Project Management

10 favorite web based administration tools

By // January 14, 2011, 2:30 AM PST // jlwallen

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  • cPanel hosting platform

    What are your favorite web-based admin tools? After you look through this list, tell us about your own favorites.

    cPanel is one of the industry standards in taking a standalone server and turning it into a power-house, automated hosting platform. With cPanel your clients can enjoy one of the single most user-friendly administration panels you will find, bar none. From this control panel your clients can build their own sites (using Fantastico), manage email/user/ftp/domains/databases, view log files, and much more.

  • CUPS interface for print server

    For anyone that manages a Linux-based print server, the CUPS web-based interface will be a blessing. Instead of having to be seated at that print server, or remoting into the machine itself, you can fire up http://ADDRESS_OF_SERVER:631 (Where ADDRESS_OF_SERVER is the actual address of the print server). From this interface you can manage printers/printer groups/print jobs, as well as control who has access to which printers. This printer admin tool is installed by default with CUPS.

  • eGroupware

    eGroupware is one of the more powerful open source groupware tools and has one of the best interfaces for administering individual components. From the Preferences screen, just click which component you want to administer and you're in. This screenshot shows the eGroupware Calendar configuration.

  • ISPConfig

    If you are an ISP, or you are looking to start an ISP, then you should not overlook ISPConfig. This administration tool makes the task of administering multiple servers, multiple domains, and multiple clients a snap. From a single web interface you can administer everything. And since ISPConfig is open source, you are also welcome to modify the source to fit your needs.

  • phpLDAPadmin

    If you know of the php administration tools, you should know about phpLDAPadmin. This web-based tool makes the administration of LDAP data very easy. For those of you who prefer not to have to deal with learning all of the command-line tools for LDAP, you will be glad to know this admin tool is practically all point-and-click.

  • phpMyAdmin

    phpMyAdmin is to MySQL what phpLDAPadmin is to LDAP. From this single point of entry, you can manage your current databases and create new databases. What is nice about this particular admin tool is that, should you need, you can also issue standard MySQL queries and commands from the SQL tab.

  • SQL Buddy

    If you've had any trouble installing phpMyAdmin, and you're desperate for a web-based MySQL administration tool, I highly recommend SQL Buddy. This tool is as simple as it gets. With a working MySQL server already up and running (along with a web server), unpack the SQL Buddy archive, place it in the document root of your web server, and log in. With zero configuration, you can be managing your databases within minutes.

  • SWAT for Samba

    If you have a SAMBA server (or SAMBA installed on a desktop) and you want to be able to manage SAMBA from any machine with nothing more than a web browser, that is what SWAT will do for you. With SWAT you can start/stop your smbd daemon, you can modify your smb.conf and lmhosts files, and you can even manage smb passwords for users.

  • Webmin

    Often thought of as one of the most powerful administration tools available, Webmin has long been one of the standards by which all other web-based tools are compared. Webmin allows you to add/remove numerous modules that can administer just about every possible service you can imagine. From this tool you can even control what services are started on the machine and even manage clustering (if available). There are some that claim Webmin is a security vulnerability. But on a well-configured, secure server, any vulnerability that might be introduced would be nullified.

  • Wordpress blogging tool

    One of the most user-friendly and wide-spread online blogging tools, Wordpress also has one of the easiest to use administration interfaces you will find. From wp-admin you can manage the look and feel of your Wordpress-based blog, add/remove widgets, manage users, moderate comments and trackbacks, and much more. The Wordpress admin interface is as user-friendly as is its WYSIWYG editor.

cPanel hosting platform

What are your favorite web-based admin tools? After you look through this list, tell us about your own favorites.

cPanel is one of the industry standards in taking a standalone server and turning it into a power-house, automated hosting platform. With cPanel your clients can enjoy one of the single most user-friendly administration panels you will find, bar none. From this control panel your clients can build their own sites (using Fantastico), manage email/user/ftp/domains/databases, view log files, and much more.

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By Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic and Linux.com. He’s an avid promoter of open source and the voice of The Android Expert. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.