System Management¶

Cockpit is the system administration interface for HaLOS. It provides a web-based control panel for managing packages, services, networking, storage, and users.

Cockpit Overview

Accessing Cockpit¶

There are two ways to reach Cockpit:

Method	URL	Authentication
Via path redirect	`https://halos.local/cockpit/`	Redirects to port 9090
Direct access	`https://halos.local:9090/`	System credentials (`pi` / `halos`)

Direct access on port 9090 is always available, even if Traefik or Authelia are down. Use it as a fallback for troubleshooting.

Available modules¶

Overview¶

System resource monitoring: CPU usage, memory, disk space, and network activity. Shows system information (hostname, OS version, uptime).

Packages¶

Install and manage Debian packages via APT.

Use this panel — or run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade in the terminal — to keep your system up to date.

Terminal¶

A full command-line terminal in the browser. Useful for running commands without SSH.

Services¶

View and manage systemd services. You can start, stop, restart, and enable/disable services. Container apps run as systemd services (e.g., signalk-server-container.service), so you can manage them here.

Logs¶

Browse and filter system logs from journald. Filter by service, priority, or time range to find relevant entries.

Users¶

Manage Linux system user accounts. This is where you should change the default pi password after first boot.

Sudo password¶

By default, HaLOS requires a password for sudo commands. This is an upstream Raspberry Pi OS change (Feb 2026), and HaLOS follows their defaults.

If you need passwordless sudo (e.g., for automation or development), you can disable the sudo password requirement.

Via raspi-config menuVia command line

sudo raspi-config

Navigate to 1 System Options → S10 Admin Password and select whether to require a password.

Disable sudo password (passwordless):

sudo raspi-config nonint do_sudo_pass 1

Re-enable sudo password:

sudo raspi-config nonint do_sudo_pass 0

Security consideration

Disabling the sudo password means any process running as your user can gain root access without a prompt. Only disable it on devices in trusted environments.

Container Apps¶

Browse and install containerized applications from the HaLOS app store. This is a separate module from the Packages panel — see Installing Apps for the full workflow.

Networking¶

Configure network interfaces via NetworkManager. See Networking for details on WiFi, Ethernet, and hostname configuration.

System updates¶

Keep your system current by running updates regularly:

Via Cockpit Packages panelVia Cockpit Terminal

Open Cockpit → Packages → Check for updates → Apply.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

First update after install

Run a system update immediately after first boot. This ensures the container app store has the latest package lists.

Storage¶

Cockpit shows disk usage and partition information. For Raspberry Pi setups, storage is typically:

SD card or SSD: Main storage with the OS and all data
USB drives: Optional additional storage, mountable through Cockpit