24.1. The SSH/Telnet Login Module

If your system is running either an SSH or telnet server (as most do by default), you can use Webmin's built-in SSH and telnet client module to do a normal shell login. When you use it to log in, the connection is coming from the client host on which your web browser is running—just as if you ran a normal telnet client program—because the module uses a Java applet. This means that if there is any firewall blocking telnet or SSH access from the client, this Webmin module will not be able to get around it.

To use the module, click on its icon under the Others category in Webmin. The main page simply contains a Java applet that will, by default, make a telnet connection to the server running Webmin. If your browser does not support Java, an error message will be displayed instead. If the applet loads and is able to connect, it should display a login prompt—just click on the applet and enter your username and password to log in. Figure 24.1 shows an example.

Not all versions of Linux have a telnet server running by default. Many new distributions include an SSH server instead, which means that the applet will be unable to make a telnet connection. If this happens, you need to reconfigure it as explained in Section 24.2 “Configuring the SSH/Telnet Login Module”.