Hey all – just installed webmin but banging my head trying to solve – installed via dnf (webmin-2.202-1.noarch); selinux permissive.
On start getting the following:
[sb@robin-rh9-srv6 system]$ sudo systemctl status webmin.service
● webmin.service - Webmin server daemon
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/webmin.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-01-17 22:00:59 EST; 14min ago
Process: 38086 ExecStart=/usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 38087 (miniserv.pl)
Tasks: 2 (limit: 23136)
Memory: 28.3M
CPU: 3.342s
CGroup: /system.slice/webmin.service
├─38087 /usr/bin/perl /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf
└─41790 /usr/bin/perl /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf
Jan 17 22:00:58 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Starting Webmin server daemon...
Jan 17 22:00:59 robin-rh9-srv6 webmin[38086]: Webmin starting
Jan 17 22:00:59 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Can't open PID file /var/webmin/miniserv.pid (yet?) after start: Operation not permitted
Jan 17 22:00:59 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Started Webmin server daemon.
Error log shows timeout in line 1338 in miniserv.pl (always timing out at this line after several reinstalls):
[sb@robin-rh9-srv6 system]$ tail -f /var/webmin/miniserv.error
[17/Jan/2025:22:00:59 -0500] IPv6 support enabled
[17/Jan/2025:22:00:59 -0500] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[17/Jan/2025:22:00:59 -0500] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
journal shows syntax errors over and over:
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Stopped Webmin server daemon.
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Starting Webmin server daemon...
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 miniserv.pl[13473]: syntax error at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1142, near "$session_id :"
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 miniserv.pl[13473]: syntax error at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1267, near "}"
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 miniserv.pl[13473]: BEGIN not safe after errors--compilation aborted at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 2533.
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jan 17 21:45:45 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Failed to start Webmin server daemon.
Jan 17 21:45:47 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Jan 17 21:45:47 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Stopped Webmin server daemon.
Jan 17 21:45:47 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Starting Webmin server daemon...
What did you do to your Webmin installation? That’s obviously not what ships in the package (since miniserv.pl as we ship it does not have syntax errors).
So, what’s on those lines (maybe just 1142, the following lines may be broken just because of the breakage on that line) in /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl and why has it been changed from what was in the package?
I’m just going off the installation instructions here: Downloading and Installing | Webmin ; not changing anything. **EDIT I did open miniserv.pl in vim to check some other lines so may have accidentally changed something by accident.
Just removed and reinstalled again – not touching anything . Not getting the syntax error now; now just a timeout note for line 1338 and inability to open the the .pid file:
[sb@robin-rh9-srv6 ~]$ sudo systemctl status webmin
● webmin.service - Webmin server daemon
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/webmin.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2025-01-18 07:06:50 EST; 30min ago
Main PID: 13275 (miniserv.pl)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 23136)
Memory: 26.6M
CPU: 1.595s
CGroup: /system.slice/webmin.service
└─13275 /usr/bin/perl /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Stopped Webmin server daemon.
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Consumed 3.280s CPU time.
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Starting Webmin server daemon...
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 webmin[13273]: Webmin starting
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: webmin.service: Can't open PID file /var/webmin/miniserv.pid (yet?) after start: Operation not permitted
Jan 18 07:06:50 robin-rh9-srv6 systemd[1]: Started Webmin server daemon.
[sb@robin-rh9-srv6 ~]$ tail -n 50 /var/webmin/miniserv.error
[18/Jan/2025:06:59:47 -0500] miniserv.pl started
[18/Jan/2025:06:59:47 -0500] IPv6 support enabled
[18/Jan/2025:06:59:47 -0500] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[18/Jan/2025:06:59:47 -0500] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
[18/Jan/2025:07:06:50 -0500] Shutting down
[18/Jan/2025:07:06:50 -0500] miniserv.pl started
[18/Jan/2025:07:06:50 -0500] IPv6 support enabled
[18/Jan/2025:07:06:50 -0500] Using MD5 module Digest::MD5
[18/Jan/2025:07:06:50 -0500] Using SHA512 module Crypt::SHA
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
timeout at /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl line 1338.
The timeout is irrelevant. It’s just a side effect of whatever is going wrong (it’s waiting on a PID that never shows up, but the reason is doesn’t show up is the problem you need to solve, not the waiting…the PID should show up almost instantly if nothing went wrong).
The last time we saw this, someone had deleted /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf and Webmin was trying to start with an empty configuration on a port that was already occupied.
So, maybe check that. Seems to point to something going wrong with the installation, but I can’t really guess what the root cause would be.
Since you’re not getting any useful errors in the log, try starting Webmin manually: