Introduction
Webmin is a web-based administration tool. It is typically used on Linux and Unix machines. At the end of highschool, I have developed a number of extension modules (they were, in fact, the first add-on modules which were not included in Webmin itself). The development of some of these modules has been sponsored by companies. However, the modules have not been developed and maintained for ten years or more. Threfore, they will most likely no longer work.
Please note, that these modules are no longer developed or maintained. They are available only for reference. For some, the source code is available on Github.
Modules
IPchains Configuration
This module supports generating a script to create a number of ipchains firewall rules. The module can import the current system settings. The module supported configuration either by selecting one out of five pre-defined security levels, or by selecting a number of protocol templates to permit, or through an expert mode giving freedom over all aspects of the rules.
Source
IPtables Configuration
This module supports generating a script to create a number of iptables firewall rules. The module can import the current system settings. The module supported configuration either by selecting one out of five pre-defined security levels, or by selecting a number of protocol templates to permit, or through an expert mode giving freedom over all aspects of the rules.
I had particular fun with this module. When visiting CeBIT in 2001, we stopped by the Caldera booth. Webmin was sponsored by Caldera at the time. I got to see the sales pitch at the booth and got a detailed tour through my very own module which they were selling as part of their product. I don’t think the sales guy believed me when I said, that I was the author of that module. It was quite amusing though.
Source
Network Utilities
This module utilizes the standard networking tools (ping, traceroute, nslookup, nmap, whois and dig) with most options and makes them available with the Webmin Look & Feel. it also gives an Interface to Whois and it features an IPv4 Subnet Calculator. It calculates netmasks and gives you the smallest available netmask for a given number of hosts.
Source
FreeS/WAN Configuration
This module configures a VPN gateway based on FreeS/WAN easily through a webinterface. It was originally developed together with Stephen Nodvin for the RockSolidBox, a small Linux box that would serve as versatile network boxes for a global voice over IP network (back in 2000). It was built based on a 30 MB flash memory including a stripped down version of Perl (I have even stripped the Perl interpreter itself for unnecessary features to save space), Webmin, and a graphical interface. It was based on a thin client box by Neoware. Through the integration of different expansion cards it could serve T1, ISDN, or dual Ethernet lines. It foreshadowed boxes similar to small home routers today. We even made a road trip to Atlanta, GA and New York, NY, but could not acquire funding.
Creating a VPN was important to secure management connections, this module was meant to enable this. Since it had been developed in part with connections to the USA, it could not be linked on their website due to John Gilmore’s policy. FreeS/WAN has since been discontinued and has been replaced a several other successors.
Source
NetSaint Configuration
Module to configure NetSaint, a predecessor of Nagios. NetSaint was used as the basis for the anticipated global monitoring network based on the aforementioned RockSolidBox.
Source
SquidGuard Configuration
SquidGuard is a filtering component for the Squid proxy (it seems to be unmaintained by now). It allowed to define network filters, e.g., to block known malware sites. The development of this module was sponsored by two companies. In one case it was to be built into a proxy appliance, and for the other it was intended to be used in pre-configured internet access gateways for schools. This module has received more interest that most others.
Source
File Upload
This module allows to upload files to either a specified standard directory (global standard or user standard) or any directory on the system. Therefor it uses the protocol described in RFC 1867. It is supported by Netscape versions 2.0 and above and M$IE 3.0 and above.
Source
File Download
This allows to run scheduled downloads in the background via Webmin. Back in the days when downloading an installation CD-ROM took the whole night this was a handy feature.
Source
ISP Control
This was a commercial module that combined several features to allow hosting providers to setup new virtual hosts much more quickly. It automatically configured DNS, web server, and mail server for new domains and allowed easy adjustments of quota. The module is no longer available and we cannot share the source code.