If you want to use all the features of PureAdmin, there are a few things you should have in mind before compiling.

First of all; the logfile viewer depends on a service called FAM (File Alteration Monitor) which lets pureadmin watch for changes in the logfile and print them whenever they occurr. FAM is included in most linux distributions, but may be disabled by default. FAM is also available for other UNIX like systems, such as *BSD and Solaris. More info on what FAM is can be found here.

There is also a compatible project called gamin that can be used instead of ordinary FAM. Ubuntu uses this for instance. PureAdmin will work with either one of them.

Make sure that it is installed by using your distributions package manager. Then check to see if it is running, normally throught a system called inetd. In RedHat and similar, there is a utility called "Services" in the GNOME/KDE config menus that can be used to enable FAM. Other distributions may have other similar tools to enable services.
In Slackware, you have to make sure that the line:

If you wish to view what's going on on your ftp server (probably the reason you're using PureAdmin in the first place) you must make sure that pure-ftpd is compiled with pure-ftpwho support. If the program "pure-ftpwho" exists on your system, then you have pureftpd properly setup.

To manage ftp users, PureAdmin uses pureftpds' built in virtual users. These are users that only exists in pureftpd and can only log in to the FTP server and not through other means such as ssh, telnet etc.
Make sure that pureftpd is compiled with puredb support. If the program pure-pw exists, then pureftpd is correctly compiled.

To install from source, you need to have the following installed:

• A compiler and basic development tools (gcc, ld etc.)
• Development versions of the following software:
  • GTK+ (2.0 or higher)
  • Glade/libglade (2.0 or higher)
  • FAM/Gamin
  These should be available from your distribution/vendor.

1. Unpack the source:
   
   tar xvfpz pureadmin-<version>.tar.gz
   cd pureadmin-<version>
2. Configure and compile the source:
   
   ./configure
   make
3. Install the program, this step must be performed with system administration rights. On most distributions, this is done with the program 'su':
   su -c "make install"
   <Enter root password>
   Some distributions, such as Ubuntu, use 'sudo' instead:
   sudo make install
   <Enter your password>
4. All is done, start the program by typing:
   
   pureadmin
   There should also be a menu entry in your "System Tools" menu.

Here are some hints to make PureFTPd work good with PureAdmin.

PureFTPd should be compiled with (atleast) the following switches: