The old Server Manager

This chapter describes the old Server Manager web interface. Since NethServer 7.9 it must be installed from the Software center page as it is not included in the default installation procedure.

Warning

New features of NethServer are not available in this web interface. Backward compatibility may break at any time. It is recommended to use the new Server Manager. See Accessing the Server Manager and Base system.

Getting started

You need a web browser like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome to access the old Server Manager web interface using the address (URL) https://a.b.c.d:980 or https://server_name:980 where a.b.c.d and server_name respectively are the server IP address and name configured during installation.

If the Web server module is installed, you can also access the web interface using the address https://server_name/server-manager.

The Server Manager uses self-signed SSL certificates. You should explicitly accept them the first time you access the server. The connection is safe and encrypted.

Login

The login page allows selecting an alternative language among those already installed on the system. After logging in, additional language packs can be installed from the Software center page under the Languages category.

The login page will give you a trusted access to the web interface. Log in as root and type the password chosen during NethServer installation.

Note

The unattended install procedure sets the root password to the default Nethesis,1234.

Change the current password

You can change the root password from the web interface by going to the root@host.domain.com label on the upper right corner of the screen and clicking on Profile.

Logout

Terminate the current Server Manager session by going to the root@host.domain.com label on the upper right corner of the screen and by clicking on Logout.

Session timeouts

By default (starting from NethServer 7.5.1804), a Server Manager session terminates after 60 minutes of inactivity (idle timeout) and expires 8 hours after the login (session life time).

The following shell command sets 2 hours of idle timeout, and 16 hours of maximum session life time. Time is expressed in seconds:

config setprop httpd-admin MaxSessionIdleTime 7200 MaxSessionLifeTime 57600

To disable the timeouts

config setprop httpd-admin MaxSessionIdleTime '' MaxSessionLifeTime ''

The new timeout values will affect new sessions. They do not change any active session.

Dashboard

The Dashboard page is the landing page after a successful login. The page will display the status and configuration of the system.

Disk analyzer

This tool is used to visualize disk usage in a simple and nice graph in which you can interact with, click, and double click to navigate in the directories tree.

After installation go to the Dashboard, and then Disk usage tab, and click Update in order to index the root directory and display the graph. This process can take several minutes depending on the occupied disk space.

Well known folders are:

  • Shared folders: /var/lib/nethserver/ibay

  • User home directories: /var/lib/nethserver/home

  • Mail: /var/lib/nethserver/vmail

  • Faxes: /var/lib/nethserver/fax

  • MySQL databases: /var/lib/mysql

Network

The Network page configures how the server is connected to the local network (LAN) and/or other networks (i.e. Internet).

If the server has firewall and gateway functionality, it will handle extra networks with special functions like DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) and guests network.

NethServer supports an unlimited number of network interfaces. Any network managed by the system must follow these rules:

  • networks must be physically separated (multiple networks can’t be connected to the same switch/hub)

  • networks must be logically separated: each network must have different addresses

  • private networks, like LANs, must follow address’s convention from RFC1918 document

Every network interface has a specific role which determines its behavior. All roles are identified by colors. Each role corresponds to a well-known zone with special network traffic rules:

  • green: local network (green role/zone). Hosts on this network can access any other configured network

  • blue: guests network (blue role/zone). Hosts on this network can access orange and red networks, but can’t access the green network

  • orange: DMZ network (orange role/zone). Hosts on this network can access red network, but can’t access to blue and green networks

  • red: public network (red role/zone). Hosts on this network can access only the server itself

See Policy for more information on roles and firewall rules.

Note

The server must have at least one network interface. When the server has only one interface, this interface must have green role.

If the server is installed on a public VPS (Virtual Private Server), it should must be configured with a green interface. All critical services should be closed using Network services panel.

Alias IP

Use alias IP to assign more IP addresses to the same NIC.

The most common use is with a red interface: when the ISP provides a pool of public IP addresses (within the same subnet) you can add some (or all) of them to the same red interface and manage them individually (e.g. in the port forward configuration).

Alias IP section can be found in the dropdown menu of the related network interface.

Note

Alias IPs on PPPoE interface could not work properly, due to different implementations of the service made by internet providers.

Logical interfaces

In Network page press the New interface button to create a logical interface. Supported logical interfaces are:

  • bond: arrange two or more network interfaces (provides load balancing and fault tolerance)

  • bridge: connect two different networks (it’s often used for bridged VPN and virtual machine)

  • VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network): create two or more logically separated networks using a single interface

  • PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet): connect to Internet through a DSL modem

Bonds allow you to aggregate bandwidth or tolerate link faults. Bonds can be configured in multiple modes.

Modes providing load balancing and fault tolerance:

  • Balance Round Robin (recommended)

  • Balance XOR

  • 802.3ad (LACP): it requires support at driver level and a switch with IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic link aggregation mode enabled

  • Balance TLB: it requires support at driver level

  • Balance ALB

Modes providing fault tolerance only:

  • Active backup (recommended)

  • Broadcast policy

A bridge has the function to connect different network segments, for example by allowing virtual machines, or client connected using a VPN, to access to the local network (green).

When it is not possible to physically separate two different networks, you can use a tagged VLAN. The traffic of the two networks can be transmitted on the same cable, but it will be handled as if it were sent and received on separate network cards. The use of VLAN, requires properly configured switches.

Warning

The PPPoE logical interface must be assigned the red role, thus requires the gateway functionality. See Firewall for details.

Network services

A remote system can connect to a network service, which is a software running on NethServer itself.

Each service has a list of “open” ports on which it answers to connections. Connections can be accepted from selected zones. More fine-grained control of access to network services can be configured from the Firewall rules page.

Trusted networks

Trusted networks are special networks (local, VPNs or remote) allowed to access special server’s services.

For example, hosts inside trusted networks can access to:

  • Server Manager

  • Shared folders (SAMBA)

If the remote network is reachable using a router, remember to add a static route inside Static routes page.

Static routes

This page allow to create special static routes which will use the specified gateway. These routes are usually used to connect private network.

Remember to add the network to Trusted networks, if you wish to allow remote hosts to access local services.

Organization contacts

The Organization contacts page fields are used as default values for user accounts. The organization name and address are also displayed on the old Server Manager login screen.

Server certificate

The Server certificate page shows the currently installed X.509 certificates, and the default one provided by system services for TLS/SSL encrypted communications.

NethServer checks the certificates validity and sends an email to the root user if a certificate is near to expire.

The Set as default button allows choosing the default certificate. When a new certificate is chosen, all services using TLS/SSL are restarted and network clients will be required to accept the new certificate.

When NethServer is installed a default RSA self-signed certificate is generated. It should be edited by inserting proper values before configuring the network clients to use it. When the self-signed certificate is due to expire a new one is automatically generated from the same RSA key and with the same attributes.

The Server certificate page also allows:

  • uploading an existing certificate and private RSA/ECC key. Optionally a certificate chain file can be specified, too. All files must be PEM-encoded.

  • requesting a new Let’s Encrypt 1 certificate. This is possible if the following requirements are met:

    1. The server must be reachable from outside at port 80. Make sure your port 80 is open to the public Internet (you can check with sites like 2);

    2. The domains that you want the certificate for must be public domain names associated to server own public IP. Make sure you have public DNS name pointing to your server (you can check with sites like 3).

      Wildcard certificates (i.e. *.nethserver.org) are not supported.

    The Notification email will be used by Let’s Encrypt to send notifications about the certificate.

    The Let’s Encrypt certificate is automatically renewd 30 days before expiration date.

Note

To avoid problems while importing the certificate in Internet Explorer, the Common Name (CN) field should match the server FQDN.

1

Let’s Encrypt website https://letsencrypt.org/

2

Website http://www.canyouseeme.org/

3

Website http://viewdns.info/

Disable Let’s Encrypt

Let’s Encrypt certificate can be disabled following these steps:

  1. Access the Server certificate page, set as default the self-signed certificate or an uploaded one

  2. Open the shell and execute the following commands:

    rm -rf /etc/letsencrypt/{accounts,archive,csr,keys,live,renewal}
    config setprop pki LetsEncryptDomains ''
    

Shutdown

The machine where NethServer is installed can be rebooted or halted from the Shutdown page. Choose an option (reboot or halt) then click on submit button.

Always use this module to avoid bad shutdown which can cause data damages.

Log viewer

All services will save operations inside files called logs. The log analysis is the main tool to find and resolve problems. To analyze log files click in Log viewer.

This module allows to:

  • start search on all server’s logs

  • display a single log

  • follow the content of a log in real time

Date and time

After installation, make sure the server is configured with the correct timezone. The machine clock can be configured manually or automatically using public NTP servers (preferred).

The machine clock is very important in many protocols. To avoid problems, all hosts in LAN can be configured to use the server as NTP server.

Inline help

All packages inside the Server Manager contain an inline help. The inline help explains how the module works and all available options.

These help pages are available in all Server Manager’s languages.

A list of all available inline help pages can be found at the address:

https://<server>:980/<language>/Help

Example

If the server has address 192.168.1.2, and you want to see all English help pages, use this address:

https://192.168.1.2:980/en/Help