VPS Level 1, Webmin, Apache, newbie question

[Jean-Luc]

Hi,

I am the happy owner of a Hostgator VPS Level 1 since 2 days, 6 hours, 48 minutes.

So there is no Cpanel, but I installed Webmin. Apache was there with just the default server. I added a virtual server and it works as expected, except that all HTTP requests go to the new virtual server and none goes to the default server. Here is what I see in the Apache module of Webmin:

Default Server Defines the default settings for all other virtual servers, and processes any unhandled requests.
Address Any
Port Any
Server Name Automatic
Document Root /var/www/html

Virtual Server Handles the name-based server stats.internet-officer.com on all addresses
Address Any
Port 80
Server Name stats.my_domain.com
Document Root /home/path_to/public_html

What I would like is that all HTTP requests for IP address 1, IP address 2 and any domain but stats.my_domain.com go to the default server.

What did I do wrong ?

Jean-Luc

[Jean-Luc]

Problem solved.

I had to change two things. First I was not aware of this (source: Apache documentation):

Main host goes away
If you are adding virtual hosts to an existing web server, you must also create a <VirtualHost> block for the existing host. The ServerName and DocumentRoot included in this virtual host should be the same as the global ServerName and DocumentRoot. List this virtual host first in the configuration file so that it will act as the default host.

Secondly, I had to uncomment this line:

NameVirtualHost *:80

Jean-Luc

Nicely done!

Just an addition to this, Virtualmin (which is made by the same individuals that created Webmin) is a very nice addon to Webmin that allows you to create website packages and manage accounts just like you can with CPanel. I use it on my own personal VPS.

[GatorLBrower]

You might want to try something other than Webmin / Usermin such as ISPConfig or even directadmin. Webmin has had numerous security related issues in the past and really has not gotten any better. Using it on a publicly accessible server is just asking for trouble.

[Jean-Luc]

Thank you for your comments.

We are not hosting public web sites on the VPS. So I don't think I need a hosting control panel. Would I need one, I would probably go for cPanel or DirectAdmin. Our own public web sites will remain on shared hosting plans anyway.

The server will be used for tasks that cannot run within a shared hosting plan. This VPS is not "publicly accessible" (admittedly, it is connected to the Internet, but all accesses are supposed to be secured).

Your comment about Webmin security scared me. I googled the subject and came up with contradictory comments. There is a widespread opinion that Webmin was not secured, but I did'nt find any known security problem with the latest releases, except a cross-site scripting hole with previous release. As no client will access the site through Webmin, I don't think we should worry about it. In my understanding, Webmin is not taking over the control of the system; it is just an almost friendly management interface and nobody out of our company will use it.

Jean-Luc