Step by Step guide to install Cockpit Web GUI Management Software on Rocky Linux 8 and other RPM based distros.
Table of Contents:
- What is Cockpit?
- Environment Specification
- Updating Rocky Linux
- Install Cockpit on Rocky Linux
- Configure Linux Firewall
- Accessing Cockpit Web GUI Management Software
- Conclusion
What is Cockpit? :
Cockpit is a web-based graphical interface for servers, intended for everyone, especially those who are:
- new to Linux (including Windows admins) familiar with Linux and want an easy, graphical way to administer servers.
- expert admins who mainly use other tools but want an overview on individual systems.
Cockpit is an easy-to-use, lightweight, and simple yet powerful remote manager for GNU/Linux servers, it’s an interactive server administration user interface that offers a live Linux session via a web browser.
Environment Specification:
We are using a minimal Rocky Linux 8 virtual machine with following specifications.
- CPU - 3.4 Ghz (2 cores)
- Memory - 2 GB
- Storage - 20 GB
- Operating System - Rocky Linux 8.5 (Green Obsidian)
- Hostname – rockylinux-01.centlinux.com
- IP Address - 192.168.116.128 /24
Updating Rocky Linux:
Connect with rockylinux-01.centlinux.com as root user by using a ssh client.
Execute following command to build cache for installed yum repositories.
# dnf makecache
Rocky Linux 8 - AppStream 1.5 kB/s | 4.8 kB 00:03
Rocky Linux 8 - BaseOS 1.7 kB/s | 4.3 kB 00:02
Rocky Linux 8 - Extras 1.9 kB/s | 3.5 kB 00:01
Metadata cache created.
As a best practice, update software packages in your Linux operating system before installing Cockpit web interface.
# dnf update -y
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:49 ago on Mon 21 Feb 2022 07:39:22 PM PKT.
Dependencies resolved.
Nothing to do.
Complete!
Our Linux server is already up-to-date. The result may vary on your operating system.
Check the Linux Kernel and operating system version, being used in this installation guide.
# uname -r 4.18.0-348.12.2.el8_5.x86_64 # cat /etc/os-release NAME="Rocky Linux" VERSION="8.5 (Green Obsidian)" ID="rocky" ID_LIKE="rhel centos fedora" VERSION_ID="8.5" PLATFORM_ID="platform:el8" PRETTY_NAME="Rocky Linux 8.5 (Green Obsidian)" ANSI_COLOR="0;32" CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:rocky:rocky:8:GA" HOME_URL="https://rockylinux.org/" BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.rockylinux.org/" ROCKY_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Rocky Linux" ROCKY_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION="8"
Install Cockpit on Rocky Linux:
In Rocky Linux 8, Cockpit software is available in standard yum repositories. Therefore, you can easily install it by executing a dnf command.
# dnf install -y cockpit
After successful installation of web GUI management software, enable and start Cockpit service.
# systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/sockets.target.wants/cockpit.socket → /usr/lib/systemd/system/cockpit.socket.
Check the status of Cockpit service.
# systemctl status cockpit.socket
● cockpit.socket - Cockpit Web Service Socket
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/cockpit.socket; enabled; vendor pres>
Active: active (listening) since Mon 2022-02-21 19:48:06 PKT; 34s ago
Docs: man:cockpit-ws(8)
Listen: [::]:9090 (Stream)
Process: 2150 ExecStartPost=/bin/ln -snf active.motd /run/cockpit/motd (code=>
Process: 2143 ExecStartPost=/usr/share/cockpit/motd/update-motd localhost (c>
Tasks: 0 (limit: 5808)
Memory: 4.0K
CGroup: /system.slice/cockpit.socket
Feb 21 19:48:06 rockylinux-01.centlinux.com systemd[1]: Starting Cockpit Web Se>
Feb 21 19:48:06 rockylinux-01.centlinux.com systemd[1]: Listening on Cockpit We>
Configure Linux Firewall:
Cockpit uses default service port 9090/tcp. Therefore, you may have to enable this port or enable predefined cockpit service in Linux firewall.
# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=cockpit
Warning: ALREADY_ENABLED: cockpit
success
You can see that, the cockpit service is already enabled by the installer.
Accessing Cockpit Web GUI Management Software:
Open URL https://rockylinux-01.centlinux.com:9090 in a web browser.
You may encounter some privacy warning.
This is because Cockpit software is using self-signed SSL/TLS certificates.
Ignore this warning and add a Security Exception.
Login as root user.
You have successfully login to Cockpit Web GUI Management Software.
Conclusion:
In this article, you have learned how to install Cockpit Web GUI Management Software on Rocky Linux 8 or other RPM based distros.