24.4. The Shell In A Box Module

This module combines the best features of both SSH/Telnet Login and Command Shell—it allows you to make a fully interactive login that is tunneled though an HTTP connection, thus avoiding any firewall restrictions. It is not included as one of the standard Webmin modules, but you can download it from www.webmin.com/download/modules/shellinabox.wbm.gz. See Chapter 51 for instructions on how to install it.

When you enter the module, its main page is taken up entirely by a Java applet. To start the login process, click the Connect button in the lower right-hand corner. A normal login: prompt should appear at the top of the window, allowing you to enter a username and password to log in and get a shell prompt. When you are done, just click the Disconnect button to log out.

The module's biggest disadvantage is that it uses compiled Linux x86 code, and so cannot be run on other UNIX systems or on non-PC hardware. It also uses up a lot of CPU time on the server due to the high frequency of HTTP requests that it makes.