You can manage multiple servers from a single browser window by either allowing Webmin to broadcast its presence and listen for replies from other installations or by registering additional servers manually. I chose the latter and, moments later, was managing the second server from the original Webmin installation. This is a breeze if your authentication is synchronized and a checkbox permits Webmin to propagate credentials when accessing alternate servers.
A Java applet provides telnet access to the currently managed machine via the browser as well as via SSH v2. Forgot to start the SSH daemon? No problem. You can configure services, including those managed from xinetd, and then restart the daemon to provide access.
Complete process and file management is available via Webmin. See a process running that shouldn't be? You can kill it with the click of a button. Need to peek at a file on the server? The Java-applet-based FileManager not only lets you read the file, but also provides comprehensive file-system management. The applets performed as expected from both Internet Explorer 6 on Windows 2000 and Galeon on Red Hat 9. The UI appeared identical regardless of the platform and browser combination--a pleasant surprise in these days of "thin but restricted" computing. The documentation is extensive, although it consists mainly of HTML-ized man pages and there is no validation performed on configuration changes. If you mess it up, you mess it up, just like you would on the command line.
While there are some aspects of the product that definitely could be improved, especially the editing of configuration files, Webmin overall is a comprehensive management system for your Linux, Unix and OS/X systems. With a price tag of free--as in beer--it's definitely worth a test drive.
Lori MacVittie is a technology editor working out of our Green Bay, Wis., labs. Write to her at [email protected].
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