Hello, Here is the story:
I am not a "total" noob but not very strong on Linux and Virtualization things. I come from windows but have been palying with Linux at home. I have converted to whole Linux household for the last 5 month but as most of the machines at home did not give me any issues since the setup nothing to learn :-). have been running the server described below for the last 2 years. no issue. but its not doing what I want it to do, hence here I am.
I currently have an OpenSuse 13.1 server running as file server. Hardware : AMD Phenon 8 core with 16GB ram 1T HDD system drive with BTRFS "/" and "/home" and 16T in total of storage space for shares etc. using BTRFS on all setup planed to setup a Xen Vm server there but found it to be very difficult to manage maintane with existing interface. would like to have a remote managed system as the server has no IPMI
want to convert this for a VM server AND file server use to host couple of VM Linux and Windows VMs. using something else.
Can/should I use Cloudmin or VitualMin for this setup. this is a home server, single machine setup.
I want the main Host to be a VM server AND file server. as in run what ever virtualization system is setup and provide shared access to all the data drives.
really really like to use BTRFS, at least for datastorage side. system drives can be anything
as cloudmin/virtualmin etc. is designed to be installed on a host system,
Can I setup a host with say Ubuntu (as I am more familiar with that distro and there is lots of help for it out there) OR should I use some other distro? CentOS seams popular here.
the reason I went with OpenSuse was that I like to have a desktop to work with. but maybe with webmin I can do without (your thoughts).
Do I need usermin if this is not a public server. can I just manage users with webmin
can some one point me to a good HowTo for setting this up. I am googling like crazy and did find some blogs and help forums but does not heart to ask.
thanks.
is this such a strange or difficult question that no one have an answer? it's been over a week and no responses at all.
what type of file server are you refering to?
I have a public server located at a data center I use centos and virtualmin for my public virtual servers and use DAV support to upload files to virtual server accounts that can be accessed through email and ftp.
At home office I have the same setup but use DYN services to have a domain name point to my DHCP Server from within virtualmin for when I am away from office. endless possibilities there and great for trying out things before performing in a productive enviroment.
Both setups are are easy by installing the basics from OS than installing the Virtualmin on a clean install.
If you want to setup VM you may want to read through the documentation for cloudmin.
Other than that it is pretty much straight foward.
well berndtnetwork, I though my post was clear on my intentions but let me elaborate a bit more,
I have a home server (AMD FX8520 with 16GB ram) that I am currently been running on Opensuse 13.1 as a file server. basically as it stands now it is a big powerful NAS, which seams wasteful to me, so my goals is two fold,
rebuild a fully functioning File Server form home LAN, with a set of multipurpose shares exposed like a. @UserFiles
--> a folder for each user in the household --> a folder for all shared files (in essence a file dump for all ) b. @Media --> hold all folders for HTPC and other media related stuff
c. @ISO --> holds all ISO to be accessible as install sources and simply CD/DVD back up
d . @VMSTORE --> hold all active VMs I need e. f. ... what ever else needed
and I want to use that machine as a full fledged KVM VM Host Server to run my VMs on.
I know that I can use WebMin to manage the Server (Host system) But I am not sure what I need the UserMin for and which would I need (virtualmin or cloudmin OR both) to manage/create VMs on the server itself
I prefer GUI interface to CLI (hence my current setup on OpenSuse) so what and in what order do I setup to accomplish my goals of having a File/VM server described above.
After I install Ubuntu Server and Webmin, what are my steps next? and do I understand properly the use of the other modules.
Howdy,
I haven't read your entire usage scenario yet -- but just a couple of quick notes --
You would only need Usermin if you want a web-based email client.
You could also use other web-based options, such as RoundCube, in place of Usermin if you wanted.
As far as Cloudmin -- Webmin and Virtualmin run on a single server or VPS instance, and manage that particular OS installation. Webmin and Virtualmin don't create/manage/launch VPS's.
If you wish to have a tool to create and manage VPS instances, Cloudmin may help there.
Once you create a new VPS with the help of Cloudmin, you could then install Webmin/Virtualmin into that particular instance.
-Eric
you know it's getting a bit confusing for me. is there a good explanation (preferably a lame user kind :-) ) on what exactly each module do or needed for.
I mean I know and understand what webmin is for and what it does for most things it is basically a web GUI to perform management on a PC that has no other GUI loaded. a sort of a streamlined webbased desktop replacement kind of thing (to put it in a lame terms)
but the uses of virtualmin and cloudmin escapes me.
I mean what does "managing multiple virtual hosts through a single interface" means in terms of virtualmin?
my goal is to be able to create a VM anew, install my own OS on it or import the VM from prepackaged image/config and run it. I guess that for most of my VMs I will load a webmin inside as they will be headless and streamlined, except for windows based VMs and a couple of full desktop Linux VMs that I wold like to test-drive
so do I use Cloudmin for all of that or do I need virtualmin as well ?
is cloudmin same/similar to libvirt management tool in it's use?
thanks.
Hello vl1969,
I am not familiar with cloudmin but from what I read it may be what you are looking for, http://www.virtualmin.com/cloudmin/
As I commented above Virtualmin is for the purpose of hosting virtual servers (AKA web sites)
In simple terms: Cloudmin would be your UI to create your Clouds with their own OS. Virtualmin/Webmin would be installed in clouds that you want to use for hosting virtual servers.
as I have read all the things I could find on the web and could not come to any descent conclusion, I decided to just bite the bullet and build out the server. I now see that yes, the Cloudmin is what I need for my VM/File server setup.
now all I need it to figure out how to use it properly...