Linux Headaches

No matter how many times I play with Linux, I get a headache. Remembering the hodgepodge of utilities, obscure commands, navigating the command line, keeping track of versions, updates, errors, and status can get frustrating. Since I do not do this on a daily or even a weekly basis, I forget how to do stuff.

Don't get me wrong - Linux is great for what it does. But it has acquired a large amount of bloat and the numerous distributions, each with their own peculiarities, add to the mess. I am not interested in being a Linux admin, I just want my boxes to fulfill their intended functions.

Lately, I have been using Gemini to fix errors and get rid of bogus log entries, which helpful, but like any AI, it usually takes some prompt iterations, since AIs try to find relevant tidbits on the internet and many of those are wrong or superseded.

I now have:

And probably some more on the way! So 7 little Linux instances can quickly get out of hand.

Cockpit to the Rescue

I stumbled across a nice little utility called Cockpit, which allows central control and monitoring of multiple Linux instances from a browser. This was one of those "where have you been all my life" moments.

Cockpit is a lightweight web service that installs on each target system. Installation is painless and quick, although in the case of Debian and its variants (like Raspbian) they suggest enabling the backports repository. Why? Well I guess due to the hodgepodge nature of Linux, version incompatibilities are inevitable.

The one drawback is that Cockpit requires a master node to keep track of additional clients, so you need to pick an instance on your network that you can be reasonably certain will be up reliably. In my case, I picked the Armbian box since it just sits there doing its thing and I rarely need to touch it.