cockpit

cockpit [OPTION…]

-h, --help
    Print help information and exit

-V, --version
    Print version information and exit

-p, --port PORT
    TCP port to listen on (default: 9090)

-a, --address ADDRESS
    Listen on specific IP address (default: all interfaces)

-c, --control PORT
    Control port for API access (default: random)

-s, --syslog
    Log to syslog instead of journal

-j, --json-log
    Log in JSON format to stderr

-u, --uid UID
    Drop privileges to specific user ID

-g, --gid GID
    Drop privileges to specific group ID

--no-tls
    Disable TLS (insecure, for testing only)

-C, --cert CERTIFICATE
    Path to TLS certificate file

-K, --known-hosts FILE
    Path to SSH known_hosts file

Cockpit is a free, open-source web console for managing and monitoring Linux servers. It provides a modern graphical interface accessible via any web browser, enabling administrators to perform complex tasks intuitively without deep command-line knowledge.

Core capabilities include real-time system monitoring (CPU, memory, disk, network), service management, log viewing, user and group administration, software updates, storage configuration (LVM, RAID), networking setup, container orchestration (Podman, Docker), and virtual machine control (via libvirt).

Cockpit runs as a systemd service, typically activated with systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket. It supports TLS by default for secure access and multi-host management, allowing connection to remote servers from a single dashboard. Lightweight and extensible via plugins, it's ideal for sysadmins handling multiple machines across distributions like Fedora, RHEL, Ubuntu, Debian, and openSUSE.

Security features include PAM authentication, session isolation, and integration with SELinux/AppArmor. No client software is needed—connect via https://server:9090.

Requires systemd; primarily for servers (not desktops); web access needs firewall opening on port 9090; enable TLS in production; root access limited to approved actions for security.

Install via package manager: dnf install cockpit (Fedora/RHEL), apt install cockpit (Debian/Ubuntu). Enable with systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket.

Open browser to https://localhost:9090 or remote IP. Login with system credentials; supports sudo for elevated tasks.

Extend via packages like cockpit-machines, cockpit-podman, cockpit-storaged for specialized management.

Developed by Red Hat starting in 2014 as an alternative to SSH/CLI management. First stable release in Fedora 21 (2014); now maintained by Cockpit Project with contributions from multiple distros. Major versions align with Fedora/RHEL cycles, adding features like Kubernetes support (v250+) and performance improvements.

systemctl(1), cockpit-bridge(8), cockpit-ws(8), podman(1), virsh(1)