\n\tWebmin is one of those tools that every admin should know backward and forward. It’s powerful, reliable, gives you a central location for all server administration tools, and it’s extendable. Plenty of modules are available to enhance your Webmin installation. Here are five that will help you take care of tasks that normally wouldn’t have Web-based configuration options. Note: All but one of the links take you to the actual download of the module.
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\n\tIf you’d prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.
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\n\tPhoto: iStockphoto.com/NickS
\n\tCertificate Manager lets you create and manage OpenSSL certificates with the ease of Webmin.
\n\tOriginally developed by Caldera, the Certificate Manager module has continued to grow and expand. Later iterations support CSR signing, PKCS12 conversion, and access control.
\n\tThis is a boon not just for Webmin users, but for DansGuardian users as well.
\n\tDovecot enables the mail administrator (or anyone who adminsters a server) to configure many aspects of the Dovecot IMAP/POP3 server.
\n\tWith Dovecot, you can configure networking and protocols, user and login options, mail files, and SSL. You can also manually edit the configuration files.
\n\tFilesystem Backup allows you to easily back up and restore various file systems on your server. These backups can be done in TAR format and saved to the machine you’re working from.
\n\tAlthough this backup system will not enable you to do bare metal or system-state backups, you can’t beat it for quick and easy remote file system backups.
\n\tProFTPD Server is one of the best FTP servers around. Being able to configure and manage an FTP server from within Webmin is a big help.
\n\tWith this module, you can manage access control, files and directories, networking/logging options, per-directory options, authentication, and more. If you need an FTP server but don’t want to have to configure one manually, this is the module for you.
Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.
