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

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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/

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**Formoreinformationregardingmailinglists:

http://www.all2all.org/fr/informations/faq/emailandmailinglists/openanewmailinglist/

StructureoftheVirtualmininterface
TheVirtualmininterfaceisdividedintotwoparts:ThedefaultinterfaceistheVirtualmininterface
(managementofyourvirtualserver).OnthetopleftmenuyoucanswitchtotheWebmininterface
(systemmanagement).

Virtualminlet'syouconfigureandmanageyourvirtualserver.Thiswayyoucan:

seetheuserquotasonyourserver

changetheuser'spassword

createandmanageusers

createandmanageyourdatabase

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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:

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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:

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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

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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
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RestartingDNSserver..
..done
RestartingslaveDNSservers..
..done
Applyingwebserverconfiguration..
..done
Savingserverdetails..
..done
Sendingemailnotificationtodomainowner..
..emailsenttomysite@karlmarx.all2all.org
UpdatingWebminuser..
..done
ReloadingWebmin..
..done
Ifyoupassthisphasewithoutanyerrors,thenewaliaswillappearintheleftmenu:

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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.

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UsingthemenuquotasandHomeDirectorySettingsandthesubmenuOtheruserpermissions,
youcansettheavailablediskspacefor:

aregularuser(Loginpermissions=EmailOnly)

aFTPuser(Loginpermissions=EmailandFTP)

auserwithaccesstoyourdatabases(Clickonthenameofthedesireddatabaseinthesubmenu
Allowaccesstodatabases)

NextclickonCreateandthenewuseriscreated.
WhenyouwanttocreateaMySQLuseronly,thenitissufficienttogranthimaccessto
MySQLitselfandnologinisrequiredforthesite.SogivetheMySQLusertheemailonly
loginpermission.ThiswayifahackerweretolayhishandsonyourMySQLlogin,hestill

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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:

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NowchangetheHomedirectoryfromAutomatictoSubdirectoryofserver'shome.InthisexampleI
createahomefolderfortheresearchanddevelopmentdepartmentwithalimitof123MBdiscspace
onecanuse.GotoOtheruserpermissionsifyouwanttogivetheuserFTPpermission.
Nowclickonsave.
ClickonWebminmodulesandthenonFileManagertoseeandconfirmthenewhomedirectory:

Noticetheuserforthefolderisnewftpuser.
Notethatit'simpossibletocreateahomeinthepublicdirectorysooutsiders(whovisityourwebsite
that'slocatedinthepublicdirectory)can'tseeyourhomedirectory.
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CreatinganewMySQLdatabase
ClickonVirtualmin>EditDatabasestoseethedatabasesonyourhosting.

Youcanmodifyanexistingdatabasewhenyouclickonthenameofthedatabase,e.g.mysite.Youthen
gettoseethedetailsofthedatabaseandthefollowingtwobuttons:

deletethisdatabase

managedatabase

WhenyouclickonManageDatabaseyoucanviewandmodifyrecordsanddata.(likephpMyAdmin)

TocreateanewdatabaseclickontheCreateanewdatabasebutton.
Youcannowenterthedesirednameofthedatabase.Ifyouplanonusingspecialcharactersyouneedto
choosethecorrectoptioninthelistCharactersetforMySQLdatabase.

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AdvancedMySQLmanagement
ViathemenuWebmin>Servers>MySQLDatabaseserver,youcan:

createanewtable

createView(viewyourtablesanddata)

executeSQLqueries

makeabackupoftheentiredatabaseorabackupofaselectionofoneormoretables

importdatafromatextfileorsomeotherdatabasestructuredfile

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Creatinganewtable
Tocreateanewtableintheselecteddatabase,clickonCreateanewtable.Enterthenameofthe
newtable,choosewhattypeandcopyfieldsfromanothertableifrequired.Nowyoucanaddthenew
fieldswhenyouclickonCreateforthenewlycreatedtable.

CreateaMySQLview
YoucancreateaMySQLview,thesearevirtualtablesthatconsistoutofothertablesaccordingto
certaincriteria.FromatechnicalpointofviewthisisdonewithaSELECTcommand.Thismeansthat
thereviewingofdatadoesnotrequireanydiskspace.
Tocreateaview,clicktheCreateviewbutton,enteraviewnameandentertheSQLselectionquery
thatseemfittoyourneeds.

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ExecutinganSQLquery/Importingtables
YoucanrunaSQLquerywhenclickingtheExecuteSQLbutton.
OryoucantypeoutaSQLquerydirectly:

OryoucanrunaSQLquerythatissituatedonyourwebhostingoronyourcomputer:

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OryoucanselectatextdatafiletoimportintotheMySQLdatabase,e.g.mysite.(Thisfilemust
containonedatabaserecordperline,withthefieldsineithertabsorcommaseparatedvalueformat):

Thisisthemostfrequentlyusedmethodofimportingdataortablesintoadatabase.The
ExecuteSQLfunctionismorepowerful.Itallowsyoutoinputamuchgreaterfilethanyou
canwithPhpMyAdminbecausethereisnolimitsettoexecutiontimeorfilesize.

Delegatingadministrativetasksofyourhosting
Youcancreateadditionaladministratorstowhomyouwouldliketodelegatetaskstowithout
compromisingyourentirewebhostingthroughapplyingaccesslimitations.
Tocreateanewadministratorforyourhostingtowhomyouwanttodelegatetasksto,gotothemenu
AdministrationOptions>ManageExtraAdminsandclickonAddanewextraadministrator.
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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.
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ThroughthemenuVirtualmin>Services>DNSDomain,youcanmanageyourDNSzone.

Youcanreviewtherecordsofazonewhenclickingonthecorrespondingrecordtype.(e.g.clickon
MailServertoreviewtheMXrecordsofyourdomain).

Toaddanewrecord,e.g.anewMXrecord,clickonMailServer,enternewdataandclickoncreate.

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ReviewyourrecordsthroughclickingAllorClickonServices=>DNSDomain=>AllRecordTypes:

ToaddanewArecord(usedtomaphostnamestoanIPaddress)youjusthavetoclickonthenameof
therecord.ModifytherecordtoyourwishesandclickonSave.

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Nowonecanreachyourwebsitewiththenewhostname:http://new_Arecord.mysite.org
AgoodexampleforanArecordcouldberouter.mysite.besoyoucanconfigureafixedIPinDNS
attachedtothehostnamerouter.
Afteryouappliedthedesiredchangestoyouzonefile(adding,deletionorediting),youhave
toreturntothemainpageofyourzonemanagement.(Returntorecordtypesorthrough
clickingthemenuVirtualmin>Services>DNSDomain)andclickontheApply
Changesbuttonsoyourmodificationscanberegisteredtoyourzonefile.

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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>
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icon,nowclickonShowDirectives(nowyouarelocatedintheperdirectoryoptionsforthe
directory/var/www/htdocs/mysite/publiconmysite.be:80).NowclickontheAllowOverride
AuthConfigLimit.

IntheOptionsfilecanoverride..sectioncheckSelectedbelow...andcheckallboxes.

ClickonSavetoandthenonApplyChange(intheupperrightcorner)toapplyallthechanges.
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TheAllowOverrideAuthConfigLimitdirectivehasnowturnedintoAllowOverrideAll.

ReadtheApachelogfilesofyourhostingandresolveproblems
Reviewingyourwebhostinglogfilesisaveryusefulsteptowardsresolvingproblemsthatcanoccur
withyoursite.Weadviseyoutoalwaysgothroughtheselogsbeforeyoucontacttheall2allsupport
service(support@all2all.net)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
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PostgreSQL,WebDAVandSVN
Thesethreeservicesareinstalledbutarenotactive.Ifyourequirethemthenpleasecontacttheall2all
supportserviceat(support@all2all.org)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:

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Subversion
Subversionisaprogramthatallowsversioncontroloffiles.Thissortofprogramhasmultiple
applications,inparticular:

keepingtrackofthehistoryofthefilesofaproject

restoringafiletoit'searlierversion

keepingtrackofchangesmadetoafile:whatchanges,bywhom,when,etc...

providingeasyaccesstofiles,locallyaswellasoverthenetwork

givingmultipleusersthepossibilitytocollaborateonafile

Subversionismeanttobeusedbydevelopersandadvancedusers.
OnceSVNismadeactiveitwillappearinanewsubmenucalledSVNRepositoriesviaVirtualmin
>Services:

Whenyouclickonitforthefirsttimeyouneedtocreateasubversionrepository.

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afterwardsyouwillbeabletoview,modifyoraddnewrepositories:

Youcanallowusersaccesstosubversionrepositoriesviathemenu:
Virtualmin>EditFTPUsers.ClickontheUsernameandthenonOtheruserpermissions,

activatetheSVNloginviaSubversionloginenabled?

configuretowhatrepositoriestheuserhasaccesstoviaAllowaccesstorepositories

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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.

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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
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URL.EveryCGIparameterisconvertedtoacommandlineparameter,withthevalueoftheparameter
appendedifgiven.Forexample,tocreateamailalias,youcouldinvoketheURL:
https://yourserver:10000/virtualserver/remote.cgi?program=create
alias&domain=foo.com&from=sales&to=joe@foo.com
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:support@all2all.org
Wetrytorespondasfastaspossible,inmostcasesinstantaneously.Thisdependsmainlyontherequest
typeandifwehavetodoresearchbeforebeingabletorespond.Theall2allcharterguaranteesprecise
responsetimes.
Pleasealwaysincludetheusername,clientname,domainnameandlastinvoicenumberforwhich
yourequestsupport.

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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

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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