web-based tools for everything from administering servers to creating an online blog. I personally love ISPconfig.

1. 10 favorite web-based administration tools
10 Photos
Jan 14, 2011 9:48 AM PST
Jack Wallen profiles his 10 favorite web-based tools for everything from administering
servers to creating an online blog.
cPanel hosting platform
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What are your favorite web-based admin tools? After you look through this list, tell us about
your own favorites.
cPanel is one of the industry standards in taking a standalone server and turning it
into a power-house, automated hosting platform. With cPanel your clients can enjoy
one of the single most user-friendly administration panels you will find, bar none. From
this control panel your clients can build their own sites (using Fantastico), manage
email/user/ftp/domains/databases, view log files, and much more.
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2. CUPS interface for print server
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For anyone that manages a Linux-based print server, the CUPS web-based interface will be
a blessing. Instead of having to be seated at that print server, or remoting into the machine
itself, you can fire up http://ADDRESS_OF_SERVER:631 (Where ADDRESS_OF_SERVER
is the actual address of the print server). From this interface you can manage printers/printer
groups/print jobs, as well as control who has access to which printers. This printer admin
tool is installed by default with CUPS.
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3. eGroupware
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eGroupware is one of the more powerful open source groupware tools and has one of the
best interfaces for administering individual components. From the Preferences screen, just
click which component you want to administer and you're in. This screenshot shows the
eGroupware Calendar configuration.
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4. ISPConfig
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If you are an ISP, or you are looking to start an ISP, then you should not overlook ISPConfig.
This administration tool makes the task of administering multiple servers, multiple domains,
and multiple clients a snap. From a single web interface you can administer everything.
And since ISPConfig is open source, you are also welcome to modify the source to fit your
needs.
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5. phpLDAPadmin
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If you know of the php administration tools, you should know about phpLDAPadmin. This
web-based tool makes the administration of LDAP data very easy. For those of you who
prefer not to have to deal with learning all of the command-line tools for LDAP, you will be
glad to know this admin tool is practically all point-and-click.
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6. phpMyAdmin
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phpMyAdmin is to MySQL what phpLDAPadmin is to LDAP. From this single point of entry,
you can manage your current databases and create new databases. What is nice about this
particular admin tool is that, should you need, you can also issue standard MySQL queries
and commands from the SQL tab.
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7. SQL Buddy
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If you've had any trouble installing phpMyAdmin, and you're desperate for a web-based
MySQL administration tool, I highly recommend SQL Buddy. This tool is as simple as it gets.
With a working MySQL server already up and running (along with a web server), unpack the
SQL Buddy archive, place it in the document root of your web server, and log in. With zero
configuration, you can be managing your databases within minutes.
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8. SWAT for Samba
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If you have a SAMBA server (or SAMBA installed on a desktop) and you want to be able
to manage SAMBA from any machine with nothing more than a web browser, that is what
SWAT will do for you. With SWAT you can start/stop your smbd daemon, you can modify
your smb.conf and lmhosts files, and you can even manage smb passwords for users.
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9. Webmin
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Often thought of as one of the most powerful administration tools available, Webmin has
long been one of the standards by which all other web-based tools are compared. Webmin
allows you to add/remove numerous modules that can administer just about every possible
service you can imagine. From this tool you can even control what services are started on
the machine and even manage clustering (if available). There are some that claim Webmin
is a security vulnerability. But on a well-configured, secure server, any vulnerability that
might be introduced would be nullified.
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10. Wordpress blogging tool
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One of the most user-friendly and wide-spread online blogging tools, Wordpress also has
one of the easiest to use administration interfaces you will find. From wp-admin you can
manage the look and feel of your Wordpress-based blog, add/remove widgets, manage
users, moderate comments and trackbacks, and much more. The Wordpress admin
interface is as user-friendly as is its WYSIWYG editor.
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