MANUALFORMANAGINGASHAREDWEBHOSTINGWITH
VIRTUALMINWEBMIN
Version1.0ENPatrickBrunswyck
amanualby
MovingArtStudioa.s.b.l.
Copyright2009MovingArtStudio
GNUFreeDocumentationLicence
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
Tableofcontents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................1
ConnectingtoVirtualmin...........................................................................................................................1
Informationaboutyourwebhosting...........................................................................................................2
Thedifferenttypesofhosting....................................................................................................................2
StructureoftheVirtualmininterface.........................................................................................................3
Theadministrator'spassword.....................................................................................................................5
Adjustyourquotasandlimits.....................................................................................................................5
Creatingasubserver..................................................................................................................................6
Whatisasubserverandwhatisitspurpose?.......................................................................................6
HowdoIcreateasubserver?...............................................................................................................6
Creatinganaliasforthevirtualserver.......................................................................................................7
Whatisaserveralias?...........................................................................................................................7
Howtocreateaserveralias...................................................................................................................7
HowtoconfiguremyFTPclientprogramtouploadmysite?...................................................................9
AddingandmodifyingFTP/MySQLusers................................................................................................9
Addausertothisserver........................................................................................................................9
AddawebsiteFTPaccessuser............................................................................................................11
Changingthehomedirectory..............................................................................................................11
CreatinganewMySQLdatabase.............................................................................................................13
AdvancedMySQLmanagement...............................................................................................................14
Creatinganewtable............................................................................................................................15
CreateaMySQLview.........................................................................................................................15
ExecutinganSQLquery/Importingtables........................................................................................16
Delegatingadministrativetasksofyourhosting.......................................................................................17
ModifyingDNSparameters.....................................................................................................................18
ModifyingtheApacheDirectives............................................................................................................22
Activatingthe.htaccessfile.................................................................................................................22
ReadtheApachelogfilesofyourhostingandresolveproblems.............................................................24
TheFilemanager.......................................................................................................................................24
PostgreSQL,WebDAVandSVN.............................................................................................................26
WebDAV..............................................................................................................................................26
Subversion...........................................................................................................................................27
Infofordevelopers:APIApplicationProgrammingInterface.............................................................29
CommandLineAPI.............................................................................................................................29
RemoteAPI.........................................................................................................................................30
SupportandFAQ......................................................................................................................................31
Whatsupportoptionsareavailable?....................................................................................................31
Downtimes,crashesandotherdisasters...................................................................................................32
Whattodoifthenetworkisunreachable............................................................................................32
Whattodoifmydedicatedserverisunreachable...............................................................................32
Versions....................................................................................................................................................33
Introduction
Whenyourwebhostingaccountiscreatedwewillsendyouanemailcontainingthefollowingaccess
information:
Domainname:mysite.be
Hostingserver:karlmarx.all2all.org
Username:mysite
Password:6PhF3exEfrLEJbY
URLmanagementinterface:https://karlmarx.all2all.org:10000/
Websiteaddress:http://www.mysite.be/
Websitestatistics:http://www.mysite.be/stats
Webalizeranalyselogs:Enabled
DatabaseMySQL:mysite
MySQLlogin:mysite
MySQLpassword:6PhF3exEfrLEJbY
PhpMyAdmin:https://karlmarx.all2all.org/phpmyadmin/
FAQ:http://www.all2all.net/informations/faq/
Thelogindatausedhereisfictitious.Thisexamplewillbeusedthroughoutthemanual.
ConnectingtoVirtualmin
Withtheabovementionedaccessinfo,visitthefollowingwebsite:
URLmanagementinterface:https://karlmarx.all2all.org:10000/
andloginwiththeprovidedusername&password:
Username:mysite
Password:6PhF3exEfrLEJbY
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.1
ThereisnoneedtoinstallanythingtouseVirtualmin/Webmin:youcanmanageyourwebhosting
immediatelywithyourfamiliarwebbrowser.
Informationaboutyourwebhosting
Onceconnectedyouwillseeasummaryscreenprovidingyouwithsimilarinformationasshowninthe
followingillustration.Withvirtualserver,wemeanyourwebsiteorwebhosting.
Thedifferenttypesofhosting
Accordingtowhattypeofwebhostingyouorderedyouwillseedifferentquotas:
Typeofhosting
Simple
Recommended
Large
Diskspace(quotas)
20MB
3GB
10GB
Subservers
10
Extrausers
10
20
Databases
15
Emailaccounts(1000MB)*
10
20
Mailinglists(mailman)**
10
*Theemailaccountsarelocatedonadedicatedserver.Thereforethesecannotbeconfigured
withVirtualmin.FormoreinformationpleaseconsultourFAQ:
http://www.all2all.org/informations/faq/emailandmailinglists/newemailaccount/andour
documentationpage:http://www.all2all.org/informations/documentation/
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.2
**Formoreinformationregardingmailinglists:
http://www.all2all.org/fr/informations/faq/emailandmailinglists/openanewmailinglist/
StructureoftheVirtualmininterface
TheVirtualmininterfaceisdividedintotwoparts:ThedefaultinterfaceistheVirtualmininterface
(managementofyourvirtualserver).OnthetopleftmenuyoucanswitchtotheWebmininterface
(systemmanagement).
Virtualminlet'syouconfigureandmanageyourvirtualserver.Thiswayyoucan:
seetheuserquotasonyourserver
changetheuser'spassword
createandmanageusers
createandmanageyourdatabase
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.3
modifyyourDNSsettings
configureyourwebsite(Apacheconfiguration)
executeapersonalisedbackupofyourvirtualserver
viewtheeventsinyourlogfilesofyourvirtualserver
Webminhelpsyouwiththemanagementofyoursystem.Thiswayyoucan:
uploadanddownloadfilesthroughtheuseoftheFileManagermodule
defineprotecteddirectories
changethelanguageandthemeofVirtualmin/Webmin
scheduletasks(cronjobs)
DonotchangetheVirtualmintheme.Changingthethemecouldcausenavigationproblems.
viewthelogfiles(events)ofyourvirtualserver
*Definition:thetermquotaheremeansthelimitedamountofdiskspaceyourusersareallowedto
haveonthisaccount.
Thepartontherightpresentstheinformationyouaskedforwhenclickingononeofthelinksinthe
menuontheleft.
E.g.,clickingonVirtualmin>EditVirtualServer,wecanreviewthedetailsofourvirtualserver:
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.4
Theadministrator'spassword
SelectingVirtualmin>EditVirtualServer>ConfigurablesettingsyoucanclickonShow...to
viewtheadministrator'spassword:
CheckingtheSetto...boxyoucanmodifythepassword:
Thepasswordmustcontainatleast15characters.Consultourmanualonsecurepassword
handlingthatyoucanfindonoursite:http://www.all2all.org/files/pdfs/securepasswords.pdf
TosavethenewpasswordclickonthebuttonSaveVirtualServer.Don'tforgettoalsoapplyanyother
changesontheotherEditVirtualServerpages.
Adjustyourquotasandlimits
ClickingonVirtualmin>EditVirtualServer>QuotasandLimits,youcanviewthediskspace
used,thediskspaceusedbydatabasesandthetotalamountofdiskspaceused:
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.5
Creatingasubserver
Whatisasubserverandwhatisitspurpose?
Asthenamesuggests,asubserverislocatedunderneaththemainvirtualserver.Withasubserveryou
cancreatemultiplewebsites(dependingonthetypeofhostingyouordered)onthesamewebhosting.
Youcanuseasubservertocreateanewsite,asubsite,orasiteindifferentlanguages.
HowdoIcreateasubserver?
ClickonVirtualmin>CreateServerandthenonNewvirtualservertype:Subserver
Youwillbepresentedwiththefollowingscreen:
Youcanthenplacethepublicfilesofyoursecondarysite(subserver)inthefollowingdirectory(with
yourpreferedFTPcliente.g.FileZilla):
/var/www/htdocs/mysite/domains/my_sub_server.be/public
*Attention:Thepublicfilesofyourmainsitearelocatedinthisdirectory:
/var/www/htdocs/mysite/public
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.6
Creatinganaliasforthevirtualserver
Whatisaserveralias?
Whenyouwanttolinkmultipledomainnamestothesamesite,youcancreateanaliasserverforeach
domainnameyouwanttolinktothemainserver.Ifyouownseveraldomainnamesandwantthemto
besynonymouswiththemainDNSnameaddthemasaliasserverstothemainsite.
Howtocreateaserveralias
ClickonVirtualmin>CreateServerandthenonNewvirtualservertype:Aliasofmysite.be
ProvidethedomainnameofthealiasyouwanttouseandverifythatthetwoboxesSetupDNSzone
andSetupwebsitefordomainarecheckedintheEnabledFeatureswindow.
ClickonCreateServertocreateyouraliasserver.thealiasisnowbeingcreated:
SettingUpVirtualServer
Indomainaliasofmysite.be
Creatinghomedirectory..
..done
AddingnewDNSzone..
..done
Addingslavezoneondns1.all2all.orgdns2.all2all.orgdns4.all2all.orgdns3.all2all.org..
..done
Updatingtargetvirtualwebsite..
..done
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.7
RestartingDNSserver..
..done
RestartingslaveDNSservers..
..done
Applyingwebserverconfiguration..
..done
Savingserverdetails..
..done
Sendingemailnotificationtodomainowner..
[email protected]
UpdatingWebminuser..
..done
ReloadingWebmin..
..done
Ifyoupassthisphasewithoutanyerrors,thenewaliaswillappearintheleftmenu:
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.8
HowtoconfiguremyFTPclientprogramtouploadmysite?
Thisisquitesimple.HereistheinformationnecessarytoconfigureyourFTPprogram:
hostname:ftp.your_dns_name
username:your_all2all_username
password:your_all2all_password
directory:leaveemptyorsettopublic
Thenconnect!
Youneedtoputthefilesofyoursiteintothedirectorypublic/.PleasereadalsothisrelatedFAQentry.
AddingandmodifyingFTP/MySQLusers
Addausertothisserver
TocreateanewuserforFTPorMySQL,clickonthemenuVirtualmin>EditFTPUsers.Here
yougetanoverviewoftheusersalreadycreated.Hereyoucandeleteoreditexistingusers.Youcan
createanewuserwhenyouclickonthelinkAddausertothisserver.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.9
UsingthemenuquotasandHomeDirectorySettingsandthesubmenuOtheruserpermissions,
youcansettheavailablediskspacefor:
aregularuser(Loginpermissions=EmailOnly)
aFTPuser(Loginpermissions=EmailandFTP)
auserwithaccesstoyourdatabases(Clickonthenameofthedesireddatabaseinthesubmenu
Allowaccesstodatabases)
NextclickonCreateandthenewuseriscreated.
WhenyouwanttocreateaMySQLuseronly,thenitissufficienttogranthimaccessto
MySQLitselfandnologinisrequiredforthesite.SogivetheMySQLusertheemailonly
loginpermission.ThiswayifahackerweretolayhishandsonyourMySQLlogin,hestill
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.10
doesn'thaveaccesstoFTPonyourwebhosting.
Moreinformationregardingtheconfigurationofemailaccountscanbefoundhere:
http://all2all.org/en/informations/documentation/
Thepossibilitytocreateanemailuserdoesnotexistforsharedwebhosting.Thisoptionis
onlypresentwhenyouhaveavirtualserverordedicatedserverhostingaccount.
AddawebsiteFTPaccessuser
Ifyouwanttocreateadditionaluserstomanagewebsitecontent,youwanttousetheAddawebsite
FTPaccessuserlinktocreateyouruser.ThiscreatesauserthathasFTPaccesstothewebsitedata.
Ifyouwantmailboxuserstobeabletoupload/downloadfilesfromtheirhomedirectoryviaFTPset
theiraccesstoMailandFTPintheLoginpermissionsfieldintheOtherUserPermissionssection
ofthecreateuserpage.
TocreateawebsiteFTPaccessuserclickonVirtualmin>EditFTPUsers.Hereyougetanoverview
oftheusersalreadycreated.Hereyoucandeleteoreditexistingusers.Youcancreateanewuserwhen
youclickonthelinkAddawebsiteFTPaccessuser.
NotethatyouhavenoemailadditionaladdresseswindowandnoHomedirectoryquotafora
websiteFTPaccessuser.
Changingthehomedirectory
ClickonEditFTPUsersandnowclickonthenewusername(herenewftpuser)youhavecreated:
NowclickonQuotaandhomedirectorysettingstoviewthefollowingscreen:
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.11
NowchangetheHomedirectoryfromAutomatictoSubdirectoryofserver'shome.InthisexampleI
createahomefolderfortheresearchanddevelopmentdepartmentwithalimitof123MBdiscspace
onecanuse.GotoOtheruserpermissionsifyouwanttogivetheuserFTPpermission.
Nowclickonsave.
ClickonWebminmodulesandthenonFileManagertoseeandconfirmthenewhomedirectory:
Noticetheuserforthefolderisnewftpuser.
Notethatit'simpossibletocreateahomeinthepublicdirectorysooutsiders(whovisityourwebsite
that'slocatedinthepublicdirectory)can'tseeyourhomedirectory.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.12
CreatinganewMySQLdatabase
ClickonVirtualmin>EditDatabasestoseethedatabasesonyourhosting.
Youcanmodifyanexistingdatabasewhenyouclickonthenameofthedatabase,e.g.mysite.Youthen
gettoseethedetailsofthedatabaseandthefollowingtwobuttons:
deletethisdatabase
managedatabase
WhenyouclickonManageDatabaseyoucanviewandmodifyrecordsanddata.(likephpMyAdmin)
TocreateanewdatabaseclickontheCreateanewdatabasebutton.
Youcannowenterthedesirednameofthedatabase.Ifyouplanonusingspecialcharactersyouneedto
choosethecorrectoptioninthelistCharactersetforMySQLdatabase.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.13
AdvancedMySQLmanagement
ViathemenuWebmin>Servers>MySQLDatabaseserver,youcan:
createanewtable
createView(viewyourtablesanddata)
executeSQLqueries
makeabackupoftheentiredatabaseorabackupofaselectionofoneormoretables
importdatafromatextfileorsomeotherdatabasestructuredfile
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.14
Creatinganewtable
Tocreateanewtableintheselecteddatabase,clickonCreateanewtable.Enterthenameofthe
newtable,choosewhattypeandcopyfieldsfromanothertableifrequired.Nowyoucanaddthenew
fieldswhenyouclickonCreateforthenewlycreatedtable.
CreateaMySQLview
YoucancreateaMySQLview,thesearevirtualtablesthatconsistoutofothertablesaccordingto
certaincriteria.FromatechnicalpointofviewthisisdonewithaSELECTcommand.Thismeansthat
thereviewingofdatadoesnotrequireanydiskspace.
Tocreateaview,clicktheCreateviewbutton,enteraviewnameandentertheSQLselectionquery
thatseemfittoyourneeds.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.15
ExecutinganSQLquery/Importingtables
YoucanrunaSQLquerywhenclickingtheExecuteSQLbutton.
OryoucantypeoutaSQLquerydirectly:
OryoucanrunaSQLquerythatissituatedonyourwebhostingoronyourcomputer:
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.16
OryoucanselectatextdatafiletoimportintotheMySQLdatabase,e.g.mysite.(Thisfilemust
containonedatabaserecordperline,withthefieldsineithertabsorcommaseparatedvalueformat):
Thisisthemostfrequentlyusedmethodofimportingdataortablesintoadatabase.The
ExecuteSQLfunctionismorepowerful.Itallowsyoutoinputamuchgreaterfilethanyou
canwithPhpMyAdminbecausethereisnolimitsettoexecutiontimeorfilesize.
Delegatingadministrativetasksofyourhosting
Youcancreateadditionaladministratorstowhomyouwouldliketodelegatetaskstowithout
compromisingyourentirewebhostingthroughapplyingaccesslimitations.
Tocreateanewadministratorforyourhostingtowhomyouwanttodelegatetasksto,gotothemenu
AdministrationOptions>ManageExtraAdminsandclickonAddanewextraadministrator.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.17
Youcannowchoosewhattasksthenewadministratorcanexecute.
ModifyingDNSparameters
DNS,theDomainNameSystem,isasystemthatcanestablishtheconnectionbetweenanIPaddress
andadomainname.Itenablesyoutofinddatabyusingadomainname.DNSisdesignedtofacilitate
theneedforustomemorizeallthoseIPaddresses.Soweonlyneedtorememberadomainname.E.g.
www.all2all.netcouldhavethethefollowingIP(123.124.125.96).Computersandotherdevicescanuse
thisdomainnameandconvertitbacktoanIPaddress.Computerscommunicateviatheinternetby
usingIPaddresses(routing).
DNSworksbyresolvingadomainnamewiththehelpofaserver.Whenauserwantstovisitawebsite,
e.g.www.all2all.org,thecomputerwillsendoutarequestwhatistheIPaddressofwww.all2all.org?
TheauthoritativeDNSserverthenreplieswiththeactualIPaddress,inthiscase123.124.125.96.The
computernowknowstheIPandcanestablishaconnection.
ItisalsopossibletodothereverseandaskaDNSserverthequestionwhatdomainnamesbelongto
thisIPaddress?ThisiscalleddoingareverseDNSlookupofthetypePTR.
ThemostimportanttypesofrecordsforDNSare:
Arecordoraddressrecordthatconnectsahostname(e.g.www.all2all.org)toanIPv4addressof32
bitsdividedoverfourbytes(4octets)(e.g.62.58.108.11).
NSrecordornameserverrecordthatdefinestheDNSserverforthedomain.
MXrecordormailexchangerecordthatdefinesthemailserver(s)forthedomain.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.18
ThroughthemenuVirtualmin>Services>DNSDomain,youcanmanageyourDNSzone.
Youcanreviewtherecordsofazonewhenclickingonthecorrespondingrecordtype.(e.g.clickon
MailServertoreviewtheMXrecordsofyourdomain).
Toaddanewrecord,e.g.anewMXrecord,clickonMailServer,enternewdataandclickoncreate.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.19
ReviewyourrecordsthroughclickingAllorClickonServices=>DNSDomain=>AllRecordTypes:
ToaddanewArecord(usedtomaphostnamestoanIPaddress)youjusthavetoclickonthenameof
therecord.ModifytherecordtoyourwishesandclickonSave.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.20
Nowonecanreachyourwebsitewiththenewhostname:http://new_Arecord.mysite.org
AgoodexampleforanArecordcouldberouter.mysite.besoyoucanconfigureafixedIPinDNS
attachedtothehostnamerouter.
Afteryouappliedthedesiredchangestoyouzonefile(adding,deletionorediting),youhave
toreturntothemainpageofyourzonemanagement.(Returntorecordtypesorthrough
clickingthemenuVirtualmin>Services>DNSDomain)andclickontheApply
Changesbuttonsoyourmodificationscanberegisteredtoyourzonefile.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.21
ModifyingtheApacheDirectives
Neverchangethepreconfiguredvaluesunlessyouknowwhattheconsequencesare.
ViathemenuVirtualmin>Services>ConfigureWebsite,youcanmodifytheconfiguration
settingsofyourApacheWebserver.
Activatingthe.htaccessfile
IfyouaregoingtoinstallaCMS(ContentManagementSystem,e.g.DrupalorJoomla!)this
willcontainthe.htaccessfile.
ThisfileisneededtocreateyourownURLsordirectives.BydefaultthisfileisNOTactiveonour
sharedhostingaccounts.Ifthereisa.htaccesspresentthenyouwillreceivetheerrormessagenumber
403.
ViathemenuVirtualmin>Services>ConfigureWebsiteyoucanadjustthesettingstoactivate
the.htaccessfile.
ClickontheShowDirectivesiconandthenclickonthe<Directory/var/www/htdocs/mysite/public>
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.22
icon,nowclickonShowDirectives(nowyouarelocatedintheperdirectoryoptionsforthe
directory/var/www/htdocs/mysite/publiconmysite.be:80).NowclickontheAllowOverride
AuthConfigLimit.
IntheOptionsfilecanoverride..sectioncheckSelectedbelow...andcheckallboxes.
ClickonSavetoandthenonApplyChange(intheupperrightcorner)toapplyallthechanges.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.23
TheAllowOverrideAuthConfigLimitdirectivehasnowturnedintoAllowOverrideAll.
ReadtheApachelogfilesofyourhostingandresolveproblems
Reviewingyourwebhostinglogfilesisaveryusefulsteptowardsresolvingproblemsthatcanoccur
withyoursite.Weadviseyoutoalwaysgothroughtheselogsbeforeyoucontacttheall2allsupport
service([email protected])andmailthemtousifnecessary.
Youcanviewtheaccessanderrorlogfilesviathemenu:Virtualmin>LogsandReports.
Bydefault,onlythelast20linesofthelogfilewillbeshowedbutyoucanconfigurethissettingand
youcansearchforkeywordsaswell.
TheFilemanager
Thereare2waystouploadfilestoyourwebsite:
theclassicmethodviaFTP
ConnectwithacorrectlyconfiguredFTPclientlikeFilezilla,Cyberduck,etc.Youalsoneedtheaccess
infoyoureceivedbyemailwhenyourhostingaccounthadbeensetup:
Hostingserver:karlmarx.all2all.org
Username:mysite
Password:6PhF3exEfrLEJbY
viatheFilemanager
TogettothefilemanagerclickonVirtualmin,nextclickonWebminthenOthers>Filemanager.
Inthiscaseyoudon'tneedanFTPclient,howeveritdoesrequiretheJavaVirtualMachinetobe
installedonyourcomputer.YoucanverifyyourJavainstallationhere:
http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp
Thisisapowerfultoolthatallowsyouamongstmanyotherthingstouploadcompressedfilesand
extractthemontheserveritselfthroughusingtheExtractbutton
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.24
PostgreSQL,WebDAVandSVN
Thesethreeservicesareinstalledbutarenotactive.Ifyourequirethemthenpleasecontacttheall2all
supportserviceat([email protected])sowecanactivatethemforyou.
WebDAV
WebDAV(WebbasedDistributedAuthoringandVersioning)isaprotocol(tobemoreprecise,an
extensiontotheHTTPprotocol)thatallowssimplifiedfilemanagementonserverslocatedelsewhere.It
ispossibletodownload,uploadandsynchronizefilesanddirectoriesinasimpleandfastmanner.The
mostimportantgoalofWebDAVistonotonlyreadbutalsowritefilesovertheInternet.WebDAVcan
beusedmymultipleusersthatworkonthesamedocumentatthesametime.Toachievethisitkeeps
trackofalltheaccesspermissionsonfilesandmodificationstofiles.InWindowsXPtheWebDAV
directoriesarelocatedinNetworkFavorites.
Tosummarize,thesearetheextensionsWebDAVprovides:
Protectionagainstdamagedfiles:mechanismstoensuresynchronization.
TheWebDAVprotocolsupportsaccesscontrol:exclusiveandsharedaccessrights.
Properties:metadataonfiles(title,subject,author,etc).
Managementfile'sattributes:copying,moving,deleting,renamingoffiles...
OnceWebDAVisactivateditappearsinanewmenucalledDAVAuthenticationunderVirtualmin>
Services:
DonotchangetheinitialconfigurationofWebDAV.Youcangrantuserspermissiontouse
WebDAVwhenyouclickonVirtualminandthenonEditFTPUsers.Clickontheusername
andthenonOtheruserpermissions.
HereyoucanactivatetheWebDAVlogin:
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.26
Subversion
Subversionisaprogramthatallowsversioncontroloffiles.Thissortofprogramhasmultiple
applications,inparticular:
keepingtrackofthehistoryofthefilesofaproject
restoringafiletoit'searlierversion
keepingtrackofchangesmadetoafile:whatchanges,bywhom,when,etc...
providingeasyaccesstofiles,locallyaswellasoverthenetwork
givingmultipleusersthepossibilitytocollaborateonafile
Subversionismeanttobeusedbydevelopersandadvancedusers.
OnceSVNismadeactiveitwillappearinanewsubmenucalledSVNRepositoriesviaVirtualmin
>Services:
Whenyouclickonitforthefirsttimeyouneedtocreateasubversionrepository.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.27
afterwardsyouwillbeabletoview,modifyoraddnewrepositories:
Youcanallowusersaccesstosubversionrepositoriesviathemenu:
Virtualmin>EditFTPUsers.ClickontheUsernameandthenonOtheruserpermissions,
activatetheSVNloginviaSubversionloginenabled?
configuretowhatrepositoriestheuserhasaccesstoviaAllowaccesstorepositories
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.28
MoreinformationregardingSVNcanbefoundinthefollowingmanualonline:
VersionControlwithSubversionbyBenCollinsSussman,BrianW.Fitzpatrick,C.MichaelPilato:
http://svnbook.redbean.com/en/1.5/svnbook.pdf
Infofordevelopers:APIApplicationProgrammingInterface
IyouknowhowtoprogramwithPerl,BASHorCGI,thenyoucanwriteyourownscriptstoautomate
repetitivetasksfortheUNIXsysteminVirtualmin.
CommandLineAPI
VirtualmincomeswithseveralprogramsthatcanberunfromtheUnixshelltoperformactionsthatare
usuallydonefromthewebinterface.Infact,almostallactionsthatcanbedoneinabrowsercanalsobe
donefromthecommandline,orfromshellscripts.Thisallowsvirtualserver,userandaliascreation
andmanagementtobedoneinamoreautomatedfunction,suchasfromprogramsorscriptsofyour
owncreation.
Allcommandsarelocatedinthe/usr/share/webmin/virtualserverdirectory.Theyallhavetobe
executedwithrootprivilegesbecausetheyneedaccesstothesystemconfigurationfilestobeableto
createusers,websiteinstallationsetc.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.29
ThefirstparametertotheVirtualmincommandistheoperationyouwanttoperform,suchascreate
domain.Dependingontheoperation,additionalparametersmaybeneeded,suchasthenameofthe
domaintocreate,passwordandsoon.Inalmostallcasestheparametersaregivenlikedomain
foo.com.
TheVirtualmincommandmustberunasroot,asitneedsaccesstosystemconfigurationfilestocreate
users,setupwebsitesandsoon.Ifyouwanttocreateservers,usersandaliasesprogramaticallyasa
differentuser(suchasfromyourownCGIscripts),seethedocumentationontheVirtualminRemote
APIinstead.
Alloftheoperationsthatmakechangestothesystemoutputmessagesindicatingtheirsuccessor
failure.Theirexitstatuscanalsobecheckedtodeterminesuccessanexitstatusof0indicatesthat
everythingwentOK,whileanonzerostatusindicatessomeproblem.
Alloperationscanbecalledwiththehelpcommandlineparametertohavethemoutputdetailsofthe
requiredandallowedparameters.Alternately,youcanrunVirtualminhelptogetalistofallavailable
commands,orvirtualminhelpcommandtogetinformationonwhataparticularcommanddoes.
RemoteAPI
EventhoughacommandlineAPIexistsformanagingVirtualminobjectssuchasservers,usersand
databases,thismaynotbeappropriateorusableinallcircumstances.Becausethecommandsneedto
berunasroot,theycannotbecalledfromPHPorCGIscriptsinvokedbyawebserver,whichtypically
runasalessprivilegedApacheuser.Also,theymustberunontheserverrunningVirtualmin,which
makesthemdifficulttocallfromanothersystem.
Forthisreason,analternatemethodexistsforrunningtheseprogramsviaHTTPrequests.Aspecial
URLintheVirtualminwebinterfaceexiststobecalledbyotherprograms,andtothenpassits
parametersontooneofthecommandlinescripts.ThisURLcanberequestedfromanysystem,andby
processesrunningasanyUnixuser.
Beforereadingthisdocumentation,youshouldbefamiliarwiththeVirtualminCommandLine
Programsdocumentation,evenifyouneverusethosecommandsdirectly.
AllremotecallsmustbemadethroughtheCGI/virtualserver/remote.cgi.ThefullURLforthiswillbe
https://yourserver:10000/virtualserver/remote.cgi,whereyourserveristhefullhostnameorIPaddress
ofthesystemrunningVirtualmin.
ThisURLmustbeprovidedwithatleastoneparameternamedprogram,whosevaluemustbethe
nameofthecommandlineprogramtoinvoke,withoutthe.plextension.SoapossibleURLtorequest
wouldbe:https://yourserver:10000/virtualserver/remote.cgi?program=listdomains.
Becausemostcommandlineprogramsrequireadditionalparameters,thesemustbeincludedinthe
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.30
URL.EveryCGIparameterisconvertedtoacommandlineparameter,withthevalueoftheparameter
appendedifgiven.Forexample,tocreateamailalias,youcouldinvoketheURL:
https://yourserver:10000/virtualserver/remote.cgi?program=create
alias&domain=foo.com&from=sales&[email protected]
Tospecifyaparameterthatdoesnothaveanythingafterit,justaddaCGIparameterwithnovalue.For
example,tolistdatabasesindetailedform,youcouldcall:
https://yourserver:10000/virtualserver/remote.cgi?program=list
databases&domain=foo.com&multiline=
BothGETandPOSTformatHTTPrequestscanbeused.IfyourVirtualminserverisnotrunningin
SSLmode,usehttp://insteadofhttps://intheURL.
Formoreinformation,youcanvisitthefollowinglink:
http://www.virtualmin.com/documentation/id,remote_http_api/
SupportandFAQ
Whatsupportoptionsareavailable?
Themostimportantformofsupporttakesplacebyemail.Describingyourproblemandhavingit
documentedisfarmoreefficientthantryingtoexplainaproblemoverthephone,thiswayyouaresure
yourquestionisinoursupportqueueandthatyourrequestwillbeprocessed!Ifyouhavequestions
whicharenotansweredinthisFAQorelsewhereonoursitejustsendusamailwithyourquestion.
Thereisunlimitedemailsupport.Inveryurgentcasesyoumaycontactusbyphonetoo.
Hereistheuniquesupportemailaddressforalltechnicalrequests:[email protected]
Wetrytorespondasfastaspossible,inmostcasesinstantaneously.Thisdependsmainlyontherequest
typeandifwehavetodoresearchbeforebeingabletorespond.Theall2allcharterguaranteesprecise
responsetimes.
Pleasealwaysincludetheusername,clientname,domainnameandlastinvoicenumberforwhich
yourequestsupport.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.31
Downtimes,crashesandotherdisasters
Whattodoifthenetworkisunreachable
Firstremaincalm:)Thenmakeatest,trytodoatraceroutetheservicewhichseemstobedown.
(moreinfoontraceroutehere:http://kb.iu.edu/data/aihy.html).Withthistestyouexcludethatthe
problemissituatedonyouraccessnetworkorbetweentheALL2ALLnetworkandyournetwork.
IfyouhavetracedtheproblemandanALL2ALLserverseemstobedowncontactusasap.Don'tforget
tosendustheoutputofthetracerouteyoujustmade.
Whattodoifmydedicatedserverisunreachable
WearemonitoringallphysicalserversrunningonournetworkviaaNagiosmonitoringinfrastructure.
Ifaserverisdownthesystemwillsendanotificationtooursupportteam.Ifthesystemismanagedby
all2all,wewilltrytorestarttheserverandanalysetheproblem.Incertaincaseslikehardwarefailureit
mightbenecessarytosendasupportteamtoourdatacenterandtophysicallyassistthedysfunctionning
bootprocess.Wecanthendetermineifnewpartshavetobeinstalledorifarescueboothastobedone.
Thisisalsothemomentwherewewillstarttheemergencyprocedureasincludedinourhosting
contrat,keepcontactwithyouforallfurtherdecisionsandfinallymakeareport.
Ifyouarejustusingtheall2allfacilitiesforcolocationofyourserverhardwarewecangiveyouaccess
toourremoteswitchablePDU.Inmostcasesyoucanthenimmediatelyrebootyoursystemwithout
havingtocontacttheall2allsupportteam.Furtherthereisalsoaconsoleportmanagementavailable
whichwecanconnecttoyourserver'sserialportandwhichenablesyoutologintoyourserverevenif
youareforinstancelockedoutbyawrongfirewallrule.
Priortotakingasdrasticmesuresasremotelyrebootingyoursystemyoushouldfirstdetermineifyour
serverisstillavailableandcheckifjustacertainserviceisdownorthesystemisjustheavylyloaded.It
canhappenthattheserverisstillrunningbuttheloadaverageisthathighthattheserverdoesn't
respondanymoretoanyservicerequests,alsoadminloginscanthenbeimpossible.Insuchcasesone
haseithertowaituntilthesystemgoesbacktoanormalstateandrespondsagainorhardresetthe
system.Ifthishappensoften,youshouldmaybeevaluateifthesystemstillfitsyourproduction
environment(maybethesystemisunderdimensioned?).
TomonitorservicesrunningonyourhostyoucanuseforinstancetheWebminSystemandServer
Statusmodulewhichisincludedinthestandardinstallation.Thismodulecanrestartcrashedservices
foryouorsendyouamessageifoneofyourservicesisdownorifyourserverisinacriticalstate.
Ifyouhavetracedtheproblemandfullydeterminedthatyourserverisdowncontactusasapwhenyou
cannotdealwiththesituationonyourown.Ifyoujusthaveyourservercolocatedatall2allwecanserve
youasremotehands.Incertaincasesyouwouldneedtosendustheadminpasswordofyourserver,
pleasedothisexclusivelybyPGPprotectedmail.Indifficultsituations,colocatedserverscanalsobeen
handledouttoyousothatyoucanrepairthemandbringthembackwhentheyarerepaired.
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.32
Versions
Versionnumber
Modifications
Author
1.0
Originalversion
EleniPostanzi
1.1FR
TranslationtoFrench
EleniPostanzi
1.1NL
TranslationtoDutch
EleniPostanzi,KoenLefever
1.1EN
TranslationtoEnglish
PatrickBrunswyck
1.2NL
ConversionpdfNL=>odtNL
PatrickBrunswyck
page
Modifications
25
Correctedcontinuouspagenumberinghaltedbylandscapepagewithstylebreak
All
Dragged'ndroppedscreenshotsfromtheoriginalPDFfile
All
Rescaledwarningsignsandputthetextalongsideinatable
9to11 AddedCreateanFTPuser+AddawebsiteFTPaccessuser
11
AddedChangingthehomedirectory
20
AddedArecordexample
31
AddedSupportandFAQ
32
AddedDowntimes,crashesandotherdisasters
33
AddedVersionsandModifications
All2allMovingArtStudio
p.33
