shared and fixed IP (SSL issue)

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#1 Sat, 02/23/2008 - 11:39
rulez22

shared and fixed IP (SSL issue)

I have server with around 20 websites and 8 static IP addresses (added as virtual addresses to one eth0). 3 of my sites require SSL certificates and they need separate IP to have SSL certificate each. Is is possible to make it work in Webmin?

Can some websites be on one shared IP and others (those with SSL certificates) have each their own dedicated IP?

Thanks if someone can answer that.

Sat, 02/23/2008 - 14:33
rulez22

Couple of more things. Maybe someone can really help.

Basically I have this configuration:
Internet->small hardware router Speedtouch 780 in bridge mode (3 ports)->3 PCs connected to it (1 server with Webmin and 2 LAN pcs)
Is it possible to have DHCP turned on on that server and have grey addresses on other two PCs so server can issue 192.168.x.x to those computers?

IMHO:
The Webmin seem to be a very interesting product but help and support is a bit different.

I am moving from PLESK 8 - it is a very good product
pluses are:
-stable
-easy to install on FreeBSD (a bit easier compare to webmin)
-never seen any bugs or break-ins, server uptime 7 months and keep going =)
minuses:
-very expensive license
-support is awful

Webmin so far pluses
-so flexible and complicated
-well documented
-many options to choose from
-takes HOURS to tune it.
minuses:
-lack of support (must be GPL thing)
-some little bits that you have to install yourself (like Sentries, etc.)
-when migrate from PLESK - webpages, websites aliases (havents checked email aliases yet) and mysql databases don't migrate for some reason (must be bug). Also doesnt support restore of COMPLETE plesk backup - the one that done through console (all sites, databases, etc.)
More will follow when I will find some screw ups =)

Sat, 02/23/2008 - 15:59 (Reply to #2)
Joe
Joe's picture

<div class='quote'>Is it possible to have DHCP turned on on that server and have grey addresses on other two PCs so server can issue 192.168.x.x to those computers?</div>

Of course. I run DHCP on my home machine, but I can't possible tell you how to configure it, as all home networking devices are different, and I don't know anything about NAT on FreeBSD (I presume you need NAT?). Webmin's DHCP module should make things a little easier to manage on that end, however...assuming it's a DHCP server that Webmin supports.

<div class='quote'>I am moving from PLESK 8 - it is a very good product
...
minuses</div>

Well, we don't really claim to be cheaper than Plesk, just better. But, Virtualmin GPL is obviously a lot cheaper--can't get cheaper than free. So, if price is a primary concern Virtualmin GPL can't be beat. ;-)

<div class='quote'>Webmin so far pluses

-takes HOURS to tune it.</div>

I suspect this wasn't intended as a plus?

But, it shouldn't take any time at all on platforms supported by our installer (FreeBSD is not yet among them, as it is so different from the Linux platforms we support). The install script does everything you need to install Virtualmin, Webmin and Usermin, and configure them with reasonable defaults for web hosting. You, of course, may have a few preferences you'd like to change, but if it's taking hours, we've done something horribly wrong somewhere. I'd love to hear what you're changing from the defaults, and why, and what we can do to make it quicker.

<div class='quote'>minuses:
-lack of support (must be GPL thing)</div>

Professional users do get priority in our support queue, and we are, frankly, overwhelmed at the moment--we've reached the point where we have too many customers and GPL users to handle them all personally, but we don't have enough paying users to hire additional support. We're trying to enable user-to-user support as much as possible (new doc wiki for both Webmin and Virtualmin, these forums, and I'm migrating the FAQ into the wiki as we speak), but it's a long process.

<div class='quote'>-some little bits that you have to install yourself (like Sentries, etc.)</div>

Huh? The Sentries have been abandoned by Psionic years ago when the company was acquired by Cisco (I even worked for a couple of years with one of the developers in Austin when he'd moved on to other things--no one had touched the code in well over a year when it was officially abandoned). We don't really think they are very useful in a modern system. And, of course, much of the functionality that we do think is useful is already available in the Webmin System and Server Status module in a form that's generally easier to use.

<div class='quote'>-when migrate from PLESK - webpages, websites aliases (havents checked email aliases yet) and mysql databases don't migrate for some reason (must be bug). Also doesnt support restore of COMPLETE plesk backup - the one that done through console (all sites, databases, etc.)</div>

That's a bug. File it, provide an example backup file that exhibits this problem, and we'll fix it. Complaining about it in the forums just &quot;wastes your time and annoys the pig&quot;. ;-)

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Sat, 02/23/2008 - 16:24 (Reply to #3)
rulez22

Thanks for a quick repsonse.
I had no intention to complain, just explaining the things I see.
And gladly I will help out with reporting any bugs as I go along with using this product.

<div class='quote'>Huh? The Sentries have been abandoned by Psionic years ago when the company was acquired by Cisco (I even worked for a couple of years with one of the developers in Austin when he'd moved on to other things--no one had touched the code in well over a year when it was officially abandoned). We don't really think they are very useful in a modern system. And, of course, much of the functionality that we do think is useful is already available in the Webmin System and Server Status module in a form that's generally easier to use.
</div>
If there is no need for that why is it still on Webmin? I think it is a good antihacking tool which can prevent an attack, I had a working experience with SNORT which is awful and pretty much useless tool (at least on FreeBSD), the thing is - there is no alternative out there. Sentries is something that can give you an alert.
Talking of &quot;little bits and pieces&quot; what about MON?

Sat, 02/23/2008 - 16:28 (Reply to #4)
rulez22

where can i upload/share plesk backups?

Sun, 06/07/2009 - 07:19 (Reply to #5)
dcaravana

Regarding the migration from Plesk, I confirm that it's a bug of Virtualmin; I spent many hours searching for it (so please send me a free VM Pro license ;-) ) and, more precisely, the bug lies in the sub extract_plesk_dir of migration-plesk.pl file which reads the Plesk backup file and extracts the files contained corrupting them (e.g. web pages are not imported because they are contained in a tar file that gets corrupted); since a Plesk backup is a MIME encoded file, I suspect that the problem is the use of the mail MIME function from the Read User Mail module, which I think were not written to deal with files containing binary streams.

I'm not a perl developer so I cannot easily find a solution (AND your MIME decoder code is not easy anyway), but I found a patch with the help of an external command (described <a href='http://kb.swsoft.com/en/1757' target='_blank'>here</a>); if you want to patch your VM, you have to install mpack and add the following sub to the file (renaming the existing one):

[code:1]
#--DC
sub extract_plesk_dir
{
local ($file) = @_;
if ($main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file} &amp;&amp; -d $main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file}) {
# Use cached extract from this session
return (1, $main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file});
}
local $dir = &amp;transname();
&amp;make_dir($dir, 0700);

# Is this compressed?
local $cf = &amp;compression_format($file);
if ($cf != 0 &amp;&amp; $cf != 1) {
return (0, &quot;Unknown compression format&quot;&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;);
}

local $cmd = &quot;&quot;;
if ($cf == 0) {
$cmd=&quot;cat $file | munpack -q -C $dir&quot;;
}
else {
$cmd=&quot;zcat $file | munpack -q -C $dir&quot;;
}

local $res = system $cmd;

#system &quot;rm -rf /tmp/20p&quot;;
#system &quot;mv $dir /tmp/20p&quot;;
#die &quot;$res: $dir&quot;;

return (0, &quot;No attachments found in MIME data&quot;&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;) if ($res);

$main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file} = $dir;
return (1, $dir);
}
#--DC
[/code:1]

I filed bug [url=http://www.virtualmin.com/index.php?option=com_flyspray&amp;Itemid=82&am....

Sun, 06/07/2009 - 07:19 (Reply to #6)
dcaravana

Regarding the migration from Plesk, I confirm that it's a bug of Virtualmin; I spent many hours searching for it (so please send me a free VM Pro license ;-) ) and, more precisely, the bug lies in the sub extract_plesk_dir of migration-plesk.pl file which reads the Plesk backup file and extracts the files contained corrupting them (e.g. web pages are not imported because they are contained in a tar file that gets corrupted); since a Plesk backup is a MIME encoded file, I suspect that the problem is the use of the mail MIME function from the Read User Mail module, which I think were not written to deal with files containing binary streams.

I'm not a perl developer so I cannot easily find a solution (AND your MIME decoder code is not easy anyway), but I found a patch with the help of an external command (described <a href='http://kb.swsoft.com/en/1757' target='_blank'>here</a>); if you want to patch your VM, you have to install mpack and add the following sub to the file (renaming the existing one):

[code:1]
#--DC
sub extract_plesk_dir
{
local ($file) = @_;
if ($main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file} &amp;&amp; -d $main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file}) {
# Use cached extract from this session
return (1, $main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file});
}
local $dir = &amp;transname();
&amp;make_dir($dir, 0700);

# Is this compressed?
local $cf = &amp;compression_format($file);
if ($cf != 0 &amp;&amp; $cf != 1) {
return (0, &quot;Unknown compression format&quot;&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;);
}

local $cmd = &quot;&quot;;
if ($cf == 0) {
$cmd=&quot;cat $file | munpack -q -C $dir&quot;;
}
else {
$cmd=&quot;zcat $file | munpack -q -C $dir&quot;;
}

local $res = system $cmd;

#system &quot;rm -rf /tmp/20p&quot;;
#system &quot;mv $dir /tmp/20p&quot;;
#die &quot;$res: $dir&quot;;

return (0, &quot;No attachments found in MIME data&quot;&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;) if ($res);

$main::&Acirc;&laquo;&Acirc;&raquo;plesk_dir_cache{$file} = $dir;
return (1, $dir);
}
#--DC
[/code:1]

I filed bug [url=http://www.virtualmin.com/index.php?option=com_flyspray&amp;Itemid=82&am....

Sat, 02/23/2008 - 15:42
Joe
Joe's picture

<div class='quote'>Can some websites be on one shared IP and others (those with SSL certificates) have each their own dedicated IP?</div>

Of course. I'm not sure how else Virtualmin would possibly be useful for SSL sites. See this FAQ for more about how to setup an SSL site:

http://www.virtualmin.com/documentation/id,frequently_asked_questions/#c...

Non-SSL sites can be created with nothing but default options (and you just have to change two fields for SSL sites--one to say you want SSL and another to tell it what IP to use for it).

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Tue, 03/04/2008 - 00:29
Joe
Joe's picture

Actually, the MIME decoder should handle binary streams...it's used for attachments in the Read Mail module, which do work. Maybe the Plesk people are creating broken MIME streams, did you ever think of that? (I'm joking, of course...we're probably just as likely to have a bug in our MIME decoder as they are to have a bug in their MIME encoder.)

Anyway, I suspect Jamie will get it sorted out soon, now that a bug has been filed (he may want to see one of those backups, though).

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Tue, 03/04/2008 - 01:23
dcaravana

Jamie has already fixed the bug (which was in the mailbox MIME code), and I verified it. Now he's working on the other Plesk migration bugs, and I'm helping him to test the fixes.

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