HB Computer Security | Aide Memoire
  • Introduction
  • Core Technical Skills
    • Core Skills
      • Linux
        • Getting to Know Linux
          • Using the Shell
            • Shells, Terminals, and Virtual Consoles
            • Choose your Shell
            • Shell Commands
              • Non-PATH Commands
              • Command History
                • Command Line Editing
                  • Keystrokes for Navigating Command Lines
                  • Keystrokes for Editing Command Lines
                  • Keystrokes for Cutting and Pasting Text from within Command Lines
                • Command Line Recall
                  • Keystrokes for Command Line Recall
              • Connecting and Expanding Commands
                • Piping Between Commands
                • Sequential Commands
                • Expanding Commands
            • Shell Variables
              • Common Shell Variables
            • Aliases
            • Create your Own Shell Environment
              • Modification Ideas
          • Navigating the Linux File System (LFS)
            • Filesystem Commands
            • Listing Files and Directories
            • File Permissions and Ownership
              • Modifying Permissions with chmod
              • Modifying Default Permissions with umask
              • Change File Ownership with chown
            • Copying, Moving, and Removing Files
            • Finding Files
              • locate
              • find
              • grep
            • Downloading Files
              • axel
              • wget
              • curl
                • User-Agent: Googlebot
          • Working with Text Files
            • Using vim and vi to Edit Text Files
              • Starting with vi
              • Adding Text
              • Moving Around in the Text
            • Text Manipulation
        • System Administration
          • Installing Linux
            • Installing from Live Media
            • Installing in the Enterprise
            • Partitioning Hard Disks
              • Tips for Creating Partitions
          • Account Administration
            • The root Account
              • Becoming root with su
              • sudo
                • The /etc/sudoers File
                • Granting sudo privileges
                  • visudo Guidance
                • Useful sudo Hints
            • Other Administrative Accounts
            • Standard User Accounts
              • Risks of userdel: Orphaned Files
          • Graphical Remote Administration
            • Cockpit
              • Installation Guide
            • Remote Desktop Protocol with xrdp
              • Installation and Configuration
            • Remote Desktop with vnc
              • Installation and Configuration
              • Running VNC as a System Service
          • Managing Running Processes
            • Listing Processes
              • ps
              • top
              • htop
            • Backgrounding and Foregrounding
              • Starting a Background Process
              • Using Foreground and Background Commands
            • Killing and Recining Processes
              • kill and killall
          • Managing Software
            • Managing Software from the Desktop
            • Going Beyond the Limitations of Software Center
              • Debian Packages
                • Advanced Package Tool (apt)
                • Repositories
                • dpkg
        • Shell Scripting
          • Variables
            • Command Substitution
            • Arguments
          • Reading User Input
          • if, else, and elif
          • BOOLEAN Logic
          • Loops
            • for Loops
            • while Loops
          • Functions
          • Local Vs Global Variables
          • Summary
        • Securing Linux
      • Windows
        • Security Hardening
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  1. Core Technical Skills
  2. Core Skills
  3. Linux
  4. System Administration
  5. Graphical Remote Administration

Cockpit

PreviousGraphical Remote AdministrationNextInstallation Guide

Last updated 1 year ago

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Cockpit is the best browser-based Linux system administration tool that I have seen. It provides a unified interface for a multitude of administrative tasks. It harnesses various Linux APIs through the cockpit-bridge, but as an administrator, the key takeaway is the consistency and stability Cockpit offers for system management.

Initiating Cockpit is a breeze – simply activate the cockpit service, and then navigate to the Cockpit interface using a web browser. Its modular nature means it's constantly evolving; you can integrate new plugins to enhance your management console, which we'll discuss in more detail later.

After installation, to access the interface remotely, direct your web browser to TCP port 9090 on the server, using either the hostname or IP address. By default, Cockpit secures this port using HTTPS, but you have the option to switch to HTTP if necessary."

If you've retained the self-signed certificate generated during the initial setup of Cockpit, your browser will likely flag up a security warning upon connection. This is standard practice for self-signed certificates.

To proceed, you'll need to bypass the warning. Depending on which web browser you're using, this typically involves clicking on 'Advanced' and then accepting the risk or adding an exception, thereby granting you access to the Cockpit interface.

You will then be presented with a login screen. Here, you can enter your username and password as you would if you were logging in locally or via SSH. Use the root user, or a user with sudo privileges if you want to change your system configuration. A regular user can see, but cannot change most settings:

The default Cockpit dashboard comes packed with a robust suite of features, with an extensive array of additional functionalities available for integration, especially on RHEL and Fedora systems. It presents you with real-time system metrics, including CPU, memory and swap usage, as well as disk I/O and network activity.

The left-hand navigation pane is your gateway to a wealth of system management tasks — from perusing logs, managing storage and network configurations, to handling user and group accounts, services, and more.

Cockpit login screen for a RHEL server
A view of the Cockpit interface once authenticated