Virtualmin on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

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#1 Tue, 03/16/2010 - 14:06
Joncas

Virtualmin on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Hello Joe,

I wanted to enquire what the approximate time schedule would be for the availability of an install script for VIrtualmin GPL on the upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 LTS? Does it involve a lot of work on your part to adapt the Ubuntu 8 script to a new Ubuntu release?

I was trying to pick a Linux distro that would have a maximum time ahead without requiring a major update, so the 5 years of the Ubuntu LTS server edition seems attractive!

Many thanks for the great work on Virtualmin!

Tue, 03/16/2010 - 18:07
andreychek

Well, no one here likes to make any time guarantees... something always comes up, and then someone is always disappointed :-)

However, Ubuntu 10.04 would be supported, and I'd look for it "a few weeks" after the Ubuntu release. If Ubuntu's release is on schedule, with any luck, Virtualmin support will be available sometime in May. Or at least, sometime "near" May :-)

I'll talk to Joe to make sure there aren't any gotchas involved in this case, but the above is the typical process and timeframe for new distro releases.

A few things need to happen to get Virtualmin support on a new distro:

  • The install script would need to be modified to handle any Ubuntu changes

  • All the Ubuntu software provided by Virtualmin needs to be repackaged for the new version

  • A lot of testing needs to be done to ensure things work as expected :-)

Thanks for your interest, and I'll talk to Joe about all that.

Have a good one,

-Eric

Wed, 03/17/2010 - 13:11 (Reply to #2)
Joncas

Hello Eric,

many thanks for the prompt response!

When the time comes, I'll gladly volunteer as a beta-tester, if that's of any use.

Best regards, Robert

Wed, 03/17/2010 - 13:18
andreychek

Thanks for your offer.

I spoke with Joe, and we aren't aware of any unusual gotchas.

In fact, the new Ubuntu will make some things simpler through it's use of the apache-suexec-custom package, which prevents Virtualmin from having to provide a custom version of Apache, since that package allows run-time configuration of suexec's path (it's normally a compile-time thing).

-Eric

Fri, 04/23/2010 - 11:32
rpg

Any status on the install for 10.04 LTS?

Please consider the virtual ssl option (via TLS/SNI) available on Ubuntu server.

Apache virtual host directives can now be of the form:

VirtualHost *:443

For examples browse to:

https://blue.virtual-ssl.com

https://green.virtual-ssl.com

Both resolve to the same IP. But you'll see that the certs are different when you inspect them. This will work in anything recent except IE/Safari/Chrome on XP. Browsers on OS X, Windows Vista & 7, and Netscape since version 2.0 on any OS will work. Browsing to above w/ IE on XP gets a default cert (in this case tls-no-server-name-indication.virtual-ssl.com).

TLS/SNI support has been enabled by default since Ubuntu Server 9.04.

Thanks

Mon, 04/26/2010 - 16:37
WolverineFan

I'd like to see this happen sooner than later. I have the install.sh script and os_list.txt file patched for lucid (10.04) already (not that that's particularly difficult work) and I get as far in the install as trying to get the virtualmin-lucid packages (which obviously don't exist yet).

I've got some experience maintaining Ubuntu packages, so I'd be happy to help get this rolling if there's anything I can do to contribute. I'm anxious because I have a client who wants to upgrade to 10.04 within a week of release. Even if it's a beta/development release initially I'll be happy.

EDIT: By pointing at the hardy repository I got a step further. The webmin/usermin packages are both depending on the "libmd5-perl" package, which is no longer in the repository. It's been replaced by "libdigest-md5-file-perl". This is probably going to require a few changes to some Perl scripts, but I've done this before and it's not hard. MD5 was deprecated years ago anyway, so updating to Digest::MD5 would be good.

Thanks!

Wed, 04/28/2010 - 08:42 (Reply to #6)
andreychek

Hi WolverineFan,

Thanks for your efforts! What I'd love to do, to give Joe a hand (Joe's working on the Ubuntu support), is to send him the following:

  1. A patch against the install.sh and os_list.txt files

  2. Bullet points of anything else you're seeing that you feel needs updated, changed, or fixed

That'll all help get things rolling... if you can, send that to me using eric@virtualmin.com, I'll see to it that he gets that (and that he knows it's from you... don't worry, I don't intend on taking credit ;-)

Thanks,

-Eric

Wed, 04/28/2010 - 00:41
markedwards

Just want to add my voice to this thread. I have an 8.04 LTS box that I will be upgrading to 10.04 LTS, and I intend to install Virtualmin on it.

Thanks!

Wed, 05/05/2010 - 06:41
JoeEarl10

I am also using 8.04 LTS and am also wanting to upgrade to 10.04 LTS.

Thank you for all your work.

Wed, 05/05/2010 - 12:43
freebrew

Can you guys give us a date for when 10.04 LTS support will be available??

Wed, 05/05/2010 - 12:52
andreychek

No, we don't have a date :-)

The most we're offering is what I mentioned above:

Well, no one here likes to make any time guarantees... something always comes up, and then someone is always disappointed :-)

However, Ubuntu 10.04 would be supported, and I'd look for it "a few weeks" after the Ubuntu release. If Ubuntu's release is on schedule, with any luck, Virtualmin support will be available sometime in May. Or at least, sometime "near" May :-)

Keep an eye out in the News forum, you'll see an update there when it's available :-)

-Eric

Thu, 05/06/2010 - 04:53
merlin4x

I am new to this, so can someone answer few questions please.

I have just built a server with the HostVirtual based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS so my question is will the install script for VIrtualmin GPL work via the SSH root?

Is there Ubuntu 10.04 LTS install script available for the Webmin?..... should I look for it?

Thanks

Thu, 05/06/2010 - 09:12
andreychek

I have just built a server with the HostVirtual based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS so my question is will the install script for VIrtualmin GPL work via the SSH root?

I'm not entirely certain what you're asking, but if you can log into your server via SSH, and run commands with root privileges, then the install script will work great (once it's available).

Is there Ubuntu 10.04 LTS install script available for the Webmin?..... should I look for it?

Webmin doesn't have an install script of it's own, though many distros provide packages for it. The Virtualmin install script does, however, install Webmin as part of the installation.

If you hang on for a few weeks, there will be a shiny new install script that'll install all of that for you. Keep an eye out in the News forum for Ubuntu 10.04 support.

-Eric

Thu, 05/06/2010 - 11:49 (Reply to #13)
merlin4x

Thanks Eric, you have answered my questions.

Mon, 05/10/2010 - 22:47 (Reply to #14)
merlin4x

Hi Eric,

Please let us know when you will have any testable beta and post it here in addition to the Ubuntu news.... Cant wait.

-Good luck

Fri, 05/07/2010 - 12:22
ravegearnet

I'm looking forward to the compatibility on the install.sh with Ubuntu 10.04. I'll be moving from Debian to a Ubuntu 10.04 based server soon and would love to have the ease of the Virtualmin install everything.

If there is any need for alpha testers I would be happy to give a bit of my time :)

Mon, 05/17/2010 - 19:44
JoeEarl10

I also will be willing to give my time to test if needed :-)

Tue, 05/11/2010 - 02:05
creatorbri

Just hoping you could give us an update on where things stand with this, I just created a new Ubuntu 10.04 server at Rackspace not realizing that the Virtualmin installer was not yet available for the latest LTS release.

I know you can't give us a specific timeframe and I can totally appreciate that; but it'd be really nice to know if we're looking at "sooner" or "later" -- or in other words, if things are "progressing smoothly" or "encountering unforeseen difficulties" -- something like that. :)

Thanks!

Tue, 05/11/2010 - 07:49 (Reply to #18)
andreychek

I'm unfortunately not in the loop with all the details, all I know is that Joe is working on it :-)

If I hear anything useful or interesting, I'll be sure to let you all know!

-Eric

Fri, 05/14/2010 - 14:25 (Reply to #19)
foo

Please do let us know. I have a client who's waiting on lucid support to purchase their licenses.

Thu, 05/20/2010 - 07:55
julien04

Any news about 10.04 support ?

Thx

Thu, 05/20/2010 - 14:25
greentrees

I'd be happy to test any beta's. Ubuntu 10.04 is now essential for me.

Wed, 05/26/2010 - 00:41
rpg

Any status on 10.04?

Wed, 05/26/2010 - 14:24
lvsys

Same here, any news?

Thu, 05/27/2010 - 14:02
mitridat

Awaiting for the update as well.

Mon, 05/31/2010 - 21:10
JoeEarl10

Any update at all?

Mon, 05/31/2010 - 23:46
arussell

I'm also eagerly awaiting this. Any chance someone could throw us a bone of information? Even just some progress info?

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 03:05
theashman

I'm sorry to add to this thread, as i'm sure your working on it, but I'm getting to the point where this is becoming an issue for me.

All I ask for is just a quick update, let us know how far off this support is. Thanks Ash

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 09:30 (Reply to #28)
ravegearnet

If its getting to the point where it is an issue for you why don't you simply install everything manually? No need to get upset about it, only takes a short amount of time.

Ubuntu is one of the most popular server OS distributions, so you can be sure the Virtualmin team are working on it.

Personally I've decided to stick to Debian as I found there to be some stability problems with Ubuntu.

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 00:29
rpg

Well, I tried to install everything manually in 9.04 and got a partially working config. Arguably better than nothing at all, but certainly not everything that virtualmin is. I've also got a cloudmin license that unsuccessfully tries to install virtualmin on ubuntu, and fails.

So if you have a procedure for installing virtualmin manually, that works, I'd be happy to learn of it.

But you can agree that the suggestion of retreat is unexciting. You retreated to debian. I may retreat to centos. My problem is that to retreat to centos means that I have to change my hardware platform as centos has issues that ubuntu solves on my hardware. And we're giving up native support for apache TLS SNI support for SSL certificate overloading that is not native in the other OS's. Not that it can't be done, just that it is more work. Or worse, a TLS SNI patched apache gets wiped out from an update at some point in the future.

The absolute lack of status likely indicates that there is to be no update any time soon. Very discouraging.

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 02:24
freebrew

I'm sure most of us on this threat have been using Virtualmin and f'in around always trying to make every feature work why it does NOT.

This threat has been going for a while and not one single reply from the great ones, and this kinda ticks me off.

Then people come on here and rant that they think they know better and suggest things like do it yourself.

Nice.

Look at the support list for this package and you see that there has not been a decent update in sometime. Yah sure some things here and there and updated install scripts...ticks my ass.

I submit support ticket and get told to run without feature.

I search in these forums for similar problems and nobody replies to these...blanks

And then dumb asses come on and think they got an answer for everything when they are not qualified.

So what is going on with this project anyways.

I would think by now that there would be more momentum, and if there is not, start outsourcing for some more dam features....like billing and keeping up with LTS.

And stupid things like redirecting me to SSL after install instead of non-ssl after install script, or even making anything non-php actually work!!

So...is someone going to step up and take us seriously, like serious.

I just renewed my Lic, and hoping that this 'Package' actually start putting out.

How about getting some answers.

Anyone??

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:50 (Reply to #31)
ronald
ronald's picture

Anyone??
Ah that would include me too, a customer as well.

In favor of the webmin team I'd say a few things:
Updating the install.sh isn't going to cut it without the proper repository. Making such repo is not done overnight and needs to be done properly. This is very time consuming.
The webmin company consists of only 3 people.
Joe is on the road for a year and hasn't always a good connection to work decently (amongst other issues he encounters on the road) and happens to be the one working on the repos.
The focus is aimed at customers based most popular OS (which is CentOS)
The install.sh works fine on Ubuntu 8.04 tls, one could upgrade the OS later when Virtualmin has the repo in place.
Creating a support ticket usually works better if wanting to talk to the developers opposed to this user-based forum where you mostly deal with other virtualmin users and customers like myself.

Personally I think your post reads more like trolling than as a valued entry to the issue at hand, but that could just be me.

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 11:23
ravegearnet

Sorry rpg, if I came across like I was having a dig at anyone, that wasn't my intention and didn't mean any disrespect.

I do agree with you that manual install can be a pain. I had issues with apache myself and preferred how things worked in debian. Guess I should think twice before 'opening my mouth' on a forum full of experienced system admins :P

freebrew, although a very 'strong' response, I must agree with you. The Virtualmin project has been less then fun when it comes to public relations. Would be nice to see a (even very rough) roadmap or just simply hear from the developers. Other then the minor updates every now and then that pop up, it seams there is no other contact from any of the virtualmin team.

The 2 things I've always thought the project lacked was a clear scene of direction through public communication and good user experience/user interface. I think it would make great business scence to really give virtualmin a rehaul, it's still got great potential to take market share from the other big players namely cpanel, plesk.

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 17:22
creatorbri

Really need an update on this, folks.

I'm maintaining a live & active server running Ubuntu 10.04, and doing absolutely nothing useful except slowly siphoning away funds from my budget. I also can't afford to take the time to manually install everything from scratch only to have it ultimately not work just right.

We had to install 10.04 because we need to be able to rely on long-term support availability; but If I'd had any inclination it would have taken this long to get an Install script updated for 10.04, I probably would have gone ahead with a different product (which I may do anyway at this point). Can we please get a GENUINE update as to how far away we are on this? If you tell me it's a month, I'll plan for that; but if you can't give me a timeframe, then I'll just have to spend my money elsewhere.

Thanks.

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 10:39
foo

I'm in the same boat as creatorbri; can you give us an estimated timeline for official installer support for 10.04? I need to plan accordingly, as the clients are getting restless. Thanks!

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 11:33
CaptainR

I also really need a timeline on this. I'm more than a bit concerned over the lack of feedback on this thread from the folks at Virtualmin. Why no response at all?

So the question I have is about doing the install manually, as someone mentioned above. I'm certainly no stranger to installing packages in Linux. So assuming one can install and configure the modules necessary for Virtualmin (apache, mysql, etc. etc.), will Virtualmin work? Completely, or partially? Has anyone tried this?

Of particular importance to me is adding/editing email users, managing domain and user quotas, adding/editing new virtual domains.

Chris

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 11:35
lvsys

This should be upgraded to an issue because no one on the virtualmin team is really reading this

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:56 (Reply to #37)
ronald
ronald's picture

I count 6 responses from a virtualmin team member. There is no time line.
Also there are multiple threads about 10.04 LTS.. just saying..

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 14:00
andreychek

And I apologize, but I just haven't heard any details as to the progression of things. If you're a customer and you really want to get a feel for how things are progressing, the best I can offer are to do what Ronald mentioned -- to file a support request using the Support link above.

One thing to watch out for with Ubuntu 10.04 is that an awful lot of PHP apps don't work correctly with PHP 5.3.x. I've seen significant issues with simply using PHP 5.2.10+, even with the cgi.fix_pathfinfo set to 0.

So that may play a part in all this, I'm not entirely certain how that'll be handled :-)

-Eric

Mon, 06/07/2010 - 14:03 (Reply to #39)
lvsys

Yes, and those can chose to remain on ubuntu 8.04. PHP 5.3 is precisely what makes ubuntu 10.04 attractive: modern software. We've had to re-adapt our PHP application for 5.3 and all changes were very minor.

MD

Sun, 06/13/2010 - 05:29 (Reply to #40)
theashman

I agree with Ivsys,

The most attractive feature of Ubuntu 10.04 is the ability to run PHP 5.3.x nativley.
For those who do not need this then they can use a previous version on the OS.

I think you should only support the software thats available in the Ubuntu Repos. For Lucid, this is PHP 5.3.x and greater.

And for apps not working with PHP5.3 - this is going to be the standard and for the moment, most things in 5.3 only throw warnings at you. And this is now the standard which will only change in the future. 5.3 is a warmup for 6.

And for those that are customers. If this effects you - file support tickets, it's the only way they will know how badly this is affecting their client base.

Sun, 06/13/2010 - 08:48 (Reply to #41)
lvsys

Totally agree. Moving to 5.3 has also highlighted problems in our code. It's been a great thing to do. We have a much cleaner code base now. But we don't need any of the extra scripts that can be installed by VirtualMin. So if you depend on those, I can see the migration annoying.

I filed a ticket with support last week, and apparently the ticket's been assigned to Joe, but I haven't heard anything since. The lack of status is worrying me though, because a month or so ago they were telling me it would be just a matter of weeks to get VirtualMin on ubuntu 10.

MD

Mon, 06/14/2010 - 18:46 (Reply to #42)
Joe
Joe's picture

I filed a ticket with support last week, and apparently the ticket's been assigned to Joe, but I haven't heard anything since.

So, here's the thing...if I don't have a release for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, and I don't know exactly when I will have a release for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, I'm not entirely sure what I would tell you.

New OS releases take a significant amount of testing, and those tests are extremely time-consuming (20-30 minutes for each fresh install). And, I can't know how many of those test/fix cycles I'll need to go through for a new release. The more changes there have been since the last version, the longer it takes.

The lack of status is worrying me though, because a month or so ago they were telling me it would be just a matter of weeks to get VirtualMin on ubuntu 10.

The lack of status is merely a reflection of there being no interesting news. I'm still building/testing/fixing. When a test install runs to completion and at the end of it we have a functional Virtualmin system where most everything works, I'll post a news item about it. Right now, the test install does not run to completion, and the resulting Virtualmin system is not mostly functional. So, there's nothing to release or talk about.

--

Check out the forum guidelines!

Mon, 06/14/2010 - 19:35 (Reply to #43)
lvsys

Oh, that's too funny. I just replied to you on the other issue I filed last week.

So, here's the thing...if I don't have a release for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, and I don't know exactly when I will have a release for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, I'm not entirely sure what I would tell you.

Well, Joe, you would tell us what we all tell our customers. "Hang on, we're almost there. Features X, Y and Z are working but A,B and C aren't, and we expect full resolution within X amount of time, although the schedule can change, etc.", instead of a dead radio silence for almost 6 weeks. We love your work, we love virtualmin. And yes, we're super impatient. That's the definition of a customer.

The lack of status is merely a reflection of there being no interesting news......So, there's nothing to release or talk about.

And I would disagree with you. If you are hitting bumps, then letting us know is better than keeping us in the dark for so long. Being in the dark means "are we days away from it, or are we months away from it".... As I said in the other issue, I have several servers pending setup. So if you were telling me you would be ready more so in september than in july, then I would change my plans considerably. Since you aren't, then my plans are staying put.

So this is great, thank you Joe for posting a status, and keep up the great work. This is still the best admin panel around. We're just impatient because this is a great product

MD

Mon, 06/14/2010 - 20:52 (Reply to #44)
creatorbri

I couldn't agree more with Ivsys if I'd posted his latest comment myself. This is exactly what we've been looking for from the development team (or Joe, as the case may be) -- some sort of actual status update.

Just saying "I'm still working on getting it to install properly, still testing/fixing and testing some more, there's no ETA but I haven't given up" is tremendously satisfying to hear, versus "dead radio silence" as Ivsys said. Tells me you're still working on it, you haven't given up on it or forgotten about us or anything.

Those may or may not be rational fears, but I for one have no prior experience with the Virtualmin dev group, and when I hear "It should be ready sometime in May, probably" and then nothing more by mid-June, I start to get concerned.

Just knowing its still underway is a huge load off my mind. Frankly, I would really appreciate a similar update AT LEAST once every two weeks or so, that we know what it is we're even waiting for. :)

In the meantime, thank you, Joe, for this latest update and I'm so relieved to hear this hasn't fallen by the wayside.

Wed, 06/23/2010 - 18:22 (Reply to #45)
Joe
Joe's picture

Those may or may not be rational fears, but I for one have no prior experience with the Virtualmin dev group, and when I hear "It should be ready sometime in May, probably" and then nothing more by mid-June, I start to get concerned.

Allow me to ease your mind in this regard: We've been working on this pile of code (in the form of Webmin) for nearly 13 years. We're not going anywhere. This is what we do. ;-)

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Fri, 07/23/2010 - 11:39
arussell

How's the progress on this going now we're at the end of July?

Fri, 07/23/2010 - 11:40 (Reply to #47)
lvsys

Ubuntu 10 is supported --- did you check the announcements?

Fri, 07/23/2010 - 11:42 (Reply to #48)
arussell

I didn't, that'll teach me to post before reading... :P Thanks!

Fri, 08/06/2010 - 09:17
gos

Do you know when an install script for VIrtualmin GPL on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS will be available. I'm not in a situation to be able to buy the PRO version right now.

best regards, Gos

Fri, 08/06/2010 - 10:10 (Reply to #50)
andreychek

The install script for Ubuntu 10.04 should for both the Pro and GPL versions.

I just verified that in the install.sh itself, the GPL version should install just fine on 10.04. If you find that not to be the case, let me know and I'll look into that :-)

-Eric

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