As part of our improvements for Systems Management, SUSE Linux Enterprise 16 includes Cockpit, a web-based graphical interface for system administration. Cockpit allows for remote system management directly from a browser, meaning it can be used from any device a system administrator might use. This feature was initially introduced with SUSE Linux Micro and is now part of the public release candidate for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16 (SLES 16).

Cockpit is a cross-distribution open-source project with an active community. It provides a consistent interface across multiple Linux distributions. While many administrators use automation tools like Ansible and Salt, there is still a need for an easy-to-use way to monitor and interact with individual systems.

SUSE has enhanced Cockpit by creating new modules to integrate with SLES, which include managing repositories and subscriptions and enhanced handling of packages. The tool has also been improved to integrate seamlessly with SUSE Linux.

In SLES 16, Cockpit replaces YaST for managing running systems, while Agama handles initial deployment. The way systems are set up has changed significantly since YaST was first developed over 25 years ago, with tools like Ansible and Salt now handling many use cases that YaST once did.

Call to Action

We at SUSE are seeking feedback to guide the future development of Cockpit. We have created a survey and would like to hear about how you currently manage your systems and use YaST. Experience with Cockpit is not necessary to participate: Please fill out the survey, it will be open until the 15th of September, 2025.

If you want to learn more about Cockpit, you can learn about the open source project at https://cockpit-project.org or read the draft documentation of SLES 16 about Administering SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Using Cockpit.