Cockpit on Raspberry Pi: The Ultimate Monitoring Tool

Monitoring your Raspberry Pi’s health remotely can be tricky. Many tools exist, but they are usually complicated to set up or consume too many system resources. I have tested several options, and in this guide, I’ll show you how to install one of my favorites: Cockpit.

Cockpit is a lightweight, web-based management tool that provides real-time system monitoring, remote access, and service management. It is available through the official repository and can be installed using a simple apt command.

Cockpit is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to monitor and manage your Raspberry Pi remotely. In this article, you’ll learn how to monitor system stats, manage services, and utilize Cockpit to its fullest potential. Let’s get started!

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What is Cockpit: An Introduction

Cockpit is an open-source, lightweight system monitoring tool typically used to monitor the health of Linux servers. Its web-based GUI interface gives users access to all relevant system statistics and easy access to the terminal.

Several system monitoring tools are already available for Raspberry Pi. However, Cockpit outperforms them in its modular and lightweight architecture, and easy integration with multiple Linux-based servers through the same dashboard.

The primary competitor to Cockpit is the Webmin application. Unlike Webmin, Cockpit is a lightweight and modern tool designed for real-time monitoring, basic administration, and user-friendliness. While Webmin is more suitable for detailed configurations, Cockpit stands out for its clean, intuitive interface, which allows for efficient system monitoring and management.

If you want to try out Webmin as well, we have a tutorial on how to set it up on your Raspberry Pi.

Installing Cockpit on Raspberry Pi

Cockpit can be installed from the official repository, but the version is somewhat dated. So we’re going to enable the Backports repository, which the developers recommend, to get the newest version with all the features.

Here’s how to install the newest version of Cockpit on Raspberry Pi:

• Make sure your system is up to date using the command:
  sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
  
• Populate your terminal with the VERSION_CODENAME environment variable:
  . /etc/os-release
  
• Add the enablement of the backport repositories:
  echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list
  
• Now we can refresh available packages using the command:
  sudo apt update
  
• Finally, we can install Cockpit using apt:
  sudo apt install -t ${VERSION_CODENAME}-backports cockpit
  
• Press q when prompted.
  
• Now we can verify that Cockpit is indeed running using the systemctl:
  sudo systemctl status cockpit
  

That’s it. We have successfully installed Cockpit on our Raspberry Pi. We can now get started using it and exploring all its features.

Are you a bit lost in the Linux command line? Check this article first for the most important commands to remember and a free downloadable cheat sheet so you can have the commands at your fingertips.

Getting Started & Using Cockpit

Having successfully installed Cockpit, we can access the dashboard using a web browser on any PC connected to the same LAN/ Wifi as our Raspberry Pi. To access the dashboard, navigate to this web address:
http://<HOST_NAME or IP_ADDRESS>:9090

You will be greeted with this login screen:

You must log in as a system user to use Cockpit to manage your device. Enter your username and password and click on “Log In.”

Basic Usage

Once you log in, you will be greeted by this dashboard:

Cockpit will be in “limited access” mode the first time you log in. You can change the access mode by clicking the Limited Access button next to a yellow padlock towards the top of the webpage.

The Cockpit offers different viewports/ windows in its dashboard where you can monitor system performance. For example, the Overview contains the CPU and memory usage and the overall health of your Raspberry Pi.

You can also access useful system statistics like networking, storage, and system logs.

One of the key features that Cockpit offers is the Terminal window, from which you can access the terminal/ command line of your Raspberry Pi.

Installing More Modules

Cockpit comes with a selection of modules/applications that can be installed to enhance the dashboard’s functionality. These modules range from official to third-party. You can find a list of all supported modules on their official web page.

To install a module, follow these steps:

• Navigate to their official web page and find the module you wish to install.
  
• Notice the package name for the module.
• Now you can install the package using apt:
  sudo apt install <PACKAGE NAME>
  
• Once the package is installed, navigate to “Applications” and then the package that you just installed.
  
• This will take you to the module’s dashboard, and add the module to your navigation bar.
  

While a good selection of official modules/ applications is available, a greater number of third-party modules are also available.

During my testing, most third-party modules and some official modules were not available on Raspberry Pi through the official repositories. In such cases, you must manually install the application using the instructions on their GitHub page.

For example, I installed this file explorer module using the steps described on their GitHub Page.

Adding Other Devices To Your Dashboard

The greatest strength of Cockpit is its ease of integrating multiple Linux servers in the same dashboard/ web page. These additional nodes are accessed through SSH from the original machine that you have logged into.

To add another device to your dashboard, follow these steps:

• To add more devices to your dashboard, click the drop-down button at the top left of the dashboard and click on “Add new Host.”
  
• Next, enter the hostname/ IP address and the username to be used when attempting to access this node through SSH.
  
• Click on “Connect” at the next prompt.
  
• Enter the password for the remote host and click on “Log in”.
  
• This will take you to the dashboard of your newly added host machine.
  

That’s it. Now, you can switch between your different host devices and monitor the servers via the same IP address/ web page.

As you can see, Cockpit is a great tool that is easy to install and intuitive, with several useful features. You can consult their official website to learn more about the software and the ecosystem.

Whenever you’re ready, here are other ways I can help you:

Test Your Raspberry Pi Level (Free): Not sure why everything takes so long on your Raspberry Pi? Take this free 3-minute assessment and see what’s causing the problems.

The RaspberryTips Community: Need help or want to discuss your Raspberry Pi projects with others who actually get it? Join the RaspberryTips Community and get access to private forums, exclusive lessons, and direct help (try it for just $1).

Master your Raspberry Pi in 30 days: If you are looking for the best tips to become an expert on Raspberry Pi, this book is for you. Learn useful Linux skills and practice multiple projects with step-by-step guides.

Master Python on Raspberry Pi: Create, understand, and improve any Python script for your Raspberry Pi. Learn the essentials step-by-step without losing time understanding useless concepts.

You can also find all my recommendations for tools and hardware on this page.