Usually, getting started with Virtualmin can be done with a few simple steps, using our automated install script. The install script will setup your package manager, usually apt-get or yum, and then download our packages as well as all of the necessary dependencies for running Virtualmin.
Install your Operating System
Start with a freshly installed, Grade A supported Operating System on your server or VPS. CentOS and Ubuntu LTS are very popular options for hosting, and are a safe choice, but any Grade A supported system should work fine. Be sure to configure your system with a fully qualified domain name, as it will save you a lot of time and documentation spelunking later.
Do not pre-install or pre-configure any additional packages on your OS. The installer expects a freshly installed, supported, OS, and anything you do differently may cause conflicts or configuration errors. If you will be enabling third-party package repositories, do so after installation of Virtualmin, and only with extreme caution.
Download the Virtualmin Install Script
If you have already purchased a Virtualmin Professional license, you can find it on your Software Licenses tab under Account. If not, you can purchase a license or download Virtualmin GPL.
Virtualmin Professional (Temporarily Unavailable) or Download Virtualmin GPL
The easiest way to get the install script onto your server, is to login to your server and use wget or curl. For example:
# wget http://software.virtualmin.com/gpl/scripts/install.sh
For Virtualmin Professional, use the command suggested on your Software Licenses page.
Run the Install Script and Configure Virtualmin
Execute the downloaded install script using a command like the following:
sudo /bin/sh install.sh
There are some available options to install different configurations (including installing nginx instead of Apache, and leaving out some of the mail processing stack for small memory systems). Run the install script with the --help flag for a list of available options, and consult the documentation, especially about the available installation bundles and the minimal installation mode, if choosing a non-default installation type.
The install script may ask you some questions. If your system does not have a fully qualified hostname, the script will ask you to provide one. Or, if your system doesn't have enough memory for the installation type you've chosen, it'll offer to create a swap file.
After a few minutes, your system should have everything it needs to provide a full-featured virtual web hosting environment! Now login to Virtualmin by browsing to port 10000 on the address of your server using the HTTPS protocol. Ignore the SSL certificate validation error (the SSL certificate is a self-signed one after initial installation, but can be replaced with a valid certificate after initial configuration is complete).
Follow the steps in the post-install wizard to setup Virtualmin to suit your environment and needs. Virtualmin will check the configuration of the system and validate some server settings to insure your system is ready for service.
Click Create Virtual Server to start making your first website in Virtualmin!
Check the Docs
If your particular deployment doesn't fit these simple steps, either because you cannot freshly install your OS, or you cannot use a Grade A supported OS, Virtualmin can probably still work for you. Check out the installation documentation, which covers a lot more detail about how a Virtualmin system is installed, and other ways to install it.
Sign Up For Announcements
If you want to stay on top of Virtualmin updates, you can sign up for our announcement Google Group mailing list or you can subscribe to notifications to the News forum here at Virtualmin.com. Both are low traffic. The Google Group can only be posted to by Virtualmin staff, so it will only send email when there is an update or security announcement for Virtualmin. The forum allows discussion, and so will be somewhat higher traffic.