What are Virtualmin’s advantages versus other control panels or why shall anyone use it?
Here are just a few off the top of my head…
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the core Webmin has been around longer then most of the others (early-mid 90’s)
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you can accomplish most things in the GPL (free) version and upgrade if you want even more features
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more powerful overall then most panels combined (Webmin which is the core of Virtualmin is a server control panel so you can get in and optimize so much from a GUI)
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exceptional support from an amazing community, plenty of whom are very familiar with the software (like me) and even the devs themselves… Did I mention the devs even offer assistance to GPL (free) users… Crazy right? (Pro users naturally are prioritized but that’s to be expected)
Happy holidays!
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This Forum.
And not kicked out here when some misunderstanding in words / texts or knowledge. 
Happy holidays!
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It’s subjective and dependant on use or purpose. I have used many control panels, free or commercial - bottom line is; one size doesn’t fit all. After a while as long as you understand your own needs - a suited control panel will be identified.
If people randomly think a control panel will do magic and as Harry Potter - whoops, use a wand left right centre to fix things - they need to revisit reality. Unfortunately, I think the latter is what many think - that a control panel will fix things for you. It won’t, but it will make your day-to-day easier to manage in terms of server management.
Basic admin experience, skills or learning it easy/hard way - are prerequisites. If you really want/need to use a control panel. It’s not enough to push a few buttons but to understand what those buttons will impact if pushed.
What I like most is that Virtualmin can support beginners and pros alike. It can be simple or advanced. You are in control on how you want to use the available features - I like that. License for pro is reasonably priced but GPL is also very good. As with everything, it is important to do RND and learn from experience (unless you are a trained sysadmin). Review available documentation and try out things sensibly. With a bit of effort, shared knowledge and passion - Virtualmin will suit many. At personal level, a while back some years ago, I migrated away from CPanel and Plesk. I have used others but stayed on with Virtualmin 
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- It’s free.
- If you need professional support and even more features (which for general web hosting you will not) there’s the Pro version which is pretty cheap.
- As mentioned earlier, this forum. The actual programmers spend time here answering tough questions and working with free users. You don’t get that anywhere else.
- If you follow the directions, it is bulletproof to set up and deploy.
It’s literally so easy a guy like me can do it.
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I like it because it’s generally very ‘light touch’ - in that in most cases it will read and update the existing configuration files - as opposed to other control panels I have tried which take over and get very upset if you manually edit any configuration files.
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- Free, with a paid pro features option.
- Compatibility with many operating systems.
- I like the visual design.
- Offer easier access to features and options, compared to the other trending “panels” which are painfully simplified. I.e. Gives me the control that I need.
- Wonderful developers/support, and a friendly and helpful forum <3
However, there are 2 things that I don’t like (or properly understand) in Virtualmin:
- It uses the domain name as the main account… I mean, if the same user (person) runs multiple domains, each domain is considered a separate account on the system and the admin requires a separate username/password combination to manage…
- In “System Customization → Custom Shells”, in no way I could wrap my head around how to manage these options. I was originally looking for a way to properly use Classic-FTP and/or SFTP on a domain with multiple sub-users (It seemed like if SFTP works for admin, only FTP works for the other users and vice versa). Since then I have totally ditched FTP and could finally convince all the users (and teach them how) to use SFTP.
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I’ve have no issues using FTP with Virtualmin.
You may have had slightly better luck looking in Webmin / Servers / Pro FTPD Server for settings on FTP.
There are also settings on each Virtual Server under the USER menu to allow FTP or SSH or both. You can also batch create or add individual users if you like.
It’s been a while since I ran into that issue, and while I prefer SFTP/SSH for security and easier management, eventually I could convince my users to stop requesting plain FTP.
But from what I remember, and the image you have shared you can see how “Login access” shows “FTP and SSH” for admin, then “FTP only” for sub user. In practice FTP will not work for admin, but it will work for the sub user.
If you like I can dig for my old notes, but I think it is not worth the trouble of discussion over an extinct protocol.
Thank you for your kind help 
It’s always worked for me both ways. If I set FTP access, it grants FTP access no matter what user it’s set on.
This. Almost used another Open-Source panel about 7 yrs back but the community forum was toxic af and that pushed me away not just from the forum but from the panel itself.
Found out about VIrtualmin+Webmin and never turned back since.
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And this as well.
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I don’t run any active FTP services anymore , ssh on other ports then fstp/ssh with winscp on those ports , less trafic for those who want try to access … and yes i don’t use external services like cloudflare and co while privacy problems … 
You can even use together with the right putty version then keybased acces plus extra password/ sentence.
For everyone a free choice.
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Hey,
Let’s not get off topic, this thread is about “what you most like about Virtualmin”… If you are having issues please open a new thread instead of poluting this one.
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