Installing software packages
Webmin is able to use your OS package management to install additional software. If you're using a Debian-based system, such as Ubuntu, you can install packages from .deb files or APT repositories. If you're using an RPM-based system, such as CentOS or openSUSE, you can install packages from .rpm files or yum repositories.
Getting ready
Many web applications depend on an image manipulation library called ImageMagick. Many programs that are used to create, edit, compose, or convert bitmap images such as PNG and JPEG use this library. In this recipe, we will install ImageMagick, but the same procedure may be applied to any other software available in your distribution's repository.
How to do it...
Follow these steps to install a software package using Webmin:
Navigate to System | Software Packages.
Select the Package from Repo radio button. Note that you won't actually see the word Repo, but rather the name of repository appropriate for your system (APT, YUM, Ports, and so on).
Click Search Repo, then type in the package name
imagemagick, and click Find packages matching to execute the search.You will be presented with a list of packages matching your search, including
imagemagick—the package you want to install. Select the package by clicking its name.You will be brought back to the Software Packages screen, where you can now press the Install button.
Webmin will download and install ImageMagick along with a long list of its dependencies. On the results screen, you can see the details for all the installed packages.
Tip
If the software package you're installing provides a component that may be managed by Webmin (such as Apache, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Postfix), you should take two additional steps. Click the Refresh Modules link in Webmin's main menu and then refresh your entire browser. This will ensure that Webmin recognizes the newly installed software and updates its menu.
How it works...
Webmin determines which package management system your OS uses. It executes the appropriate commands to search available repositories for packages matching your query and installs them along with their dependencies. The same task can be accomplished from the command line, but Webmin abstracts away the command syntax particular to your packaging system so that you can use the same interface regardless of the underlying OS.
There's more...
Webmin also allows you to install software from a package file that you may have. In order to do that, follow this recipe, but select the From uploaded file radio button and upload your file instead of searching the repository. If your package file is too large to upload with a browser, you can install it from its URL instead.
Please note that this method will require you to install its dependencies manually before installing the package itself.
