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Web Hosting and Cloud Computing Control Panels
IT is very Personal.
If you're used to one CP then another could be a pa. n in the . A..s ;).
Also for your friends and co.
Tryout is much better option then ask others!
With tryout test while mail as you say is important ( USERMIN) and all mailtestest as https://www.unlocktheinbox.com/ and so on . DMARc, DKIm, SPF, DNSSEC, DANE newer ciphers , newer tls, better higher then 2048 bits so 3072 or 4096 bits encryption IPv6
Why i say that , then you could be much more future proof with you BOX, and less problems with mail not working well and spam....
Some info here to and testoptions. https://en.internet.nl/
personal opinion: dont go near vestaCP, its funny to setup, but thats is, i have used it for 2 years and for a few months back finally decided to move to virtualmin even trough virtualmin is not hassle free i wouldn't want to go back.
I have used all three. I currently run a Centos-webpanel Pro server too.
ISPConfig - very stable, however, very manual setup (frustratingly time consuming). ISPConfig is a very mature and stable control panel...but personally i just cant bring myself to like and keep using it. When something goes wrong, it requires a lot of shell access coding to sort problems out. So the gui interface is pretty limited (like Vesta)
Vestacp - did have a major issue when its repository got hacked a while back (so when everything went pear shaped, people were downloading and reinstalling a corrupted software...which was almost laughable to be honest) Vestacp is a decent control panel these days and certainly worth considering, however, its designed to be as simple as practicable. It is fully open source, but has no file manager (at least wasnt available when i checked a month or so ago).
As an addon...Centos-webpanel is a very nice looking interface, and I have been fortunate enough to have only minimal problems with my install, however, its forum is absolutely full of complaints and issues that are obviously caused by repeated inadvertant cockups by its developers. Its update process does not appear to follow a decent testing process before being released to the open market. Also, the free version is a complete waste of time. The developers recently dumped functionality that was previously available in the free version that a heap of existing users had on live production servers...the result taking a pile of websites offline. The develoeprs answer was..."read the warnings" (they do lots of stuff like this without bothering to consider the consequences to users who may also have clients). Having said that, CWP Pro is very very cheap...so best option is pro version. whilst it is rapidly improving, I would not trust CWP at this time with any mission critical website hosting.
Virtualmin is by far the most powerful of the group, however, its also extremely complicated to administer (hopefully in the future this can be addressed and fixed). I think any of those in the group below are well worth considering for a small hosting setup, however, if one was considering future business growth, efficiency, reliability, pricing, and anything but cpanel/plesk, Virtualmin is the standout in this group for sure.
My rankings for these panels would be
Virtualmin - definitely the best...even GPL version is better than any of those below. (even though Virtualmin is "TOO" complex for inexperienced&low experience webserver administrators)
ISPConfig
Vestacp
CWP
https://ajecreative.com.au
adamjedgar, Interesting write up, however ....
"even though Virtualmin is "TOO" complex for inexperienced&low experience webserver administrators" >> I'm one of these! I've been running Virtualmin for a number of years now as I host a home server for my photography web site / email etc , yes it does have a steep learning curve, but the documentation is pretty good. Over all the years I've been using GPL version I have only had to ask a couple of questions. And in fairness it's normally because of my lack of sysadmin knowledge, not Virtualmin.
I personally believe that the only thing missing from Virtualmin is the ability to manage a firewall. I use Shorewall and manage to keep things safe. I'm not saying that Virtualmin needs anything as complex as Shorewall, but something a tad simpler would be nice so it's all under one roof!
Nigel.
Nigel i use CSF firewall maybe less complex.?
GPL and doing some forum posts in return for that ( if others dislike my posts (gramar....) they can ask me to stop) .
Non critical Server / test and so on, i learn so more because of some not uptodate security things ( virtualmin / webmin) if doing test and mostly i get them fixed not within GUI.
The combination to get a box PCI complaint ( almost while with PCI you need also to do more well documentated things and so) there is lynis helpfull to.
https://linux-audit.com/lynis/ you can read some .
Homepage here https://cisofy.com/lynis/ ( NICE DUTCH GUY) the free version for small or not very critical is OK
Because of some of this https://www.virtualmin.com/node/67053 a example the reason why i posted that topic here https://www.virtualmin.com/node/66865 as you can read first reply was don't need updates , but after a while ofcourse the updates came for some...
YOU LEARN and see some less or more important points if running lynis audit system very handy software. ( also for those who forget sometimes to change / set important config....)
I'm not saying CSF firewall is the best or better, but is ok and seamly easy to handle, also i know these software for over a decade now.
For critical boxes we us DA , plesk i dislike because of bad experience with to late security update from plesk in the past where i have done this then manually and after that stucked in that part always doing manually or desintall install again , sofar i know but log time ago you can't do much in plesk manually yourself without risk breaking some gui parts .
IN Virtualmin you have to do / know more manualy because some GUI parts are outdated for more modern versions ( postfix is one example https://www.virtualmin.com/node/67332 but not the only one) i have posted her in forum about some of that parts. ( OYEA with manualy i also mean where possible / needed edit the config files within Virtualmin GUI that is a nice option)
I did mariadb 10.3.x parts manually from CLI and then better don't use after that the gui script from Virualmin , didn't try with updated script though.
Docu is to old for example the security PCI compliant parts here in Virtualmin. https://www.virtualmin.com/node/67087
So my most important TIPs are is todo yourself some test and reading because of security and some more modern settings / configs , and do get this done then your box and apps have better security.
If using / sharing virtualmin/webmin boxes with other USERS / Customers be sure you can trust them, but Jamie is on that now sofar you can read here and on GITHUB.
TIP:Also keep a eye on the github commits ! https://github.com/webmin/webmin. and https://github.com/virtualmin and here https://sourceforge.net/p/webadmin/discussion/55377/OYEAat this date of writing you have to use a LETSencrypt script yourself because outdated in Virtualmin not qworking very good and almost EOL. Lot of problems errors possible to get your LE cert. https://www.virtualmin.com/comment/818022#comment-818022Submitted by andreychek on Sat, 10/12/2019 - 00:03 Comment #7
You may want to use the workaround mentioned in Comment #1 above, that will resolve any issues relating to the ACME protocol version until we're able to modify the built-in client to use the new protocol.
in topic https://www.virtualmin.com/comment/818040#comment-818040
Just started using ISPC3 for a home personal server, very happy with it but miss some VM features. About a hundred of them.
Chaos Reigns Within, Reflect, Repent and Reboot, Order Shall Return.
Yes i agree with this. Of all the control pnels we have considered in this thread, ISPConfig has by far the most entensive docs and tutorials in howtoforge.com .if Virtualmin with all its complexity had docs like ISPConfig, i would be in paradise.
Virtualmin need to sort out thd mess of menus, its a maize to be honest, and do something about webmin/virtualmin/cloudmin/usermin/filemin...do we really need all these? With the standard Virtualmin install...Id like just a virtualmin tab. Get rid of webmin and usermin (just call usermin mail in a menu)
https://ajecreative.com.au
HA that is because ISPConfig has German ROOTS. ;)
DirectAdmin for 2 dollars etc for 10 domains, seems decent for personal stuff. Nice modern clean interface.
Chaos Reigns Within, Reflect, Repent and Reboot, Order Shall Return.
DA the 2$ option you have to know is for 1 account and forum support! ( if that is ok while more personal box then yup)
DA without fixed/static IP ( reachable from outside) is hard because license is on ip! DA is more stable / updated stuff sofar i know over more then 15 years now ,but only using Virtualmin about 2 years testing / noncritical and who knows as second option, though ISPCONFIG and some others.
CENTOSWEBPANEL i dislike because of this for me very important isue!
CentOS Web Panel (CWP) has no connection to the CentOS Project
Post by TrevorH ยป 2018/03/12 17:12:22
Due to an increasing number of questions regarding the product known as "CentOS Web Panel" (a.k.a CWP), I'd like to make it quite plain that this product has nothing whatsoever to do with the CentOS Project.
The use of the name "CentOS" in their application is not authorized by the CentOS Project.
The code they ship has never been vetted by or even read by any member of the CentOS Project.
Use of this product is entirely at your own risk and any posts regarding it on this forum will be closed. Please refer all questions about CWP to their support forums instead. We do not recommend its use.
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Looks promising to but you have to know / within your budget the prices there in near future > https://forums.apnscp.com/t/apnscp-3-1-development-thread/68/5
My router has a fixed IP gift from my isp and I have never known a dedicated server that does not have a fixed IP so for 2 dollars, seems fine for checking things out.
Shared hosting and vps a bit out of my league sorry.
Never lowered myself. :)
Chaos Reigns Within, Reflect, Repent and Reboot, Order Shall Return.
For IOT smarthome stuff, proxy to the web, and so , DA i don't think is made for, if you want such on one box. ( with a GUI part in CP)
For accesable from inside/outside webserver and such services as mail / db / web yup , form home / local please test first there are some workarround but not working always, extra care for all if needed more IP's ipv4 and ipv6 ( LE (wildcard) certs, dns ,nameserver parts!!! )