Monitoring is sometimes a bit complicated because there are very complete tools that sometimes get us a bit confused. Today I will show you how to install Cockpit on Debian 10. A tool that stands out for its simplicity and ease of use.
Cockpit we like very much. It’s just that it’s pretty complete and easy to use the tool. Beyond monitoring, it allows us to control a Linux server through a web interface. Great, isn’t it?
In order to be a program used by multiple teams working on a server is that Cockpit has been carefully designed. In addition, it is friendly enough for those new to Linux and useful for seasoned admins too.
As I mentioned before, the installation of Cockpit is really simple since it is included in the official repositories of many Linux distributions.
As expected many sysadmins are experts in the use of the terminal and therefore using Cockpit is perfectly compatible with it. There’s even an embedded terminal in Cockpit.
In short, we are talking about a necessary program to complement the administration of a server efficiently.
So, let us start.
Install Cockpit on Debian 10
Cockpit is included in the official Debian 10 repositories. So we only need to use the following command:
:~$ sudo apt update :~$ sudo apt install cockpit --install-recommends Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following additional packages will be installed: cockpit-bridge cockpit-dashboard cockpit-networkmanager cockpit-packagekit cockpit-storaged cockpit-system cockpit-ws cracklib-runtime dirmngr dns-root-data dnsmasq-base dosfstools exfat-fuse exfat-utils exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light fuse gdisk glib-networking glib-networking-common glib-networking-services gnupg gnupg-l10n gnupg-utils gpg gpg-agent gpg-wks-client gpg-wks-server gpgconf gpgsm gsettings-desktop-schemas guile-2.2-libs libappstream4 libassuan0 libatasmart4 libblockdev-crypto2 libblockdev-fs2 libblockdev-loop2 libblockdev-mdraid2 libblockdev-part-err2 libblockdev-part2 libblockdev-swap2 libblockdev-utils2 libblockdev2 libbluetooth3 libbytesize1 libcrack2 libevent-2.1-6 libfribidi0 libgc1c2 libglib2.0-bin libgnutls-dane0 libgpgme11 libgsasl7 libgstreamer1.0-0 libjansson4 libjson-glib-1.0-0 libjson-glib-1.0-common libksba8 libkyotocabinet16v5 liblzo2-2 libmailutils5 libmbim-glib4 libmbim-proxy libmm-glib0 libmpfr6 libndp0 libnm0 libnpth0 libntfs-3g883 libntlm0 libpackagekit-glib2-18 libparted-fs-resize0 libparted2 libpcap0.8 libproxy1v5 libpwquality-common libpwquality-tools libpwquality1 libpython2.7 libqmi-glib5 libqmi-proxy libssh-4 libstemmer0d libteamdctl0 libudisks2-0 libunbound8 libvolume-key1 mailutils mailutils-common mdadm modemmanager network-manager ntfs-3g packagekit packagekit-tools parted pinentry-curses ppp psmisc udisks2 Suggested packages: cockpit-doc cockpit-pcp cockpit-docker xdg-utils pinentry-gnome3 tor exim4-doc-html | exim4-doc-info eximon4 spf-tools-perl swaks parcimonie xloadimage scdaemon gstreamer1.0-tools libparted-dev libparted-i18n mailutils-mh mailutils-doc dracut-core libteam-utils appstream parted-doc pinentry-doc btrfs-progs f2fs-tools nilfs-tools reiserfsprogs xfsprogs udftools udisks2-bcache udisks2-btrfs udisks2-lvm2 udisks2-vdo udisks2-zram The following NEW packages will be installed: cockpit cockpit-bridge cockpit-dashboard cockpit-networkmanager cockpit-packagekit cockpit-storaged cockpit-system cockpit-ws cracklib-runtime dirmngr dns-root-data dnsmasq-base dosfstools exfat-fuse exfat-utils exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light fuse gdisk glib-networking glib-networking-common glib-networking-services gnupg gnupg-l10n gnupg-utils gpg gpg-agent gpg-wks-client gpg-wks-server gpgconf gpgsm gsettings-desktop-schemas guile-2.2-libs libappstream4 libassuan0 libatasmart4 libblockdev-crypto2 libblockdev-fs2 libblockdev-loop2 libblockdev-mdraid2 libblockdev-part-err2 libblockdev-part2 libblockdev-swap2 libblockdev-utils2 libblockdev2 libbluetooth3 libbytesize1 libcrack2 libevent-2.1-6 libfribidi0 libgc1c2 libglib2.0-bin libgnutls-dane0 libgpgme11 libgsasl7 libgstreamer1.0-0 libjansson4 libjson-glib-1.0-0 libjson-glib-1.0-common libksba8 libkyotocabinet16v5 liblzo2-2 libmailutils5 libmbim-glib4 libmbim-proxy libmm-glib0 libmpfr6 libndp0 libnm0 libnpth0 libntfs-3g883 libntlm0 libpackagekit-glib2-18 libparted-fs-resize0 libparted2 libpcap0.8 libproxy1v5 libpwquality-common libpwquality-tools libpwquality1 libpython2.7 libqmi-glib5 libqmi-proxy libssh-4 libstemmer0d libteamdctl0 libudisks2-0 libunbound8 libvolume-key1 mailutils mailutils-common mdadm modemmanager network-manager ntfs-3g packagekit packagekit-tools parted pinentry-curses ppp psmisc udisks2 0 upgraded, 103 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 38.3 MB of archives. After this operation, 138 MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n
The second command not only installs Cockpit but also other recommended packages.
When the installation is finished, the service will be active and running.
And to access Cockpit, just use a current web browser and go to the following address:
https://your-server:9090
Make sure that the port is available on the firewall.
Then, you will see this.
Using cockpit
In that Log in screen, you only have to put your system credentials. Yes, the same ones you use to log in. If your user is in the sudo list you can check the option to reuse my password for privileged tasks. When you log in, you will see the following.
On the left side, you have all the driving options. For example, you can check the system logs:
In this case, there isn’t one in my system yet.
Then you can check the storage function.
A very useful function of Cockpit is the ability to monitor the state of the computer networks.
Also, managing system services such as postgreSQL, MariaDB or FTP are very easy thanks to Cockpit.
The sysadmin will appreciate that Cockpit includes a terminal ready to execute commands:
On the other hand, you can see the Cockpit dashboard there you will have information about the system resources.
So, enjoy this wonderfull tool.
Conclusion
Cockpit is one of those tools that works quite well and easily. That is, without complicated interfaces we can control a Linux server through a web interface. Now you know how to install it in Debian 10.
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