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Webmin VS Terraform

Compare Webmin VS Terraform and see what are their differences

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Webmin logo Webmin

Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix.

Terraform logo Terraform

Tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently.
  • Webmin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-08
  • Terraform Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-24

Webmin features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Webmin provides a user-friendly web interface that simplifies the management of Unix-based systems. It allows administrators to perform complex configurations without needing to use the command line.
  • Comprehensive Management
    It supports a wide range of modules for managing various services and servers, including Apache, MySQL, DNS, and many more. This makes it a versatile tool for system administration.
  • Remote Management
    Webmin facilitates remote management of servers, which means administrators can manage systems from anywhere with internet access, enhancing flexibility and convenience.
  • Extensibility
    Webmin's modular architecture allows for easy extension and customization. Administrators can add or remove modules as needed, tailoring the tool to fit specific requirements.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, Webmin is free to use, and its source code is accessible for modification, contributing to a large community and continuous improvements.

Possible disadvantages of Webmin

  • Security Concerns
    As Webmin is accessible via a web interface, it can be a target for web-based attacks if not properly secured. Administrators must ensure proper security measures are in place.
  • Performance Overhead
    Running Webmin adds an additional layer on top of the usual system processes, which can potentially introduce some performance overhead, especially on resource-constrained systems.
  • Complex Configuration
    While it simplifies many tasks, Webmin can still be complex to set up initially, especially for less experienced administrators who may find the multitude of options overwhelming.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Certain Webmin features may not be fully compatible with all Linux distributions or versions, which can lead to inconsistencies and potential bugs in functionality.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, there is still a learning curve associated with effectively using all of Webmin's features and understanding the implications of configurations made through it.

Terraform features and specs

  • Infrastructure as Code
    Terraform allows you to define your infrastructure in configuration files that can be versioned and stored in a version control system. This makes it easy to track changes, roll back if necessary, and collaborate with team members.
  • Multi-Cloud Support
    Terraform supports various cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and others. This allows you to manage your entire infrastructure using a single tool, regardless of the underlying provider.
  • Immutability
    Terraform promotes immutable infrastructure, meaning once a component is created, it is not modified in place but replaced if changes are needed. This leads to more predictable and stable deployments.
  • State Management
    Terraform maintains the state of your infrastructure, which helps in tracking resource changes over time and making incremental updates. This is crucial for applying changes in a controlled manner.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    Terraform has a large and active community, along with a rich ecosystem of providers and modules. This makes it easier to find support, share solutions, and leverage pre-built components.

Possible disadvantages of Terraform

  • Complex State Management
    While state management is a significant feature, managing state files can become complex and risky. Issues like state file corruption or sharing between team members can lead to challenges.
  • Learning Curve
    Terraform has a steep learning curve for beginners, especially those who are not familiar with infrastructure as code concepts or the HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL).
  • Partial Updates
    Terraform's plan and apply operations are not atomic, meaning that partial updates can sometimes leave your infrastructure in an inconsistent state if an error occurs during execution.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies between resources can be challenging in Terraform. Misconfigured dependencies can lead to issues during resource creation, deletion, or updates.
  • Cost Management
    While Terraform is excellent for provisioning resources, it does not have built-in cost management or optimization features. Users need to rely on third-party tools to manage and optimize costs.

Analysis of Webmin

Overall verdict

  • Webmin is generally considered a good tool for managing Unix-like servers due to its user-friendly design and comprehensive feature set. However, users should be aware of the potential security risks associated with using a web-based administration tool and ensure it is properly secured.

Why this product is good

  • Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration on Unix-like systems. It allows users to manage server configurations, such as user accounts, DNS settings, and file sharing, all from a web browser. Its many modules and easy-to-use interface make it a popular choice for managing Linux servers efficiently.

Recommended for

  • System administrators needing a graphical interface for Linux server management.
  • Users who prefer web-based interfaces over command-line tools.
  • Small to medium-sized businesses looking for an easy-to-use server management solution.
  • Educational institutions teaching server management and Linux administration.

Analysis of Terraform

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Terraform is considered a robust and effective tool for infrastructure automation. It’s ideal for organizations seeking to streamline their deployment processes, ensure consistency across environments, and automate the lifecycle of their resources. Its flexibility and provider ecosystem make it a valuable asset for teams working in multi-cloud or hybrid environments.

Why this product is good

  • Terraform, developed by HashiCorp, is widely regarded as an excellent tool for infrastructure as code (IaC) due to its ability to provision and manage infrastructure across multiple cloud providers. It offers a consistent CLI workflow, and its HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language) is powerful yet simple, allowing users to define complex infrastructure configurations in a human-readable format. Terraform’s state management, modules, and community support further contribute to its strengths, enabling efficient resource management and scalability.

Recommended for

    Terraform is particularly recommended for DevOps teams, infrastructure engineers, and IT professionals looking to implement infrastructure as code practices. It's also suitable for organizations aiming to adopt DevOps methodologies, enhance their cloud infrastructure management, or manage complex infrastructure at scale. Additionally, teams operating in multi-cloud environments or those looking to automate infrastructure changes can greatly benefit from using Terraform.

Webmin videos

How to Use and Install Webmin to Control Linux

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Webmin Install, Setup, & Tutorial and a brief comparison to Cockpit at the end
  • Review - Webmin | Manage Your Linux Server from the Web

Terraform videos

Wampler Terraform | Reverb Tone Report Demo

More videos:

  • Review - MOD PEDAL POWERHOUSE! Wampler TERRAFORM
  • Demo - IT'S FINALLY HERE! | Wampler Terraform Demo | It's as good as you hoped!!!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Webmin and Terraform)
Control Panels
100 100%
0% 0
DevOps Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Hosting
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Webmin and Terraform

Webmin Reviews

Top 12 Best VPS Control Panels for 2025
Webmin VPS also offers a variety of other features that are useful for web hosting. Its dashboard shows CPU and RAM statistics, which allow you to see your server’s performance. You can also manage firewall rules, schedule cron jobs, and manage users.
Explore Top VestaCP Alternative: Find the Perfect Control Panel for Your Hosting Needs
Webmin is a resilient web-based control panel, offering an array of meticulously designed tools to manage diverse functionalities within Linux-based servers. Primarily geared towards Unix-like systems, Webmin provides a notable substitute for Plesk. Through the ease of a web browser, users gain the ability to perform a multitude of tasks – ranging from user account setup to...
Source: cyberpanel.net
10 Most Popular Free Web Hosting Control Panels You Need To Know
Webmin is also a open-source and free software utility, and it is available for Unix-like operating systems, and including Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, and Fedora. Webmin also provide virtualmin module to manage virtual hosts through Graphical single user interface like cpanel ,plesk or cwp panel. It also support LEMP or LAMP based host and It also support all other features like...
Top cPanel Alternatives worth trying in 2022
Webmin is good and all, but it doesn’t work for everyone so unexpectedly. Therefore, we have a CentOS Web Panel that absolutely fills in the shoes of Webmin especially when you have VPS, the private virtual server. CentOS is good at distribution and administrating Apache Web Servers, Firewalls, Nginx reverse proxy, and much more. All the great features about this one are...
6 cPanel Alternatives
You’ll only be able to install and fully manage certain system services from the terminal. For those reasons Webmin may be best suited for staging environments. If you choose Webmin, be sure to prioritize system hardening methods beforehand.

Terraform Reviews

Do not use AWS CloudFormation
Terraform, on the other hand, will occupy your shell until the directly-involved AWS service coughs up an error. No additional tooling is required. Terraform will just relay the error message from the affected service indicating what you’ve done wrong.
Top 5 Ansible Alternatives in 2022: Server Automation Solutions by Alexander Fashakin on the 19th Aug 2021 facebook Linked In Twitter
Although Terraform and Ansible are both server automation tools, there are still a few significant differences between the two. For example, Terraform is declarative while Ansible allows for both procedural configurations and declarative configurations. Also, Ansible works best as a configuration management tool while Terraform leans towards cloud orchestration.
35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
Terraform is compatible with a wide range of Cloud providers, including Azure, VMWare, and AWS. If you’re subscribed to multiple cloud providers, Terraform is a great way to ensure that they have consistent configurations.
Why we use Terraform and not Chef, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, or CloudFormation
Example: Terraform and Ansible. You use Terraform to deploy all the underlying infrastructure, including the network topology (i.e., VPCs, subnets, route tables), data stores (e.g., MySQL, Redis), load balancers, and servers. You then use Ansible to deploy your apps on top of those servers.This is an easy approach to start with, as there is no extra infrastructure to run...
Ansible overtakes Chef and Puppet as the top cloud configuration management tool
Breaking these results down year-over-year, use of Ansible grew from 36% in 2018 to 41% in 2019--surpassing Chef, which grew from 36% to 37%, as well as Puppet, which grew from 34% to 37%. Rounding out the list is Terraform, which experienced a jump from 20% to 31%, and Salt, which increased in usage from 13% to 18%.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Terraform should be more popular than Webmin. It has been mentiond 32 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Webmin mentions (16)

  • Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers
    What about webmin? I used it in the past, it has plenty of modules and parse config, so you can edit them by hand too. https://webmin.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Cockpit: Web-based graphical interface for servers
    Why use this when Webmin has done the job for decades? https://webmin.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Total beginner here, trying to find an alternative to something like windows “storage spaces”
    Https://webmin.com/ can be used as a GUI for mdadm if you're not comfortable with a console. Source: about 2 years ago
  • ESXI on old desktop
    If you want to roll your own virtualisation box, I would suggest either Debian or OpenSUSE TW with one of these tools, for everything else, I suggest Webmin. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Cant figure out how my disk pace is spread
    You could also just install webmin https://webmin.com and use the web-interface to resize your logical volumes and volume groups... Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Terraform mentions (32)

  • Scaffolding Serverless Web Application on AWS
    Terraform is an infrastructure as code tool that lets you build, change, and version infrastructure safely and efficiently. Terraform code is in the terraform directory. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Integrating Terraform with CI/CD Pipelines
    In recent years, there has been a significant shift towards automation of infrastructure deployment processes. One popular tool that has emerged as a key player in this space is Terraform, an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) software tool developed by HashiCorp. This article will explore how Terraform can be integrated into continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines using GitHub Actions as an... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Deploying Your Outdoor Activities Map with Terraform
    Terraform is an open-source infrastructure-as-code software tool created by HashiCorp. It allows you to define and manage your infrastructure as code, making it easy to provision and manage resources across multiple cloud providers. With Terraform, you can ensure consistent and repeatable deployments, making it an ideal choice for automating your cloud infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Trigger CI using Terraform Cloud
    Continuous Integration(CI) pipelines needs a target infrastructure to which the CI artifacts are deployed. The deployments are handled by CI or we can leverage Continuous Deployment pipelines. Modern day architecture uses automation tools like terraform, ansible to provision the target infrastructure, this type of provisioning is called IaaC. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Using Let's Encrypt with the Puppet Enterprise console
    Had an itch I've been meaning to scratch for a while. I build my Puppet environment using Terraform, which makes it nice and easy to tear things down and rebuild them. That is great, but it does leave me with an issue when it comes to the console SSL certificates. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Webmin and Terraform, you can also consider the following products

cPanel - With its first-class support and rich feature set, cPanel & WHM has been the web hosting industry's most reliable, intuitive control panel since 1997.

Rancher - Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service

CyberPanel - CyberPanel is web hosting control which is based on OpenLiteSpeed.

Puppet Enterprise - Get started with Puppet Enterprise, or upgrade or expand.

Vesta Control Panel - – What I love about Vesta is that it's fast and easy to use

Packer - Packer is an open-source software for creating identical machine images from a single source configuration.