and they use a database ? I would guess you added webmin to an existing installation … with that method you are likely to get problems
An existing installation of what? I installed webmin on a fresh never used Ubuntu 22.04 install on a VPS.
no read the install document is the link I sent
No my current sites do not use a database but now I need to for Wordpress so trying to figure out how.
I did and it is not helpful in me to figure out how to install my mariadb database after I already have webmin and virtualmin running and several sites running on them.
You can always start from scratch everytime you do anything but not everyone can erase all work done for months and start from scratch every time they go to do something new on their server.
Is there some sort of issue using webmin ? that prevents you from installing Wordpress?
How do I minimize downtime on my current sites if I have to go and reinstall Virtualmin from scratch as the ONLY way to get Wordpress up and running? What is the best uninstall method so I do not do that totally wrong also?
you have a ‘can of worms’ there … the issue is you did not use the official install method …
I’m not so sure about that … I have always followed the official method of installation and suffered no problems you did it another way … when you installed vmin you may have already installed other software which may conflict
reprovision the machine/vps you are working with
The only software installed when I installed Virtualmin was webmin and they were both installed on fresh ubuntu 22.04 OS.
I find it hard to believe that this is the only solution. I have tons of work done on my VPS that would have to be redone.
You didn’t use the Virtualmin install script. You don’t have a complete Virtualmin system.
“The documentation” for installing Virtualmin is: Downloading and Installing Virtualmin – Virtualmin
You followed instructions for installing Webmin (and not our instructions, you followed some random instructions on the web…I don’t know if they are correct…but, Webmin is not Virtualmin, so you’re missing the entire stack and all the configuration our install script performs).
We have thousands of hours of development into the install process…we made it ridiculously easy to install a fully-functional Virtualmin web hosting system, but you have to use it. Otherwise, you’ve got to put in dozens of hours of your own time to make it all work. Installing Virtualmin using the documented process takes about ten minutes, at most (assuming reasonably fast internet).
that is the issue … you should have used the official way to install rather than some ‘barrack room method’ of installation installing webmin first is the issue. The method you used to install the software will not set up everything as it should be … hence you have issues
Ok, is there a recommend or easy way to backup my sites so when I reinstall the downtime is minimal?
Do I need to start my VPS from scratch ith fresh OS install?
I installed webmin and virtualmin not just webmin. I have both running since day 1 of my VPS OS install.
but not as intended … that is your problem
I mentioned that earlier
Virtualmin has backup and restore features, of course. It may have some issues on restore, as your system is probably wildly divergent from what a default Virtualmin install will look like, but Virtualmin tries to resolve those kinds of differences (we try to make it possible to restore on different and newer distributions and such, so it tries to align things as best it can, but there are a lot of ways you could configure a system differently that we can’t paper over).
If I’m understanding you, you only installed the Virtualmin virtual-server module. Which is just the GUI. It is not all the services and configuration needed to make it work out-of-the-box. You’d need to perform a couple hundred configuration changes and install a bunch of packages on your own, in that case. It’ll take a hell of a lot more time than using the install script on a fresh OS.
ok understood,
Can I do this on my current Ubuntu 22.04 install or do I need to install that fresh also?
I can not afford any more mistakes so want to be clear on my path forward.
reprovision = start from scratch
trying to get a 2nd opinion as I have docker and many other things on my VPS that would have to be reinstalled too and I do not have unlimited time and really trying to get this done before I lose my ability to earn income and feed my son.
As you can tell I am extremely stressed and frustrated as having to repeat everything I did for the last month + is overwhelming to think about.
Almost certainly not. The Virtualmin install process, which is extremely complicated, with hundreds of steps and many packages, expects to run on a freshly installed supported OS. Any configuration you’ve done in advance of running it in any services Virtualmin manages is very likely to confuse it.