way, because you’re making such a huge jump through four major versions (or 8, depending on how you count it, since there are non-LTS major releases in there, too), but at least if you started with a freshly installed 24.04 you’re going to have a nice clean system where everything is modern and current Ubuntu best practices. There have been a lot of changes since 16.04, and if that 16.04 system was upgraded from 14.04 or before, you’ll even have vestigial upstart or initscripts junk hanging around, which is a real bad scene.
To minimize messes, upgrade the old system’s Webmin and Virtualmin versions to something recent, so backups will be as reliable as possible. You’re still going to have breakage, as there have been a gazillion changes in all those years, including some big ones (major versions may introduce incompatible changes, though we try to minimize those even for major version bumps). But, I strongly suspect upgrading to current Webmin and Virtualmin on your old system and then restoring on a new system that’s fully up to date and clean will get you the least breakage.
And, to answer this explicitly: Of course it’s possible.
I only use the email/user management features with dovecot/postfix in virtualmin so hopefully not too much breakage. BTW it’s pretty simple and works well so thanks for that.
lol, brought it all the way to 24.04.3 and it works!
You’re right about starting fresh. The backup/restore looks simple enough, probably be stupid not to do it that way. At least now I know I only have to bring it to 18 to get virtualmin and webmin updated.
You could manually configure the Virtualmin repos to get updated Webmin and Virtualmin, even on 16.04, I suspect. But, yeah, I’d guess the install script will complain about such an old OS version and bail.