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Webmin smart home integration, free and open source

Webmin integration for Gladys Assistant

Your Linux servers through Webmin: package updates, security, reboot, load, disks.

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Webmin is the web interface that administers Linux and BSD servers. This integration reads up to three Webmin servers and brings into Gladys what a system monitor does not tell: the package updates waiting on each server, the security ones apart, and whether the server waits for a reboot. Then the essentials of the Webmin dashboard: load, CPU, memory, swap, the fullest disk, the highest temperature, uptime. Scenes can react to new security updates, a disk filling up or a server that no longer answers, and a dashboard widget sums a server up. Everything stays on your local network, and nothing is ever changed on the server.

Tested against a real Webmin 2.670 on Debian 12 (Docker): updates and security updates, reboot required, wrong password, address blocked, user without the RPC right, self-signed certificate. Not yet in a real Gladys nor on every distribution: feedback welcome on the issues.

What you need​

  • Gladys Assistant 5.1.0 or later.
  • Webmin (2.x tested) on each server, reachable from the Gladys machine (port 10000, HTTPS, by default).
  • The Perl module XML::Parser on the server: apt install libxml-parser-perl (Debian, Ubuntu), dnf install perl-XML-Parser (Fedora, Rocky, Alma). Without it, Webmin answers no XML-RPC call.
  • For the updates: the Webmin module Software Package Updates (installed with Webmin on the usual distributions).

Getting started​

1. Create a Webmin user for Gladys​

In Webmin, open Webmin → Webmin Users → Create a new Webmin user:

  • user name gladys and a long password;
  • Can accept RPC calls?: Yes;
  • no module is needed: leave them all unticked;
  • recommended, IP access control: only allow the address of the Gladys machine.

Why the restriction matters: through XML-RPC, Webmin lets such a user call any Webmin function, as root. The integration only calls reading functions (listed in the Limits section), but the password is worth a root password: keep it for Gladys alone, and allow it from the Gladys address only.

2. Configure the integration​

In the Configuration tab, for each server:

  • Webmin address: 192.168.1.20, server.lan, or the address copied from the browser (https://server.lan:10000/). HTTPS and port 10000 are assumed when you give a bare name or IP;
  • Webmin user and Password: the user created above;
  • Name in Gladys (optional): by default, the host name Webmin gives.

Options: Refresh interval (1 to 10 minutes, 5 by default; the updates are read once an hour whatever this interval), Accept self-signed certificates (ticked by default: Webmin creates one at installation), Language of the feature names.

Save, then click Test the connection: one line per server, with the version of Webmin, the number of disks and of updates.

3. Add the devices​

Open the Discover tab: one device per server that answered. Add the ones to follow.

The devices​

One device per server, with these features (names in the language chosen in the configuration):

  • Online: 1 when the server answers, 0 once it stopped answering two reads in a row;
  • CPU, Memory, Swap (when the server has swap): use in %;
  • Load (1 min), Load (5 min), Load (15 min): the load averages;
  • Fullest disk: use of the fullest local disk, in %;
  • Highest temperature: the hottest CPU core or drive, when Webmin reads temperatures (lm-sensors, hddtemp or smartmontools on the server);
  • Uptime: in days;
  • Available updates and Security updates: numbers of packages;
  • Reboot required: 1 when the server waits for a reboot (Debian and Ubuntu: /var/run/reboot-required; Red Hat family: needs-restarting).

The updates come from the cache of the Webmin module Software Package Updates, valid 6 hours by default: Gladys sees a new update when Webmin does. To see them sooner, lower Cache time in the configuration of that module.

Dashboard​

The widget Webmin server (choose the server in its settings) shows the number of updates (orange when some wait, red when some are for security), memory and fullest disk gauges, the highest temperature, then the security packages, the reboot, the free space, the load, the swap and the uptime. The Refresh button reads Webmin again, updates included.

Scenes​

Triggers​

  • New security updates: security updates appear on a server (read once an hour). Fired again for every new package or new version. Filter: server. Variables: server, new packages, new security updates, security updates, available updates.
  • Disk almost full: a disk reaches 80, 85, 90, 95 or 98 % (the threshold is a filter of the trigger), for every disk Webmin lists, not only the fullest one. Announced again once the disk went 2 points below. Variables: server, mount point, space used, free space (GB), threshold.
  • Server unreachable: the server stops answering two reads in a row (refused credentials do not count). Variables: server, reason.

Triggers fire for every configured server, added to Gladys or not, and survive a restart of the integration: nothing is missed nor announced twice.

Actions​

  • State of a Webmin server: reads a server and returns every figure (updates, security updates, reboot required, packages to update, CPU, memory, swap, loads, fullest disk, free space, temperature, uptime) and a summary ready for a message, e.g. NAS: 4 update(s), 2 for security (libssl3, openssl), reboot required, load 0.42, memory 66%, disk / 87% (59 GB free).

Scene ideas​

  • Every Monday at 9 a.m., State of a Webmin server, then send the summary to your phone: the weekly maintenance list.
  • New security updates → a Telegram message with the packages.
  • When Reboot required becomes 1 and nobody is at home, a reminder to reboot in the evening.
  • Disk almost full at 90 % → a notification with the mount point.

Troubleshooting​

  • install the XML::Parser Perl module: install libxml-parser-perl (or perl-XML-Parser) on the server, no need to restart Webmin.
  • this Webmin user may not make RPC calls: set Can accept RPC calls? to Yes for the user.
  • user name or password refused: check them. After 5 failed logins, Webmin blocks the address of Gladys for 60 seconds (Webmin blocks Gladys…): the integration then waits 30 minutes before trying again, or Test the connection at once.
  • certificate refused: tick Accept self-signed certificates.
  • the address redirects: Webmin is in HTTPS: enter https://….
  • no Webmin at this address: check the port (10000 by default).
  • Updates unknown in the test report: the Software Package Updates module is missing or cannot read the package manager.

Limits​

  • Read only: the integration never installs an update nor reboots a server. Functions called: system-status::collect_system_info, proc::get_system_uptime, webmin::get_webmin_version, webmin::get_system_hostname, package-updates::list_possible_updates, package-updates::check_reboot_required.
  • Up to three servers. Usermin and Virtualmin are not read.
  • Updates as fresh as the cache of Webmin (6 hours by default), read once an hour.
  • The security flag comes from the package source (Debian and Ubuntu …-security repositories); other distributions may show no security update.
  • Not affiliated with Webmin.

Configuration settings​

These are the settings Webmin asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.

SettingTypeRequiredDescription
Getting startedsectionNoWebmin answers Gladys through its XML-RPC interface: create a Webmin user for Gladys with the right to RPC calls, and install the XML::Parser Perl module on the server. Read only: nothing is changed on the server.
Webmin addressstringYesHost name or IP of the server, port 10000 and HTTPS by default, or the address copied from the browser.
Webmin userstringNoA Webmin user allowed to make RPC calls, best one created for Gladys (see the documentation).
PasswordsecretNo
Name in Gladys (optional)stringNoBy default, the host name Webmin gives.
Second server (optional)sectionNo
Webmin addressstringNoHost name or IP of the server, port 10000 and HTTPS by default, or the address copied from the browser.
Webmin userstringNoA Webmin user allowed to make RPC calls, best one created for Gladys (see the documentation).
PasswordsecretNo
Name in Gladys (optional)stringNoBy default, the host name Webmin gives.
Third server (optional)sectionNo
Webmin addressstringNoHost name or IP of the server, port 10000 and HTTPS by default, or the address copied from the browser.
Webmin userstringNoA Webmin user allowed to make RPC calls, best one created for Gladys (see the documentation).
PasswordsecretNo
Name in Gladys (optional)stringNoBy default, the host name Webmin gives.
OptionssectionNo
Refresh intervalselectNoHow often Webmin is read. The package updates are read once an hour whatever this interval.
Accept self-signed certificatesbooleanNoWebmin creates a self-signed certificate at installation: keep this ticked unless the server has a certificate Gladys trusts.
Language of the feature namesselectNoNames given to the features when the device is added, and language of the texts sent to scenes.

How to install Webmin in Gladys​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations: Webmin appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
  2. Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-webmin:1.0.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration).
  3. Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
  4. You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-webmin.

Webmin requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.

Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.

About external integrations​

Webmin is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by guim31, not by the Gladys core team.

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