cockpit Installation Guide Installation Guide

cockpit is a free and open-source web-based server management interface. Developed by Red Hat, Cockpit provides a modern web interface for Linux server administration, serving as an alternative to Webmin or proprietary control panels

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 1 core minimum

RAM: 128MB minimum

Storage: 100MB for installation

Network: HTTPS for web interface

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)

Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 9090 (default cockpit port)

WebSocket support required

Dependencies:

See official documentation for specific requirements

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install cockpit
sudo dnf install -y cockpit

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install cockpit
sudo apt install -y cockpit

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 9090

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Install cockpit
sudo pacman -S cockpit

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Install cockpit
apk add --no-cache cockpit

# Enable and start service
rc-update add cockpit default
rc-service cockpit start

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Install cockpit
sudo zypper install -y cockpit

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install cockpit

# Start service
brew services start cockpit

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install cockpit

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'cockpit_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service cockpit start

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install cockpit

# Or using Scoop
scoop install cockpit

# Verify installation
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/cockpit

# Set up basic configuration
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
cockpit-bridge --version

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable cockpit

# Start service
sudo systemctl start cockpit

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop cockpit

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart cockpit

# Check status
sudo systemctl status cockpit

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u cockpit -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add cockpit default

# Start service
rc-service cockpit start

# Stop service
rc-service cockpit stop

# Restart service
rc-service cockpit restart

# Check status
rc-service cockpit status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'cockpit_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service cockpit start

# Stop service
service cockpit stop

# Restart service
service cockpit restart

# Check status
service cockpit status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start cockpit
brew services stop cockpit
brew services restart cockpit

# Check status
brew services list | grep cockpit

powershell

# Start service
net start cockpit

# Stop service
net stop cockpit

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service cockpit
Stop-Service cockpit
Restart-Service cockpit

# Check status
Get-Service cockpit

See the official documentation for advanced configuration options.

nginx

upstream cockpit_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:9090;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name cockpit.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name cockpit.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/cockpit.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/cockpit.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://cockpit_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName cockpit.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://cockpit.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName cockpit.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/cockpit.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/cockpit.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:9090/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:9090/
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend cockpit_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/cockpit.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend cockpit_backend

backend cockpit_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server cockpit1 127.0.0.1:9090 check

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R cockpit:cockpit /etc/cockpit
sudo chmod 750 /etc/cockpit

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

See official documentation for database configuration requirements.

bash

# Basic system tuning
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

bash

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status cockpit

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u cockpit -f

# Monitor resource usage
top -p $(pgrep cockpit)

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Basic backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/cockpit"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/cockpit-backup-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/cockpit /var/lib/cockpit

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/cockpit-backup-$DATE.tar.gz"

bash

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop cockpit

# Restore from backup
tar -xzf /backup/cockpit/cockpit-backup-*.tar.gz -C /

# Start service
sudo systemctl start cockpit

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u cockpit -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/cockpit/cockpit.log

# Check configuration
cockpit-bridge --version

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/cockpit

2. Connection issues:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 9090

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 9090

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep cockpit)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep cockpit)

# Check connections
ss -an | grep 9090

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  cockpit:
    image: cockpit:latest
    ports:
      - "9090:9090"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/cockpit
      - ./data:/var/lib/cockpit
    restart: unless-stopped

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update cockpit

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade cockpit

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu cockpit

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade cockpit

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update cockpit

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade cockpit

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/cockpit-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/cockpit

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart cockpit

Regular Maintenance

bash

# Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/cockpit

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/cockpit -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /var/lib/cockpit

Official Documentation: https://docs.cockpit.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/cockpit/cockpit

Community Forum: https://forum.cockpit.org/

Best Practices Guide: https://docs.cockpit.org/best-practices

---

Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Basic Security Setup

Database Setup

Performance Optimization

System Tuning

Monitoring

Basic Monitoring

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Script

Restore Procedure

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Integration Examples

Docker Compose Example

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance

Additional Resources

Related Miscellaneous Guides

ackee Installation Guide

Appwrite Installation Guide

arangodb Installation Guide