Usermin is a web-based interface mainly for webmail designed for non-root users to perform routine tasks including, reading mail, changing passwords, setting up databases and a web-basedSSH terminal. It is a stripped-down version of Webmin intended for regular users without always system administrators. It provides a rich set of features.
Some of them are listed below:
- Create and manage the database.
- Schedule emails.
- Scheduling cron jobs.
- Change files and folders permissions.
- Secure web directories.
In this post, we will show you how to install Usermin on Ubuntu 20.04 server.
Prerequisites
- A server running Ubuntu 20.04.
- A root password is configured on the server.
Getting Started
Before starting, it is recommended to update the APT cache to the latest version. You can update it by running the following command:
apt-get update -y
Once you are done, you will need to install other dependencies to your system.
Run the following command to install all of them:
apt-get install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl -y
Once all the dependencies are installed, you can proceed to the next step.
Install Usermin
By default, the Usermin package is not included in the Ubuntu default repository. So you will need to download the Usermin .deb package from the Usermins download page.
You can download it with the following command:
wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/webadmin/files/usermin/1.823/usermin_1.823_all.deb
Once the package is downloaded, install the downloaded package with the following command:
dpkg --install usermin_1.823_all.deb
Once the Usermin has been installed successfully, you should get the following output:
Selecting previously unselected package usermin. (Reading database ... 85599 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack usermin_1.823_all.deb ... Unpacking usermin (1.823) ... Setting up usermin (1.823) ... Usermin install complete. You can now login to https://ubuntu:20000/ as any user on the system. Processing triggers for systemd (245.4-4ubuntu3) ...
Start Usermin Service
After installing Usermin, you will need to start the Usermin service and enable it to start at system reboot.
You can do it with the following command:
systemctl start usermin
systemctl enable usermin
You can also check the status of Usermin with the following command:
systemctl status usermin
You should get the following output:
? usermin.service - LSB: web-based account administration interface for Unix systems
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/usermin; generated)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2021-07-23 11:59:02 UTC; 7s ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
Process: 2759 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/usermin start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Tasks: 1 (limit: 4691)
Memory: 19.9M
CGroup: /system.slice/usermin.service
??2763 /usr/bin/perl /usr/share/usermin/miniserv.pl /etc/usermin/miniserv.conf
Jul 23 11:58:59 ubuntu systemd[1]: Starting LSB: web-based account administration interface for Unix systems...
Jul 23 11:58:59 ubuntu perl[2760]: pam_unix(usermin:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty= ruser= rhost= user=root
Jul 23 11:59:02 ubuntu systemd[1]: Started LSB: web-based account administration interface for Unix systems.
Once you are finished, you can proceed to the next step.
Configure Firewall
If you have a UFW firewall installed in your system. You will also need to allow port 20000 through the firewall. You can allow the port 20000 using the following command:
ufw allow 20000
Next, reload the UFW firewall to apply the changes:
ufw reload
Once you are finished with the firewall configuration. You can proceed to the next step.
Access Usermin Web UI
By default, Usermin listens on port 20000. You can access it using the URL https://your-server-ip:20000. You will be redirected to the following page:
Provide your root username, password and click on the Sign in button. You should see the Usermin web interface on the following page:
File Manager
Scheduling Cron Jobs
Upload and Download
MySQL Database Server
Command-line Interface
Conclusion
Congratulations! you have successfully installed Usermin on Ubuntu 20.04 server. You can now manage your Ubuntu server from a remote location through the web browser.Advertisement
About Hitesh Jethva
Over 8 years of experience as a Linux system administrator. My skills include a depth knowledge of Redhat/Centos, Ubuntu Nginx and Apache, Mysql, Subversion, Linux, Ubuntu, web hosting, web server, Squid proxy, NFS, FTP, DNS, Samba, LDAP, OpenVPN, Haproxy, Amazon web services, WHMCS, OpenStack Cloud, Postfix Mail Server, Security etc.
