| SYSTEM INFORMATION | |
|---|---|
| OS type and version | Ubuntu 20.04.6 |
| Webmin version | 2.021 |
| For the past 2 weeks, I haven’t been able to access Webmin remotely. I’ve tried all the suggestions I can find. |
I really need help. What can I do? I can access everything else off that server. Just not Webmin.
Any error messages?
There is one… but seems common. Authentication failure.:
● webmin.service - Webmin server daemon
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/webmin.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2023-05-03 13:48:29 +07; 2h 43min ago
Process: 2602014 ExecStart=/usr/share/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 2602031 (miniserv.pl)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 36010)
Memory: 606.2M
CGroup: /system.slice/webmin.service
└─2602031 /usr/bin/perl /usr/share/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf
May 03 13:48:26 systemd[1]: Starting Webmin server daemon…
May 03 13:48:26 perl[2602014]: pam_unix(webmin:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty= ruser= rhost= user=root
May 03 13:48:29 webmin[2602014]: Webmin starting
May 03 13:48:29 systemd[1]: Started Webmin server daemon.
I found one mention that this had been caused by creating a virtual server that used the same domain name as the host and another that suggested to: Goto Webmin >> Webmin Configuration >> Authentication >> Use “Never use PAM for Unix authentication” though this is not good practice!
Any idea what might have happened 2 weeks ago? Can you restore to a prior backup/snapshot to see what changed?
No. Not even sure when it happened as I go long periods of time without going to Webmin. As the problem is I can’t access webmin, I can’t go to webmin to set that setting. And I don’t see that setting anywhere in miniserv.conf. If I did disable unix authentication, how does it authenticate?
Update: I added no_pam=1 which got that failure off but still can’t access webmin.
So what happens in your web browser when you try? That was my badly worded first question.
have you used a IP instead of the domain in the url
I get the “too long to respond” error.
Yes. That’s how I usually log in. I tried the various URLs including the VPS URL assigned by the host. No luck.
What browser are you using? I occasionally get a window that doesn’t load so I stop it and reload and it pops up fine.
Does your VPS provider have a firewall too?
I ran across this just a day or so ago. Modify it with the correct address and port and see how far it gets.
sudo tcptraceroute api.opendns.com 443
I’ve used Edge, Chrome, and Firefox. Provider doesn’t have any firewalls. Traceroute goes all the way to the destination.
port 10000 not 443
443 is your website
Yes, I made the proper adjusts.
Got me, does the webpage show anything? Like a error.
You said your turned off the firewall and still nothing. I was thinking maybe a fail2ban issue but if firewall is off and still nothing, then I have no idea what the issue can be.
You could try a virtualmin install, it installs webmin., but it needs to be a clean OS. That all depends on what you have on the server I guess.
I’ve had this server going on 4 years now and there’s a ton of websites on it. As well as various supporting packages. I thought of Virtualmin but the clean install kills me. Plus there’s no guarantee that will solve it. I was thinking about using some sort of alternative control panel. Still looking at that option.
yeah that alot of work
the log file show anything at File /var/webmin/miniserv.error
virtualmin is idea for alot of website.
A lot of shutting down and restarting while testing different things.
[04/May/2023:16:07:49 +0700] miniserv.pl started
[04/May/2023:16:07:49 +0700] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[04/May/2023:16:07:49 +0700] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
[04/May/2023:16:07:49 +0700] PAM authentication enabled
[04/May/2023:16:27:46 +0700] Shutting down
[04/May/2023:16:27:46 +0700] Shutting down
[04/May/2023:16:27:48 +0700] miniserv.pl started
[04/May/2023:16:27:48 +0700] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[04/May/2023:16:27:48 +0700] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
[04/May/2023:16:27:48 +0700] PAM authentication enabled
[04/May/2023:16:29:24 +0700] Shutting down
[04/May/2023:16:29:24 +0700] miniserv.pl started
[04/May/2023:16:29:24 +0700] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[04/May/2023:16:29:24 +0700] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
[04/May/2023:16:30:49 +0700] Shutting down
[04/May/2023:16:30:51 +0700] miniserv.pl started
[04/May/2023:16:30:51 +0700] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[04/May/2023:16:30:51 +0700] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
[04/May/2023:16:30:51 +0700] PAM authentication enabled
I forget to mention I have 3 other VPS with the same host and no issues.
I did a reboot this is what I see.
[05/May/2023:14:49:13 +1000] Shutting down
[05/May/2023:14:49:26 +1000] miniserv.pl started
[05/May/2023:14:49:26 +1000] IPv6 support enabled
[05/May/2023:14:49:26 +1000] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[05/May/2023:14:49:26 +1000] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
only difference is the PAM
Did you use any access controls? Like limiting the IP that can login?
I see something different on a restart on a working Ubuntu system
[05/May/2023:06:03:45 +0100] Shutting down
[05/May/2023:06:03:49 +0100] miniserv.pl started
[05/May/2023:06:03:49 +0100] IPv6 support enabled
[05/May/2023:06:03:49 +0100] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[05/May/2023:06:03:49 +0100] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
[05/May/2023:06:03:49 +0100] PAM authentication enabled
only difference is pam
maybe this is distro specific ?