Webmin - Interactive shell not working/not available/not configured!?

[JedMeister]

This issue has been resolved - see this post

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Eric has reported in the forums that the shell provided via Webmin is not acting as a "proper" interactive shell.

I was of the understanding that (as of quite a few releases ago) Webmin did provide a "proper" interactive shell. Although that doesn't seem to be the case, or perhaps our implementation and/or config is lacking?

As we have removed Webshell (as of v18.0) this issue is certainly an important one. Whilst SSH access (e.g. via OpenSSH or PuTTY, etc) remains fully operational 9and a workaround), it's certainly not as convenient and "turnkey" for many users, as using your web browser is!

[JedMeister]

Oops, it looks like it was my blunder. :cry: It appears that somewhere between may initial testing and uploading packages, the (newish) webmin-xterm module/package (which provides a proper interactive terminal) didn't make it to the apt repo...!

I'll circle back to fix that ASAP, but in the meantime I'll attach the package here:

webmin-xterm_2.105-turnkey+0_all.deb.gz

Important note! Whilst the above file has a .gz file extension, that has just been added to work about GitHub's file type limitations (i.e. .deb files aren't supported/allowed). Please follow the instructions below to install it (requires root, so if not running as root user, prefix with sudo).

To install, first download the file (from your TKL server):

wget https://github.com/turnkeylinux/tracker/files/14338617/webmin-xterm_2.105-turnkey%2B0_all.deb.gz

Then either, rename it and install via apt (preferred):

mv webmin-xterm_2.105-turnkey+0_all.deb.gz webmin-xterm_2.105-turnkey+0_all.deb
apt install -y ./webmin-xterm_2.105-turnkey+0_all.deb

Or install with dpkg (doesn't require file rename, but will fail if you don't have Webmin v2.105 already installed):

dpkg -i webmin-xterm_2.105-turnkey+0_all.deb.gz

Once it's installed, restart the Webmin server (may not be required - but just on the safe side):

systemctl restart webmin

And open Webmin in your browser (if you already had it open, just refresh the window/tab).

Then in the left hand menu, browse to Tools >> Terminal. I'll post a screenshot below.

[JedMeister]

[JedMeister]

Actually, I've just uploaded the webmin-xterm package to teh TurnKey v18.x (Debian 12/Bookworm base) apt repo. So it can now be installed like this:

apt update
apt install webmin-xterm

If you already have Webmin open in a browser, reload it. Then find the module via left hand menu: Tools >> Terminal. See above screenshot for more detail.

[JedMeister]

Opps, closed prematurely...