Automated Installation

Recommended system specifications

• A freshly installed supported OS
• At least 1 GiB RAM (full install with mail, spam filtering, and virus scanning needs 4 GiB or more)
• At least 1 GiB free disk space (plus more for your domains and mail)
• A domain name with DNS records pointing to your server’s IP address

Installation

There are two ways to install Virtualmin: using the automated install script described here or following the manual installation guide. Whenever possible, use the automated method because it reduces mistakes and configures everything correctly for virtual hosting in no time.

If you haven’t already, read the Download page first, as it covers the steps needed for most installations on one page. Only move on to the more detailed docs if those steps don’t work for your situation.

Automated installation

In most cases, installing Virtualmin is as simple as installing a supported OS and then running the virtualmin-install.sh script. Supported systems are listed on the OS Support page.

We recommend using a minimal server version instance of your preferable operating system. The Virtualmin virtualmin-install.sh script will install any additional packages that it requires.

Running the install script

The OS-neutral virtualmin-install.sh script sets up the license key in /etc/virtualmin-license, configures your package manager for the Virtualmin repository, and then installs the virtualmin-config package, which completes the install for your OS and version.

Download the virtualmin-install.sh script directly from download.virtualmin.com to your server. The same script works for Virtualmin Pro too—either download a personalized copy from the My Account → Dashboard page, or pass your license through the SERIAL and KEY environment variables, which the Pro switch below builds for you.

Once the script is on your server, run it as root, using the toggles to add the flags matching your setup:

sudo sh virtualmin-install.sh --bundle LAMP

The installer supports several options for different install types. Run it with --help to see the available choices.

Usage: virtualmin-install.sh [options]

  If called without arguments, installs Virtualmin with default options.

  --bundle|-b <LAMP|LEMP>          bundle to install (default: LAMP)
  --type|-t <full|mini>            install type (default: full)
  --os-grade|-g <A|B>              operating system support grade (default: A)
  --branch|-B <stable|rc|devel>    install branch (default: stable)

  --extra|-E <name[,name..]>       install extra packages before stack install
  --exclude|-e <name[,name..]>     exclude plugin from configuration phase
  --include|-i <name[,name..]>     include plugin in configuration phase
  --module|-o                      load custom module in post-install phase

  --hostname|-n                    force hostname during install
  --no-package-updates|-x          skip package updates during install
  --no-hostname-ssl|-nhs           skip SSL certificate request for hostname

  --swap|-S <size>                 managed swap: MiB or K/M/G[B]; 0 to remove
  --swap-only                      configure swap without installing
  --no-swap|-ns                    leave system swap unchanged

  --uninstall|-u                   remove all packages and dependencies
  --setup|-s                       reconfigure repos without installing
  --connect|-C <ipv4|ipv6>         test connectivity without installing
  --insecure-downloads|-I          skip SSL certificate check for downloads

  --force|-f|--yes|-y              assume "yes" to all prompts
  --force-reinstall|-fr            force complete reinstall (not recommended)
  --no-banner|-nb                  suppress installation messages and warnings
  --verbose|-V                     enable verbose mode

  --version|-v                     show installer version
  --help|-h                        show this help

Install script flags

The installation command above, as well as the ones on the Download and My Account → Dashboard pages, lets you select the most common options with a click and adds the matching flags to the command for you.

LAMP (Apache) vs. LEMP (Nginx)

The install script can set up either Apache or Nginx. Apache (LAMP) is the default and most common choice, but Nginx (LEMP) is also fully supported and can be installed using --bundle LEMP if you prefer Nginx.

The bundle cannot be switched after installation without significant manual work, so choose deliberately.

Full install vs. minimal install

The full LAMP or LEMP stack with mail, spam filtering, and virus scanning is heavy and needs at least about 4 GiB of RAM to run well (more is better). On low-memory systems, running the full mail stack alongside LAMP or LEMP is not recommended.

Use --type mini flag for a lighter setup that skips local mail handling, spam and virus filtering, local DNS, FTP, and Jailkit, but still provides a full web stack and works well with Cloud DNS. Minimal installs usually work well with around 1 GiB of RAM. Features skipped by the minimal install can be enabled later on the System Settings ⇾ Features and Plugins page once the needed packages are installed.

Operating system support grade

By default, the installer only runs on Grade A supported systems, which are fully tested and receive managed updates. Passing --os-grade B allows installation on Grade B systems, which get little or no direct testing and are only recommended for experienced admins. See the OS Support page for the full list of systems in each grade.

Install branch

The --branch flag selects which repository branch to install from. The default stable branch is what production systems should use. The pre-release branch carries upcoming tested versions, and the unstable branch carries the latest development builds. Only use pre-release or unstable on disposable test systems, never in production.

Hostname and SSL

During installation, a TLS certificate is automatically requested for the system’s hostname, so you can log in to Virtualmin without SSL warnings. Use --no-hostname-ssl to skip that certificate request, for example when the hostname doesn’t resolve publicly yet. Use --hostname to force a specific fully qualified domain name during install instead of being asked interactively.

Including and excluding features

The --include, --exclude, and --extra flags fine-tune the configuration phase. --include enables extra configuration plugins, --exclude skips ones that would run by default, and --extra installs additional packages before the stack install. For example, to add PostgreSQL support as part of the initial install, see the PostgreSQL caveat below.

Swap

The installer can create, resize, reuse or remove its own swapfile. Swap configured by your OS or hosting provider stays untouched, including /swap.img, partitions, encrypted swap and zram. Active swap counts toward automatic sizing.

Options

Run the current installer as root with:

Bare sizes mean MiB. Suffixes K, M and G, with an optional B, use binary units and ignore case. Positive sizes round up to whole MiB and must be below 1 TiB. The short options are -S for --swap and -ns for --no-swap.

--yes skips confirmation. --swap cannot be combined with --no-swap; --swap-only cannot be combined with --setup, --uninstall or --connect.

Change swap after installation

Download the current installer, then create or resize its swapfile to 2 GiB:

sudo sh virtualmin-install.sh --swap-only --swap 2G

To remove only the swapfile managed by the installer:

sudo sh virtualmin-install.sh --swap-only --swap 0

Automatic sizing

Swap needs depend on workload. These are Virtualmin installation defaults, not a universal Linux sizing rule or a hibernation allowance.

If no installer-managed swapfile exists:

1. Calculate the gap to 8 GiB of combined detected RAM and active swap. Add nothing if that target is met.
2. Round the gap and twice RAM up to whole GiB, then use the smaller value.
3. Reserve 3 GiB for full installation, 2 GiB for mini, or 1 GiB for --swap-only. Each includes 1 GiB of disk headroom; the rest is for installation packages. Apply the disk cap below.

For example, 4 GiB detected RAM, no active swap and 15 GiB free disk gives 2 GiB of added swap during full installation: 3 GiB is reserved, leaving 12 GiB for the disk-cap calculation.

An explicit --swap size bypasses these caps but still needs room for the new file and the reserve. Resizing also keeps the original file until the replacement succeeds.

Filesystems and safety

The managed file is /swap.vm on ext2/3/4 and XFS. On Btrfs, it is /swap.virtualmin/swapfile in a dedicated subvolume, using btrfs-progs 6.1 or newer. The installer configures activation at boot, including Btrfs ordering. Legacy /swap.vm files on Btrfs can be reused or removed, but not resized.

Swap setup checks disk space, file ownership, boot configuration and available RAM before deactivating swap. Unsafe or ambiguous configurations require manual review; failed changes attempt to restore the original swap. See the Btrfs swapfile requirements for restrictions on snapshots, balance and scrub.

Logs and errors

Planned changes appear before confirmation. --swap-only prints its log path and reports success or failure. If swap setup fails, the installer stops. To skip swap setup, re-run with --no-swap, removing --swap if supplied.

The installer downloads its utility library automatically. If you keep a local slib.sh alongside the script, update it to version 1.5.0 or newer for the new swap support.

Maintenance and recovery

--uninstall removes all Virtualmin packages and dependencies. --setup reconfigures the software repositories without installing Virtualmin or touching swap, which is useful for repairing a broken repository setup. --connect only tests connectivity to the repositories over IPv4 or IPv6 and then exits. --force-reinstall forces a complete reinstall over an existing system and is not recommended.

Behavior and output

--force assumes “yes” to all prompts, which is handy for unattended installs. --no-package-updates skips OS package updates during install. --insecure-downloads skips SSL certificate checks for downloads and should be avoided unless you know exactly why you need it. --no-banner suppresses informational messages, --verbose enables detailed output for troubleshooting, and --version and --help print the installer version and the full usage text.

License via environment variables

For Virtualmin Pro, the serial number and license key can be passed to the installer through the SERIAL and KEY environment variables:

sudo env SERIAL=00000 KEY=AAAAAAAAAA sh virtualmin-install.sh

The personalized install script from the My Account → Dashboard page already handles this for you, so you normally don’t need to set these by hand. Without them, the installer sets up Virtualmin GPL.

Examples

Install a minimal Nginx stack for a low-memory web server:

sudo sh virtualmin-install.sh --bundle LEMP --type mini

Install on a Grade B system without requesting a hostname certificate:

sudo sh virtualmin-install.sh --os-grade B --no-hostname-ssl

Unattended install with a preset hostname:

sudo sh virtualmin-install.sh --hostname host.example.com --yes

Database caveats

MySQL vs. MariaDB

On Debian and its derivatives, the Virtualmin installer treats MariaDB and MySQL as drop-in replacements, so if MySQL is already installed it will use it. The easiest way to choose MySQL is the MySQL toggle under the install command on the Download page, which adds --extra mysql-server,mysql-common,libdbd-mysql-perl so the packages are installed before the stack. Doing it by hand, install those packages with your package manager before running the installer.

The MySQL packages ship with Ubuntu but not with Debian, which only offers MariaDB. On Debian, first add the official MySQL APT repository, and the same toggle or packages then work.

Choosing MySQL at install time is not available on EL systems, where only MariaDB is supported. On an EL system, MySQL can only be set up after the installation is done by adding the official MySQL repository, removing the MariaDB packages together with the /var/lib/mysql data directory, installing the MySQL server packages, and re-running the database configuration with virtualmin-config-system --include MySQL. Removing the data directory deletes all existing databases, so do this on a freshly installed system or back them up first.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is not installed by default. The easiest way to include it in the initial install is the PostgreSQL toggle under the install command on the Download page, which adds the right flags for your OS family. Doing it by hand, add --include PostgreSQL to your virtualmin-install.sh command, plus --extra postgresql,postgresql-server on EL systems or --extra postgresql,postgresql-client on Debian and derivatives. You can also skip MariaDB setup with --exclude MariaDB.

If Virtualmin is already installed, install the PostgreSQL packages for your OS, then run virtualmin-config-system --include PostgreSQL and lastly turn the PostgreSQL feature on in the “System Settings ⇾ Features and Plugins” page.

Questions install script might ask you

Depending on your OS and the state of your system, the installer may ask a few questions.

Fully qualified domain name

If your system doesn’t have a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), full installs that include mail will stop and ask you to set one. For minimal installs, it isn’t required.

Use a name like host.example.com, not a name you’ll host in Virtualmin itself. For example, if you’ll host the virtualmin.com domain, you can call the system host.virtualmin.com, but not virtualmin.com.

Completing the installation

Once you’ve answered any questions, installation continues automatically. After a few minutes, your system will be ready to use with Virtualmin.

If the TLS certificate request succeeded and your hostname resolves correctly, log in at:

https://your-hostname:10000

This will usually avoid SSL warnings, since the certificate is issued for your hostname.

If DNS isn’t set up yet or the certificate request failed, you can still log in using your server’s IP address:

https://your-ip:10000

In that case, you’ll see an SSL warning. You can safely continue and fix the certificate after setup.

Log in as root or any sudo-capable user. You’ll be guided through a short post-installation wizard. After that, click Check Configuration at the top of the List Virtual Servers page to let Virtualmin verify that everything is ready.

Getting logged in

In most cases, you can just log in to Virtualmin with your sudo-capable user instead of root.

If you specifically want to log in as root and it doesn’t have a password (common on cloud images that use SSH keys), set one with:

sudo passwd root