How To Install Cockpit on Debian 12

To Install Cockpit On Debian 12

Introduction:

Cockpit is a server management dashboard that provides real-time information on the state of your machine. In addition to CPU load, filesystem statistics, processes, and other data also give access to the system. When you're not signed in to the control panel, Cockpit doesn't use any server resources. The Cockpit service only begins when you go to the control panel and use it

Installation Steps:

Step 1: Check the OS version by using the below command

 root@linuxhelp:~# cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="12"
VERSION="12 (bookworm)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bookworm
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

Step 2: Install Cockpit web console package by using the below command

root@linuxhelp:~# apt install cockpit
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  bsd-mailx cockpit-bridge cockpit-networkmanager cockpit-packagekit
  cockpit-storaged cockpit-system cockpit-ws exim4-base exim4-config
  exim4-daemon-light libblockdev-mdraid2 libbytesize-common libbytesize1
  libgnutls-dane0 liblockfile1 libpwquality-tools libssh-4 libunbound8 mdadm
Suggested packages:
  cockpit-doc cockpit-pcp cockpit-sosreport udisks2-lvm2 sssd-dbus
  exim4-doc-html | exim4-doc-info eximon4 spf-tools-perl swaks dracut-core
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  bsd-mailx cockpit cockpit-bridge cockpit-networkmanager cockpit-packagekit
  cockpit-storaged cockpit-system cockpit-ws exim4-base exim4-config
  exim4-daemon-light libblockdev-mdraid2 libbytesize-common libbytesize1
  libgnutls-dane0 liblockfile1 libpwquality-tools libssh-4 libunbound8 mdadm
0 upgraded, 20 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 9,457 kB of archives.
After this operation, 15.4 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 mdadm amd64 4.2-5 [443 kB]
Get:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 exim4-config all 4.96-15+deb12u1 [255 kB]
Get:16 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 cockpit-packagekit all 287-1 [708 kB]
Get:17 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 libbytesize-common all 2.7-1 [7,692 B]
Get:18 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 libbytesize1 amd64 2.7-1 [12.1 kB]
Get:19 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 libblockdev-mdraid2 amd64 2.28-2 [14.9 kB]
Get:20 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm/main amd64 cockpit-storaged all 287-1 [699 kB]
Fetched 9,457 kB in 1s (15.6 MB/s)               
Preconfiguring packages ...
Selecting previously unselected package mdadm.
(Reading database ... 153621 files and directories currently installed.)
Setting up cockpit-packagekit (287-1) ...
Setting up cockpit-storaged (287-1) ...
Setting up cockpit (287-1) ...
Setting up exim4-daemon-light (4.96-15+deb12u1) ...
Setting up bsd-mailx (8.1.2-0.20220412cvs-1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/bsd-mailx to provide /usr/bin/mailx (mailx) 
in auto mode
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.36-9+deb12u1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.11.2-2) ...
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.142) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.1.0-12-amd64

Step 3: Start the Cockpit service by using the below command

root@linuxhelp:~# systemctl start cockpit

Step 4: Now check the status of the Cockpit service by using the below command

root@linuxhelp:~# systemctl status cockpit
● cockpit.service - Cockpit Web Service
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/cockpit.service; static)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2023-09-15 01:35:47 IST; 7s ago
TriggeredBy: ● cockpit.socket
       Docs: man:cockpit-ws(8)
    Process: 11958 ExecStartPre=/usr/lib/cockpit/cockpit-certificate-ensure --f>
   Main PID: 11972 (cockpit-tls)
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 3408)
     Memory: 3.2M
        CPU: 712ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/cockpit.service
             └─11972 /usr/lib/cockpit/cockpit-tls

Sep 15 01:35:46 linuxhelp systemd[1]: Starting cockpit.service - Cockpit Web Se>
Sep 15 01:35:46 linuxhelp cockpit-certificate-ensure[11966]: /usr/lib/cockpit/c>
Sep 15 01:35:46 linuxhelp cockpit-certificate-ensure[11967]: .............+....>
Sep 15 01:35:47 linuxhelp cockpit-certificate-ensure[11967]: ..........++++++++>
Sep 15 01:35:47 linuxhelp cockpit-certificate-ensure[11967]: -----
Sep 15 01:35:47 linuxhelp systemd[1]: Started cockpit.service - Cockpit Web Ser

Step 5: If you are running a firewalld on the system, you need to enable the cockpit port 9090 in the firewall by using the below command.

root@linuxhelp:~# firewall-cmd --add-service=cockpit --permanent
success
root@linuxhelp:~# firewall-cmd --reload
success

Step 6: Now open the Cockpit web console in your web browser by using the below image.

Step 7: If you are using a self-signed certificate, you will get a warning on the browser, simply verify the certificate and accept the security exception to proceed further with the login as shown in the below image.

Step 8: In the web console login screen, enter your system user name and password as shown in the below image.

Conclusion:

We have reached the end of this article. In this guide, we have walked you through the steps required to Install Cockpit webconsole on Debian 12. Your feedback is much welcome

FAQ
Q
Is Cockpit open source?
A
Cockpit is free to use and available under the GNU LGPL
Q
Is 9090 a TCP or UDP?
A
9090 is UDP Port
Q
How do I enable the Cockpit?
A
systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket
Q
How do I access the Cockpit in Linux?
A
To access Cockpit, point the web browser to your computer or server IP on port 9090 : https://Computer IP:9090
Q
What is Cockpit in Linux?
A
The cockpit is a web-based graphical interface for servers.