Deploy a Full VM and Run Cockpit, a Web-based Interface for Servers

Introduction

In this Threefold Guide, we show how easy it is to deploy a full VM and access Cockpit, a web-based interface to manage servers. For more information on Cockpit, visit this link.

For more information on deploying a full VM and using SSH remote connection, read this SSH guide.

If you are new to the Threefold ecosystem and you want to deploy workloads on the Threefold Grid, read the Get Started section of the Threefold Manual.

Note that the two sections Change the Network System Daemon and Set a Firewall are optional. That being said, they provide more features and security to the deployment.

Deploy a Full VM and Create a Root-Access User

To start, you must deploy and SSH into a full VM.

Go to the Threefold dashboard
Deploy a full VM (e.g. Ubuntu 22.04)
- With an IPv4 Address
After deployment, copy the IPv4 address
Connect into the VM via SSH
- ```
ssh root@VM_IPv4_address
```
Create a new user with root access
- Here we use newuser as an example
  - ```
  adduser newuser
```
- To see the directory of the new user
  - ```
  ls /home
```
- Give sudo capacity to the new user
  - ```
  usermod -aG sudo newuser
```
- Make the new user accessible by SSH
  - ```
  su - newuser
```
- ```
mkdir ~/.ssh
```
  - ```
  nano ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
```
  - add the authorized public key in the file, then save and quit
- Exit the VM and reconnect with the new user
  - ```
  exit
```
- ```
ssh newuser@VM_IPv4_address
```

Set the VM and Install Cockpit

Update and upgrade the VM

sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt-get update -y

Install Cockpit

. /etc/os-release && sudo apt install -t ${UBUNTU_CODENAME}-backports cockpit -y

Change the Network System Daemon

We now change the system daemon that manages network configurations. We will be using NetworkManager instead of networkd. This will give us further possibilities on Cockpit.

Install NetworkManager. Note that it might already be installed.
- ```
sudo apt install network-manager -y
```
Update the .yaml file
- Go to netplan's directory
  - ```
  cd /etc/netplan
```
- Search for the proper .yaml file name
  - ```
  ls -l
```
- Update the .yaml file
  - ```
  sudo nano 50-cloud-init.yaml
```
- Add the following lines under network:
  - ```
  version: 2
  renderer: NetworkManager
```
  - Note that these two lines should be aligned with ethernets:
  - Remove version: 2 at the bottom of the file
  - Save and exit the file

Disable networkd and enable NetworkManager

sudo systemctl disable systemd-networkd

```
sudo systemctl enable NetworkManager
```

Apply netplan to set NetworkManager
- ```
sudo netplan apply
```
Reboot the system to load the new kernel and to properly set NetworkManager
- ```
sudo reboot
```
Reconnect to the VM
- ```
ssh newuser@VM_IPv4_address
```

Set a Firewall

We now set a firewall. We note that ufw is not compatible with Cockpit and for this reason, we will be using firewalld.

Install firewalld
- ```
sudo apt install firewalld -y
```

Add Cockpit to firewalld

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=cockpit

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=cockpit --permanent

See if Cockpit is available

sudo firewall-cmd --info-service=cockpit

See the status of firewalld
- ```
sudo firewall-cmd --state
```

Access Cockpit

On your web browser, write the following URL with the proper VM IPv4 address
- ```
VM_IPv4_Address:9090
```
Enter the username and password of the root-access user
You might need to grant administrative access to the user
- On the top right of the Cockpit window, click on Limited access
  - Enter the root-access user password then click Authenticate

Conclusion

You now have access to a web-based graphical interface to manage your VM. You can read Cockpit's documentation to explore further this interface.

Acknowledgements and References

A big thank you to Drew Smith for his advice on using NetworkManager instead of networkd with Cockpit.

ThreeFold V3 Manual