Information System & Technology Support

Webmin is broken on ubuntu 20.04 trying to upgrade authentic theme -- unable to access interface - [ERROR] No repos available for this OS. Are you running unstable/testing?

this could also happen after upgrade to ubuntu 20.04 but quite unlikely

Your next move should be

We can go to the official

https://www.webmin.com/download.html">Webmin download page

and search for the package we need, but in this case we already know the URL where we can find the package. So we will use wget to download the .deb package to a suitable folder:

# wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.941_all.deb

What does stands out of the crowd here, and you will notice if you check the download site, that there is a single package for Debian, Ubuntu, and all other derivative distros – no package by distribution, and no package by release of that given distribution. A single package for all, and this single package works out of the box. Refreshingly simple.


Next step....

Installing Webmin from .deb package

# sudo dpkg --install webmin_1.941_all.deb


Installation will provide output. At the end of it, you may find a notice regarding the URL we’ll need to access Webmin:

Webmin install complete. You can now login to https://domain.com:10000/
as root with your root password, or as any user who can use sudo
to run commands as root.

Hi guys, here are some possible problem you may encounter while upgrading ubuntu server from 16.04 to 18.04

After using software updater to upgrade - I noticed that the desktop would not load - It constantly get stuck at A start job is running for dev-md124p2.device (32s / 1min 30s)
After some research, i noticed that it was pointing to my Swap partition. I didn´t want to worry too much about it so I decided to upgrade to ubuntu 20.04 then I started getting errors like Failed to connect to https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/meta-release-development. Check your Internet connection or proxy settings
I resolved this by using the following command line
SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt do-release-upgrade
After upgrade, I was able to load desktop but i noticed that swap is still not available but ubuntu 20.04 will still load the desktop.
I tried to access my virtual server meaning website but failed to connect -
I get this error (Error: Call to a member function getActive() on null: Could not connect to MySQL server.)
or
Error: Failed to start application: Could not connect to MySQL server.

or sometimes when i switch to php 8.0
(Error: Failed to start application: Table 'dBase.#__session' doesn't exist)

I tried searching all over the internet and contacting Ubuntu and virtualmin for support -- i was giving several suggestion but none was successful.

To resolve this issue - the first clue i observed that created a path for the solution was that I tried to install phpmyadmin for my virtual server and I got error that says it phpmyadmin only supports PHP version 7.1 and above.
At this point I noticed that, I have all the versions from 7.0 above installed so that I can switch to whichever I prefer but the server only recognized PHP 7.0 despite showing me that I am using PHP 8.0.
At this stage, i purged all the other versions and left 7.3, 7.4 and 8.0.
At this point, I noticed that I was closed to getting my website back as the webpage error changed to something else and noticed that my website was downloading web file automatically.
Please remember that, whenever you make changes to PHP config file and MySQL config file, try to always restart MySQL server and apache2
Anyways, I already know that the reason for the automatic file download without showing webpage is mostly caused by sethandler

You can see the files or file patch doing this by running this command

find /etc/apache2 | xargs grep -i sethandler

You should get result probably similar to the one below

root@example:~# find /etc/apache2 | xargs grep -i sethandler
grep: /etc/apache2: Is a directory
grep: /etc/apache2/conf-enabled: Is a directory
/etc/apache2/conf-enabled/localized-error-pages.conf:# SetHandler directive in a context somewhere. Adding
/etc/apache2/conf-enabled/localized-error-pages.conf:# SetHandler none
grep: /etc/apache2/conf-available: Is a directory
/etc/apache2/conf-available/php7.0-fpm.conf: SetHandler "proxy:unix:/run/php/php7.0-fpm.sock|fcgi://localhost"
/etc/apache2/conf-available/php7.0-cgi.conf: SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
/etc/apache2/conf-available/php7.0-cgi.conf: SetHandler application/x-httpd-php-source
/etc/apache2/conf-available/php7.2-cgi.conf: SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
/etc/apache2/conf-available/php7.2-cgi.conf: SetHandler application/x-httpd-php-source
/etc/apache2/conf-available/localized-error-pages.conf:# SetHandler directive in a context somewhere. Adding
/etc/apache2/conf-available/localized-error-pages.conf:# SetHandler none
grep: /etc/apache2/sites-available: Is a directory
grep: /etc/apache2/suexec: Is a directory
grep: /etc/apache2/mods-enabled: Is a directory
/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/proxy_balancer.conf: # SetHandler balancer-manager
/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/php7.2.conf: #SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/php7.2.conf: SetHandler application/x-httpd-php-source
/etc/apache2/mods-enabled/status.conf: SetHandler server-status
grep: /etc/apache2/mods-available: Is a directory
/etc/apache2/mods-available/ldap.conf: SetHandler ldap-status
/etc/apache2/mods-available/proxy_balancer.conf: # SetHandler balancer-manager
/etc/apache2/mods-available/php7.2.conf: #SetHandler application/x-httpd-php
/etc/apache2/mods-available/php7.2.conf: SetHandler application/x-httpd-php-source
/etc/apache2/mods-available/info.conf: SetHandler server-info
/etc/apache2/mods-available/status.conf: SetHandler server-status
grep: /etc/apache2/sites-enabled: Is a directory


All you need to do in this case is to comment out by adding hash symbol to where ever you find the command below in the file path
SetHandler application/x-httpd-php

This means, you change it to

#SetHandler application/x-httpd-php

Basically after doing this, I restarted Apache2 server and MySQL server and I was able to get my virtualserver/website back




I hope this helps someone out there




#webmin-virtualmin

I noticed that Ubuntu would not show desktop after upgrading from 18.04.5 LTS to 20.04.2 LTS?

I think it was unable to upgrade the NVIDIA graphic card or placing the file in the appropriate directory.

How I resolved it:-
I resolved the issue by running

sudo apt dist-upgrade

I think this automatically install / update / repair all the needed packages for the current version.

Just to add - after upgrading to 20.04.2 LTS and decided to reboot, that was when the desktop wouldn't show - it got stuck on blackscreen.
to be able to open the terminal from this stage
Just press on Ctrl and Shift and F1 or F2 to toggle to terminal screen where you can put in your username and password --
Then use sudo -i
Then put your username and password again
Then run -- sudo apt dist-upgrade

Once completed - then type Reboot and then click on Enter

Boom you are done and everything should load properly

I am sharing this because I just did mine today -- I bought a graphic card off ebay to use for my dual monitor with windows 10 but it didn't work. Here is what I did to get it working.
1. go to this link and download the edition of the windows you are using -- for me I am using 64bit windows 10 pro -- so I downloaded Windows Vista - 64-Bit Edition --- https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/legacy-graphics/ati-radeon-x-series/ati-radeon-x1xxx-series

2. Install the downloaded file (just proceed with installation if you get compatibility error check)

3. go into device manager (for windows 10 just search for device manager in the textbox on the bottom left of your screen)

4. once you are in device manager you will see a list of hardware in your PC -- in my case I saw (Display Card) option apart from the basic micrsoft display adaptor

5. I right clicked on the display card option for my graphic card and selected the option to update driver

6.Choose "Browse My computer for Drivers"

7.Select C:/ATI (Please Note:If you have other letter,it doesn't change nothing,just select ATI Folder on your HDD Root)

8.Wait while it install Drivers -- if you already have your dual monitor connected like mine then you should see your monitor split and expand correctly

9. As I understand, this should work for Windows 8/8.1/10 -- It definitely work for my windows 10 pro

You can also rely on the link below to guide you with pictures
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1536711

Which PHP mode? Apache vs CGI vs FastCGI
Posted on 3rd September 2012 by Jake
There are multiple ways to execute PHP scripts on a web server. We’re often asked about the difference between these modes, so here it is!
We offer the three most common PHP handlers across our Linux Cloud Hosting range:

Apache module
CGI
FastCGI

Each of these has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Apache Module (mod_php)

Using mod_php to execute PHP scripts on a web server is the most popular method used by our customers and until recently was the default mode we set when you create a new webspace.

When using mod_php the PHP interpreter is embedded in each Apache process that’s spawned on the server. This way every Apache worker is able to handle and execute PHP scripts itself removing the need to deal with any external processes; unlike CGI or FastCGI. This makes it very useful for sites that are ‘PHP heavy’ where lots of requests are likely to contain PHP code (such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.) because all the requests can be handled by Apache.

As the interpreter is started along with Apache, it allows it to run very quickly as it can cache certain information and doesn’t need to repeat the same tasks each time a script is executed.

The downside to this is that the footprint for each Apache process is larger as it requires more system resources with the PHP interpreter embedded. Even when serving static content such as images, text and style sheets where no PHP code needs to be executed, the process still contains the PHP interpreter.

Pros

PHP code executed by Apache.
No external processes required.
Very good performance on PHP heavy sites.
PHP configuration settings may be customized within .htaccess directives.

Cons

Makes each Apache process footprint larger – meaning more RAM used.
Loads PHP interpreter for non-PHP content.
Files created by PHP scripts are usually owned by the web server so you cannot edit them via FTP later.

CGI

Executing PHP scripts with a CGI application is the legacy way of running applications on a web server, it’s highly inefficient and rarely used. It was originally introduced in the 1990’s but was deemed to be too inefficient to use on anything other than very small sites.

A benefit of running applications on CGI is that it keeps the code execution separate from the web server, which allows for some added security benefits. For example, a buggy or insecure PHP script executed via FastCGI cannot corrupt or affect security of any other files outside of the domain it’s hosted on. It also means that the PHP interpreter is only called when required, thereby allowing static content to be served solely by the web server.

The inefficiencies of running PHP with CGI support spawn from requiring a new process to be created each time any PHP code needs to be executed. As you can imagine, on busier sites or PHP based applications it can be very resource intensive.

Very few Layershift customers use this mode, and we don’t recommend it!

Pros

Better security than mod_php (above) as PHP code execution is isolated from web server.

Cons

Legacy way of running applications.
Very poor performance.

FastCGI

FastCGI was introduced as a middle ground between the PHP Apache Module and the CGI application. It allows scripts to be executed by an interpreter outside of the web server and includes the security benefits of CGI but doesn’t include any of the inefficiencies of CGI.

When executing PHP scripts with FastCGI each request is passed from the web server to FastCGI via a communication socket. This allows for much greater scalability as the web server and the PHP interpreter can be split into their own individual server environments if necessary. However a similar end result can also be achieved using nginx in front of Apache (such that nginx handles basic requests itself and only passes dynamic requests to Apache) so this point alone doesn’t determine the ideal choice for a given scenario.

In a Plesk environment, FastCGI is executed as the domain FTP user and is the default PHP handler we offer on all our Linux services running the latest versions of Plesk Panel.

The downside of running PHP with FastCGI support is that any PHP directives defined in a .htaccess will not be used. As a workaround, it is possible to set PHP directives on a per domain basis with a custom php.ini file on any Plesk Panel server.

Pros

Improved security as PHP code execution is isolated from web server.
Static content will not be processed by PHP interpreter.
Allows files to be managed by your FTP user without altering permissions afterwards.

Cons

Cannot use PHP directives in .htaccess. This is expected by many popular scripts.
Requires PHP requests to be passed from web server.

Which Should I use?

On smaller sites, it usually comes down to personal preference when deciding which mode of PHP support you want. We often see customers that are running CMS applications (such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.) tend to prefer FastCGI as it allows FTP and PHP scripts equal access, meaning file upload and edit functionality within the CMS works as advertised without any special file permission configuration.