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Vultr profile image Sanskriti Harmukh
Sanskriti Harmukh for Vultr

Posted on with Aashish Chaurasiya Originally published at docs.vultr.com

Installing Webmin on Ubuntu 24.04

#linux #security #devops #sysadmin

Webmin is an open-source, web-based control panel for Linux server administration — user accounts, disk quotas, networking, packages, and more, all without touching the command line. This guide installs it on Ubuntu 24.04, secures it with a real TLS certificate, locks down the firewall, and tours the dashboard.

Prerequisites: an Ubuntu 24.04 instance, non-root sudo user, a domain A record (e.g. webmin.example.com).

Install Webmin

Not in the default repos — use the official setup script:

$ sudo curl -o setup-repos.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/webmin/webmin/master/setup-repos.sh
$ sudo bash setup-repos.sh
$ sudo apt install --install-recommends webmin -y
$ sudo systemctl status webmin
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Webmin listens on port 10000 by default.

Secure with Let's Encrypt

Webmin serves plain HTTP on 10000 out of the box — fix that first.

$ sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
$ sudo apt install certbot -y
$ sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d webmin.example.com -m webmin@example.com --agree-tos
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Merge cert + key into the format Webmin expects, and install it:

$ sudo cat /etc/letsencrypt/live/webmin.example.com/fullchain.pem /etc/letsencrypt/live/webmin.example.com/privkey.pem > webmin.pem
$ sudo mv webmin.pem /etc/webmin/
$ sudo nano /etc/webmin/miniserv.conf
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Find and replace the keyfile value:

keyfile=/etc/webmin/webmin.pem
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$ sudo systemctl restart webmin
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Lock Down the Firewall 

$ sudo ufw allow 10000
$ sudo ufw allow https
$ sudo ufw deny http
$ sudo ufw reload
$ sudo ufw status
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Denying plain HTTP after the cert is issued closes the unencrypted path — the cert renewal process doesn't need port 80 open long-term the way initial issuance does (Certbot's --standalone renewal reopens it briefly, or switch to a DNS challenge if you'd rather keep 80 closed permanently).

Access Webmin

  1. Visit https://webmin.example.com:10000, log in with your sudo user credentials.
  2. Dashboard shows CPU, memory, disk, and running processes at a glance.
  3. System → Software Package Updates — review and apply pending package updates.
  4. Tools → File Manager — browse and edit files on the server.
  5. Tools → Terminal — a full shell session in the browser.

All system users with login privileges can log in; only sudo users get administrative actions.

Next Steps

Webmin is running behind TLS with the firewall scoped to only the ports it needs. From here:

  • Explore Webmin modules for specific services you run (Apache, BIND, Postfix, etc.)
  • Set up additional restricted users for team members who only need specific modules
  • Switch Certbot to a DNS-01 challenge if you want port 80 closed permanently between renewals

For the full guide, visit the original article on Vultr Docs.

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