Virtualmin on Oracle Linux - HOW-I-DID

This isn’t a HOW-TO. It’s a HOW-I-DID. It’s the chronicle of the afternoon of a day in my life. It’s not advice. It’s just shooting the breeze.

HARDWARE

Lenovo ThinkCentre M83 Tiny Desktop Computer
Intel Core i5 4590T 2.0GHz Processor
8GB DDR3-1600 RAM
512GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 4600

Hey, I got it cheap refurbed. It makes a handy testing server and uses very little power.

What I Did

Installed Minimal Oracle Linux in graphical mode with Developer box checked

Rebooted

Checked that the following Oracle repos were enabled:

  • Base OS
  • Appplication Stream
  • CodeReady Builder

Installed Oracle EPEL:
yum install oracle-epel-release-el8

Installed and Enabled Fedora EPEL repo:
dnf -y install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

Manually Installed CentOS GPG key as /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-centosofficial:

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux)
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=kkH7
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

Created /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Stream-PowerTools.repo:

[powertools]
name=CentOS Stream $releasever - PowerTools
baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos-8/8/BaseOS/x86_64/os/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-centosofficial

Enabled PowerTools:
dnf config-manager --set-enabled powertools

Impersonated CentOS:
Changed content of /etc/redhat-release to CentOS Linux release 8.3.2011

Installed Virtualmin

The above resulted in a successful Virtualmin installation with no errors. It does depend on one CentOS 8 repo, which is problematic, but may resolve itself over time. Otherwise the Stream repo probably can be substituted.

This is just experimentation. If you’re looking to play around with it, it will save you a bit of aggravation. But I wouldn’t put it into production use.

Richard

1 Like

By the way, /etc/os-release remains:

NAME="Oracle Linux Server"
VERSION="8.3"
ID="ol"
ID_LIKE="fedora"
VARIANT="Server"
VARIANT_ID="server"
VERSION_ID="8.3"
PLATFORM_ID="platform:el8"
PRETTY_NAME="Oracle Linux Server 8.3"
ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:oracle:linux:8:3:server"
HOME_URL="https://linux.oracle.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.oracle.com/"

ORACLE_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Oracle Linux 8"
ORACLE_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT_VERSION=8.3
ORACLE_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Oracle Linux"
ORACLE_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION=8.3

That could be a handy way of distinguishing Oracle from actual RHEL, since they report it as RHEL in cat /etc/redhat-release.

Richard

This is my tiny test server. It works surprisingly well, and I got it on the cheap.

Richard

They are really rather excellent! Bought two of them refurbished, one for desktop and the other as a test bed :slight_smile:

1 Like

I’m actually thinking about buying another to use as a NAS controller. They’re very zippy and use almost no power at idle. Also, I couldn’t build even an i3 box for less than twice what I paid for this little i5 machine. I’m very happy with it for this mission.

Richard

1 Like

where to by this machine? if you dont mind to share :slight_smile:

I too was curious. In India, Amazon offers the same model, refurbished, for about USD 200. I wonder if @RJM_Web_Design paid much more or much less for it in the US.

Oops, this has gone way off topic.

Slightly more at USD $259.99 at Micro Center in Yonkers, NY.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/629144/lenovo-thinkcentre-m83-tiny-desktop-computer-(refurbished)

I did see it cheaper online if that’s anyone’s preference. But I prefer buying refurbished stuff at Micro Center because there’s no hassle if I need to return it (other than the long drive). They have 15-day returns, which is plenty of time to put the device through its paces and decide whether I want to keep it. If not, I return it and get a refund or replacement, plus an apology either way. They’re a class act.

Richard

2 Likes

thank you.

well I think I stick to dell desktops as I am in UK and that site does not ship to UK. normally for myself I strip dell laptop take out mobo and build custom case around it make it looks like sort of box add couple of hdds like 12tb and place everything inside with custom power button and one led power indicator :slight_smile: very low power. this machine looks small and sexy. Will have look again somewhere here.

1 Like

Micro Center is primarily a brick-and-mortar company. They don’t ship a lot of their products even within the U.S. They want people in their stores.

That’s a pleasant-enough thing, though, because their stores are a geek’s playground. They have everything even remotely related to computers in stock, including legacy stuff that no one uses anymore. The Westbury, New York store may as well have been my second home when I owned my tech support and consulting company downstate in the NYC Metro area.

What I like about them now, living two hours from the Yonkers store, is that their online ordering / store pickup system doesn’t send a ready-for-pickup notice until the order really is ready for pickup. That means everything has been pulled from the shelves and is physically waiting for me at the pickup counter. It eliminates the possibility of making the long trip for nothing.

Here’s a funny story. I was in the Westbury store one day and had my own company’s ID card pinned to my shirt because it was a work day. Another customer thought I worked there and asked me for help. I wound up selling them quite a respectable system. Once I closed the deal, I sent the customer to an actual employee so he could get his commission on the sale.

The manager, Tom, had been watching the whole time and was quite amused. He called me aside when I handed off the customer, took me to the office, and gave me a gift card. I forget how much it was for, but it was a nice gesture.

Richard

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.