'\" t
.\"     Title: cockpit-ws
.\"    Author: [see the "AUTHOR" section]
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 02/15/2024
.\"    Manual: cockpit-ws
.\"    Source: cockpit
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "COCKPIT\-WS" "8" "02/15/2024" "cockpit" "cockpit-ws"
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.SH "NAME"
cockpit-ws \- Cockpit web service
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP \w'\fBcockpit\-ws\fR\ 'u
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR [\fB\-\-help\fR] [\fB\-\-port\fR\ \fIPORT\fR] [\fB\-\-address\fR\ \fIADDRESS\fR] [\fB\-\-no\-tls\fR] [\fB\-\-for\-tls\-proxy\fR] [\fB\-\-local\-ssh\fR] [\fB\-\-local\-session\fR\ \fIBRIDGE\fR]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
The
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
program is the web service component used for communication between the browser application and various configuration tools and services like
\fBcockpit-bridge\fR(1)\&.
.PP
Users or administrators should never need to start this program as it automatically started by
\fBsystemd\fR(1)
on bootup, through
\fBcockpit-tls\fR(8)\&.
.SH "TRANSPORT SECURITY"
.PP
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
is normally run behind the
\fBcockpit\-tls\fR
TLS terminating proxy, and only deals with unencrypted HTTP by itself\&. But for backwards compatibility it can also handle TLS connections by itself when being run directly\&. For details how to configure certificates, please refer to the
\fBcockpit-tls\fR(8)
documentation\&.
.SH "TIMEOUT"
.PP
When started via
\fBsystemd\fR(1)
then
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
will exit after 90 seconds if nobody logs in, or after the last user is disconnected\&.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
\fB\-\-help\fR
.RS 4
Show help options\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-port\fR \fIPORT\fR
.RS 4
Serve HTTP requests
\fIPORT\fR
instead of port 9090\&. Usually Cockpit is started on demand by
\fBsystemd\fR
socket activation, and this option has no effect\&. Update the
ListenStream
directive
cockpit\&.socket
file in the usual
\fBsystemd\fR
manner\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-address\fR \fIADDRESS\fR
.RS 4
Bind to address
\fIADDRESS\fR
instead of binding to all available addresses\&. Usually Cockpit is started on demand by
\fBsystemd\fR
socket activation, and this option has no effect\&. In that case, update the
ListenStream
directive in the
cockpit\&.socket
file in the usual
\fBsystemd\fR
manner\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-no\-tls\fR
.RS 4
Don\*(Aqt use TLS\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-for\-tls\-proxy\fR
.RS 4
Tell
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
that it is running behind a local reverse proxy that does the TLS termination\&. Then Cockpit puts https:// URLs into the default
Content\-Security\-Policy, and accepts only https:// origins, instead of http: ones by default\&. However, if
Origins
is set in the
\fBcockpit.conf\fR(5)
configuration file, it will override this default\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-local\-ssh\fR
.RS 4
Normally
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
uses
\fBcockpit\-session\fR
and PAM to authenticate the user and start a user session\&. With this option enabled, it will instead authenticate via SSH at
127\&.0\&.0\&.1
port
22\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-local\-session\fR \fIBRIDGE\fR
.RS 4
Skip all authentication and
\fBcockpit\-session\fR, and launch the
\fBcockpit\-bridge\fR
specified in
\fIBRIDGE\fR
in the local session\&. If the
\fIBRIDGE\fR
is specified as
\fB\-\fR
then expect an already running bridge that is connected to stdin and stdout of this
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
process\&. This allows the web server to run as any unprivileged user in an already running session\&.
.sp
This mode implies
\-\-no\-tls, thus you need to use http:// URLs with this\&.
.if n \{\
.sp
.\}
.RS 4
.it 1 an-trap
.nr an-no-space-flag 1
.nr an-break-flag 1
.br
.ps +1
\fBWarning\fR
.ps -1
.br
If you use this, you
\fIhave to isolate the opened TCP port\fR
somehow (for example in a network namespace), otherwise all other users (or even remote machines if the port is not just listening on localhost) can access the session!
.sp .5v
.RE
.RE
.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
.PP
The
\fBcockpit\-ws\fR
process will use the
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
environment variable from the
\m[blue]\fBXDG basedir spec\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2
to find its
\fBcockpit.conf\fR(5)
configuration file\&.
.PP
In addition the
XDG_DATA_DIRS
environment variable from the
\m[blue]\fBXDG basedir spec\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2
can be used to override the location to serve static files from\&. These are the files that are served to a non\-logged in user\&.
.SH "BUGS"
.PP
Please send bug reports to either the distribution bug tracker or the
\m[blue]\fBupstream bug tracker\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[2]\d\s+2\&.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.PP
Cockpit has been written by many
\m[blue]\fBcontributors\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[3]\d\s+2\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
\fBcockpit-tls\fR(8)
,
\fBcockpit.conf\fR(5)
,
\fBsystemd\fR(1)
.SH "NOTES"
.IP " 1." 4
XDG basedir spec
.RS 4
\%https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html
.RE
.IP " 2." 4
upstream bug tracker
.RS 4
\%https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/issues/new
.RE
.IP " 3." 4
contributors
.RS 4
\%https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit/
.RE