Cockpit Dashboard

Cockpit is a lightweight, web-based graphical interface for managing Linux servers. It’s designed to simplify routine administrative tasks through an intuitive dashboard, making it ideal for system administrators who prefer visual tools.

Installing Cockpit on Debian

Enable Backports:

. /etc/os-release
echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list
apt update

Install Cockpit:

apt install -t ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports cockpit

Customizing Cockpit

By default, Cockpit blocks root login. To allow it:

sudo sed -i '/root/s/^/#/' /etc/cockpit/disallowed-users
sudo systemctl restart cockpit

Install Cockpit Machines

Enable virtual machine management via cockpit-machines:

. /etc/os-release
sudo apt install -t ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports cockpit -y
systemctl start cockpit
sudo apt install cockpit-machines

Change Cockpit Port (Recommended for CloudStack Users)

Create or edit this config:

nano /etc/systemd/system/cockpit.socket.d/listen.conf

Add/modify:

[Socket]
ListenStream=
ListenStream=9091

Reload systemd and restart Cockpit:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart cockpit.socket

Install Cockpit Benchmark Tool

Benchmark your disks with FIO and the Cockpit extension:

apt install fio
wget https://github.com/45Drives/cockpit-benchmark/releases/download/v2.1.1/cockpit-benchmark_2.1.1-1focal_all.deb
dpkg -i cockpit-benchmark_2.1.1-1focal_all.deb
systemctl restart cockpit

curl -LO https://github.com/45Drives/cockpit-file-sharing/releases/download/v3.3.7/cockpit-file-sharing_3.3.7-1focal_all.deb
sudo apt install ./cockpit-file-sharing_3.3.7-1focal_all.deb

Install Cockpit Navigator (File Manager)

wget https://github.com/45Drives/cockpit-navigator/releases/download/v0.5.10/cockpit-navigator_0.5.10-1focal_all.deb
apt install ./cockpit-navigator_0.5.10-1focal_all.deb

Common Issue: Package Install Fails in Cockpit UI

If you see:

cannot refresh cache whilst offline

Ensure your system is using NetworkManager as the network renderer. This resolves most package management and network detection issues in the Cockpit web UI.