ISP//Website hosting scripts (like cpanel) -- Requesting input

[LordVader]

Was wondering if anyone here has used any open source cpanel type scripts to manage hosting websites, handling: resellers/clients/sites etc.

I've been playing with ISPConfig on debian and ubuntu some it seems to be descent.
Only draw back I can see is their is no chrooted ssh by default, it's only available if the system itself has a ssh server that supports chrooting.
Keep in mind that you can turn this option on if the system supports it..
It just isn't installed and setup thru the ISPConfig installer by default(yet).

ISPConfig is a very basic frontend handles mostly everything and is constantly being updated/improved on, some minor oddities is how user names are created.
Instead of a doing user@domain.com it just does webid#_user by default or domain_username.
You can edit in a few hacks to change how specific services(email,ftp etc.) authenticate users via user@domain.com fairly easilly it's just not setup that way by default(yet).

Anyway mostly was just wanting input for solutions like ISPConfig other people have found usefull and also any security concerns to be watching.
Such as users being able to read/write files they shouldn't be able to and things like that if their in a non chrooted ssh/ftp environment etc..

[chuck]

I've had no problems with ISPConfig so far. Although, I just started using it a little over two weeks ago, I find it easier to manage than a just command-line server.

I've noticed no secutity problems so far, but I'm using it for a private internal server. I'd recommend installing chkrootkit and setting it to scan once a day, mailing the results to an off-site email address.

DenyHosts is another thing you should install. It add hosts that fail to authenticate properly in a ssh connection more than a set limit to /etc/hosts.deny

FTP should be chrooted, and SSH too if you only want your users to be able to use a few basic commands.

The main things I find annoying about ISPConfig is that the currency is hard to change from EUR's, and the users are formed as webID_user/domain_user.

[LordVader]

yah im using chrootkit, and rkhunter as described in this how-to http://www.howtoforge.com/faq/1_38_en.html for info on the setup..
If you go into the forums of that site there is a section speficially for ISPConfig with tips/tricks/hacks etc.. I've found very usefull. Falko and Till on those forums are lead developers for ISPConfig so it's a good place to ask questions and get good answers.

The user naming conventions are annoying, but i've already found a good method to alter the email login/username in the forums of the site I linked to above just dig thru the tips/tricks area's or pm me ill show you where to look or help get it setup..


As far as denyhosts i've found the tool called fail2ban to be bit more usefull, it works by reading log files of various programs apache, several different ftp programs, openssh, postfix, and courier etc.. it looks for failed logins via regex seaches.. which means you can add custom entry's to monitor pretty much anything that keeps a logfile somewhere.
Can find some more info on it here for debian/ubuntu: http://www.howtoforge.com/fail2ban_debian_etch

[LordVader]

-bump-

So no body uses any other open source cpanel type hosting solutions?

I've heard of a few other's but not heard much about any of them.. was hoping someone here had..

I'll list some for future reference for myself and anyone else:
http://wht.sourceforge.net/
http://www.gplhost.com/software-dtc.html

a list of some comparisons:
http://www.gplhost.com/software-dtc_9competitors.html

I may try each out in vmware and see how I like them, i'll post back some more info if i do.

*Update:
In regards to ISPConfig, version 3.0 which a beta is due sometime around july thru oct I believe, it will have the option to install fully integrated system or to be a hub/server or a client/server..
Meaning you can install one central ispconfig instance to work as an admin "hub" of sorts, and then install client instances on other machines that connect to and work with the "hub" to be the workhorses which sounds very interesting.
It should allow loadbalancing and alot of other features that are currently not directly provided easilly in ISPConfig.
Among other things, so we shall see I'm currently planning to move away from ISPConfig to my own custom scripts as I don't need to manage 1000's of sites/users/services..
I may choose to stay with it as their doing a very good job and I find help on the forums rather easilly if I have problems or questions.. so who knows heh.