Hello. I'm creating an intranet that will service about 90 people. My OS is Xubuntu 10.04. My webserver is Apache and I use Webmin to interface with it.

So after about 4 hours, the last of which I nearly pulled my hair out, I got Webmin to log me in. Now I need to figure out how to accomplish the following tasks:

1. Get the site to show up all over the LAN. In the beginning, the server (P3/512K/40g hd) was on a switch on 192.x.y.z and would only show up on other computers on the switch. Now it's in the wall at 10.x.y.z. But how can I be sure everyone will have access to it? From end to beginning, the network setup is switch --> wall whose wires go to a patch panel --> gigabit switch (connected to cable modem) or megabit switch (connected to wired/wireless router) --> wired/wireless router --> cable modem --> cable company. The other tech guy says to plug it into the gigabit switch. I think the cable modem would be better. The cable company provides 5 static IPs through the cable modem. Who's right?

2. We want to call this computer "helpdesk" or make it so that a user on the network would only have to type "helpdesk" in their browser to get to it. Is that even possible, and if so, how? If not, what is the smallest number of characters I can have them type to get there -- DNS/IP binding?

3. I need to be able to access this creature from anyplace on the planet. Right now, I can't get to it, so how do I make this intranet available on the internet?

4. Minor -- I always get this certificate warning when I access Webmin. Is there a way to stop this?

Sorry if all that gives you a headache. Thanks for the help!

1. It sounds like plugging into the gigabit switch is the right answer. You probably have a limited number of ports in the cable modem and plenty in the gigabit switch and either should work properly. However, I may not have a proper understanding of your network setup since your description is difficult to follow.

2. You need to add an entry to your DNS server (assuming you have one). It needs to be a forward lookup for "helpdesk" to the IP address of the server. If the client is configured to point to that DNS server and you have the right suffix, when they type "helpdesk" into the browser address field, it goes to the correct location.

3. You can make the server available only on the Internet or only in the local network with a single NIC. If you add another NIC, you can have it on both at the same time. You can put it only on the Internet and then require local users to access it via the Internet by putting the correct address in the DNS server (described in #2 above). To make a NIC available on the Internet, you need to give it one of the IP addresses from your cable service provider. You may need to do some provisioning in the cable modem for it to allow the IP address through.

4. It sounds like you are accessing webmin with "https://<server name>:<port>". Try accessing it using "http://<server name>:<port>" instead. That might do the trick. Otherwise, it's probably best to just live with the certificate error message.

I thought no one was going to answer! I have been checking every 30 minutes. I actually tried to make that description as easy as possible. Next time I'll just attach a pic.

So, the gigabit switch is totally filled (48 ports). There's one free one on the cable modem though. As of this moment, the server is connected to the free port on the cable modem. So if anyone on that network types 10.1.10.54 in their browser, they get to the site.

This is where your points 2 and 3 comes in. I will try it tomorrow and let you know what happens. I will first try to get it to work with just "helpdesk", then I will try to get it to work from the outer world.

As for #4, it forces you to use "https://". It's not a hassle, just slightly annoying.

Unfortunately, this is turning out to be much harder than I anticipated. I'm going to need a walk-through on both issues. I can't even figure out where in Webmin to put the info to make "helpdesk" go to 10.1.10.13 (noticed the IP changed here).

Strangely, I used to be able to get to the Webmin control panel (10.1.10.13:10000) from any computer on the network because I'd get the certificate warning. Now it's sporadic or I can't.

Also, I got the domain name, but I am not sure how to configure the Webmin side. I can do the Netfirms side pretty easily. Most of the instructions I have found online are outdated (for inter- and intranet), so if someone could help or point me to a fresh tutorial, that would be fantastic. Thanks!