Understanding Virtual/Web min differences

Help! (Home for newbies)
1

Obviously, I am not a strong Linux type person. We have a current system under Ubuntu 10 LTS, which runs Webmin, and I have used that to create a couple of small virtual webservers. Things seem to be working fine, with the installs created in var/www/html for the base server, and then other folders in var/www/htmlserverA, var/www/htmlserverB etc.

We are in the process of changing over to a new ISP, with a fresh install of the Ubuntu 10 LTS software.

The first thing installed was webmin, the next item was virtualmin… and then a few users and some database tables. I used Webmin to create the same websites as noted above, and it seems that each of the extra sites now access the main html rather than their own. I’m going to guess, that’s because Virtualmin is now running.

I guess I can toast them… but I like the ability of having them all under the var/www side, just for the sake of familiarity. Can this be done?

One of the other reasons I put in Virtualmin was to be able to setup a proper ftp type account. We have one custom windows-type desktop application, that we want to be able to allow the software to upload some pdf files into a specific folder, where those files can be accessed via ftp for generic “public type” download. The issue is, this app connects in to the database server based on the IP of the system, not based on a domain name. And I had huge issues with trying to create an ftp account/password, that had a restricted shell type definition, that would allow the uploads to take place. I believe our default ftp package is the ProFtpd thing. (sorry, I’m really a noobie… but I am trying to understand!) By the way, this custom app works just fine in accessing the database, which is used to store a description of the file, and a “link” to the file name.

Part of the issue is of course, using sftp, because I don’t want the user name and password for the ftp connection to be passed un-encrypted.

Would I be better off nuking the existing Webmin virtual server definitions (leaving the … I think … default 2 entries in place) and then setting things up with the ‘default’ Virtualmin settings of creating and putting things into a new “home” directory? And if I do that… then would not “that” user account have access (ftp wise) to the entire html folder contents? Right at the moment, we are trying to use a separate folder in the base system html side, and set the owner of that to a different user name, trying to isolate them away from the rest of the website files.

Again, this particular application does NOT have a domain associated with it. So, I am kind of stuck on what’s the best and proper course of action.

Advice is deeply appreciated! Thanks kindly in advance. :slight_smile:

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I guess I can toast them… but I like the ability of having them all under the var/www side, just for the sake of familiarity. Can this be done?

Yes, everything is configurable (but it might be more trouble than just sticking with the defaults). If you installed with the install script you would need to configure Apache suexec custom to point to /var/www, instead of /home. You’ll also need to configure Virtualmin in “System Settings:Virtualmin Configuration:Defaults for new domains” to point to /var/www. There may be some other tweaks needed, but that might do it.

As for the other stuff, I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking.

There seems to be a question here:

Again, this particular application does NOT have a domain associated with it. So, I am kind of stuck on what’s the best and proper course of action.

But, I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish. Users without domains are just regular old user accounts. Virtualmin doesn’t alter regular user accounts. Or, are you saying the user needs access to some domain-owned data? In which case, you would want to use the Virtualmin “Create FTP User” functionality to create a user that has access to the data of the domain user account.

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Hi,

In short, Virtualmin is a module of Webmin which makes creating and maintaining a simple web server stack fast and simple.

Typically you are best to install using the Virtualmin installer so the system downloads and installs all the relevant programs and scripts right from the beginning.

If you require assistance getting Virtualmin up and running properly, want to ensure it’s optimized for your specific needs or have any other questions I’m more than happy to assist.

Simply drop me a line on Skype and we can go over whatever you need. I come recommended and encourage you to check out my dedicated thread to see what others have had to say if you are curious.

http://www.virtualmin.com/node/25081

Best Regards, Peter Knowles TPN Solutions

Email: pknowles@tpnsolutions.com
Phone: 604-229-0715 (new)
Skype: tpnsupport
Website: http://www.tpnsolutions.com