47.3. Starting and Stopping Usermin

Usermin has its own permanently running web server process, which can be started or stopped using this module. At the bottom of the main page is either a button labeled Stop Usermin or Start Usermin, depending on whether it is currently running or not. The server can also be stopped and started at the command line by running /etc/usermin/stop or /etc/usermin/start as root.

On operating systems like Linux, Solaris, and HP/UX, that use standard SYSV-style bootup action scripts, the main page also has a button labeled Start at boot time. If you select the Yes radio button next to it and hit the button, a bootup script will be created or enabled to start the Usermin server when your system boots. Selecting No will cause any existing script to be disabled so that it does not start. The action will be visible in the Bootup and Shutdown module (covered in Chapter 9), and you can enable or disable it there as well.

On operating systems like FreeBSD and MacOS X that use a different method of running commands at boot time, this button will not appear at all. You can still use the Bootup and Shutdown module, however, to have the command /etc/usermin/start run at boot time to achieve the same result.