Cockpit or Webmin

I’ve learned that some people love doing everything through the command line. I like it, but sometimes I’d like to get some things done a little quicker and simpler. And that’s where web-based graphical interfaces for Linux servers come in handy. The two that I’ve tested on my server (that includes both web servers and NAS systems) are Cockpit and Webmin.

I haven’t learned all of the Linux command line commands, so there are certain things that I don’t know how to do and would either take too much time to Google the commands for or just don’t really make sense to force into my head because they’ll probably only be used once or twice. Things like setting drives to automatically mount on boot through fstab, creating users, and sometimes even updating systems. All of these things I’m familiar with through the command line, but sometime it’s not unnecessary to turn on my laptop or walk into my server room, SSH into the server, and type out a bunch of commands, when I just do them remotely; either from a computer or my phone while on my network, or outside of my network if I happen to not be home and need to get something done.

So, which application do I use on my system? Both. Both of these applications have their strong points. Sometimes they both have the ability to get the same job done, but one does it a lot easier than the other. Other times, one does a thing that I need to do that the other does, or that I haven’t figured out how to do. Here’s what I use each application for:

Cockpit

• Checking basic system resource and logs.
• Creating and managing system users.
• Checking, mounting, and managing system storage disks.
• Remotely accessing terminal, if needed.

Webmin

• Checking basic system resources.
• Managing MySQL databases.
• Browsing filesystems.
• Remotely accessing terminal, if needed.

As you can see, not a lot of differences between the two. But some things are done a little easier or simpler in one over the other. I always install both on any Ubuntu Server system that I create, and would do the same on any system that I work on for someone else, unless requested not to. They are both useful tool and can work together well depending on what needs you have.