Cockpit server administration

Thank you for your guidance. Here is what I get per your instructions.

The IP address 192.168.1.37 will certainly not work. Could you check the browser network activity when you access using https://atomicboy.freedombox.rocks/_cockpit/ URL? Alternatively you can try the .onion address using the Tor browser.

It could not locate the server when using: https://atomicboy.freedombox.rocks/_cockpit/

The TOR Onion Web Browser gives a SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_USR:

It seems there is no fix forthcoming for the Cockpit white screen. Very disappointing.

@atomicboy after SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_USR you may hit Advanced... and add exception to “trust” your freedombox.

It would be great if Let’s Encrypt were set up to generate certificates with onion sites so the above situation does not happen. I understand that https with onion routing is not strictly necessary, but the error warning is potentially confusing to new users.

[See also: Manually verifying certificat for access over TOR and Let's encrypt]

I am unable to add an exception. I extracted these lines which might explain why:

"You can’t add an exception to visit this site.

The issue is most likely with the website, and there is nothing you can do to resolve it."

When I ran diagnostics in Let’s Encrypt I get:

In my newby mind … it would appear the domain name ( https://atomicboy.freedombox.rocks/_cockpit/) is not working. it substitutes the IP https://192.168.1.37/_cockpit/ which as we all know does not work.

I have port forwarding on my router setup for TCP 80 and TCP 443 as required by LetsEncrypt.

Here is a screen shot of Name Services:

The domain atomicboy.freedombox.rocks is not resolvable, so Lets encrypt is normal to not be able to give you a certificate. If you used dynamic DNS (I guess you did) something you have setup is wrong (check the steps at the manual page https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Manual#FreedomBox.2FManual.2FDynamicDNS.Dynamic_DNS_Client). When DNS is working - you can test it here https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=a%3Aatomicboy.freedombox.rocks&run=toolpage for example - Lets encrypt will be able to provide correct certfificates.
When you have proper working domain name, you can revisit the cockpit issue if it persists.

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Thanks for this feedback. I am going to reload the Freedom Box fresh and see what I can do.

Thanks again.

I’m in the same “blank screen” boat. 1) I’m using oracleatbelfry dot com as the domain 2) the cockpit page from “sys” lists two addresses, an onion address as well as oracleatbelfry dot com 3) I can enter https colon slash slash oracleatbelfry dot com slash _cockpit into my linux desktop’s browser and it goes to the cockpit login screen as you’d expect 4) but I still get the blank screen.

Sorry to hear that. I gave up and mine is sitting on a shelf. If you find an answer, please share on here. Thanks

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I installed FreedomBox about a week ago and I had the same problem. I worked on it until I was cussing. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: Figured I’d give it another go because this entire concept is just awesome to me. One question is… I’ve seen several articles that .local was actually sold by ICAN or whoever it is and that some bonafide corporations are actually using that domain now. Is it still ok to put .local in for a private domain name or should we use something else? I’ll probably register a domain at some point, but if this box is “for the people” and for beginners, most standard users don’t even know what a domain is and their eyes will glaze over if you try to explain it to them and they SURE aren’t going to register one. Anyway, I’m reinstalling and will give it another shot, I just wanted to chime in and let y’all know that mine wasn’t just a drop-in install. :slight_smile:

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.local should work ok. Is it listed on /plinth/sys/cockpit/ under “Access”?

I just got FreedomBox running on a VM on my home network. For me, this error seems to be related to access configuration. Like as soon as it hits the browser’s content sec pol for wss://meetingvite.com, nothing further processes.

My domain is meetingvite.com and I’ve got all of the necessary ports forwarding. Cockpit loads fine in Chrome and Firefox, but when I load Cockpit in Safari on my Mac, I get the following in the web console:

1. Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 404 (Not Found) (nav.css, line 0)
2. Refused to connect to **wss://meetingvite.com/_cockpit/cockpit/socket** because it does not appear in the connect-src directive of the Content Security Policy.
3. SecurityError: The operation is insecure.
	(anonymous function) (cockpit.js:380)
	t (cockpit.js:380)
	je (cockpit.js:577)
	(anonymous function) (index.js:72:52269)
	n (index.js:1:115)
	(anonymous function) (index.js:40:87529)
	n (index.js:1:115)
	(anonymous function) (index.js:1:904)
	Global Code (index.js:1:914)

I got lost in the weeds somewhere, but just thought I’d kick back in… I haven’t configured a permanent freedombox yet, but will soon. I’ve installed it 3 or 4 times now on various setups and cockpit worked fine on a couple and I got only the white screen and you couldn’t do anything on a couple. I don’t remember which ones were which and I know that’s not much help, but just wanted to report back on that for what it’s worth.

Sorry, I never answered this… yes, the correct url shows up under /plinth/sys/cockpit under access. My problem just turned out to be going to the IP instead of the full name as mentioned in the docs. :slight_smile: If I try to go to the ip address, I get the white blank screen, if I go to the proper hostname.local, it loads up ok for me.

I’m actually right there with you. After about 30+ clean installs, several configuration changes, lack of support on the forums, and an issue that has apparently existed since Jun of 2019 (1 and a half years and this isnt resolved? What?), i think its time to call it quits. I’m very disappointed with my purchase of this coffee holster. Since I thought this would be a product that would work out of the box, since the debian committee endorses it, but unfortunately, it looks like this OS is hampered with a severe lack of development and support. I just dont understand why this issue isnt publicly disclosed on the olimex website. I mean, having to use tor browser just to be able to log into cockpit just sounds absolutely obsurd to me. Thats like having to use the tor browser to log in to my own router. I would give this a second shot if the developers reached out to me and explained how i could properly configure cockpit to work with any browser other than tor, but i’ve made several unanswered posts here since i got the box, and it really seems like nobody cares very much, or there is just a real lack of support in the community. I was contemplating even helping with development, but the fact that nobody responds to my simple posts, makes me think that it would be an extremely frustrating experience if I put time and effort into the codebase, and the devs dont get back to me, or it takes them weeks to respond. So i’ve tabled that idea as well for now. The olimex forums are just as bad if not worse here. I wish I knew all of this before I bought my electronic coffee tray.

Refreshing the page in my browser doesnt work no matter what browser i’m on. Ive tried every suggestion in this entire thread (on top of about 30 clean installs), all to no avail, with the exception of enabling tor, and accessing cockpit over the tor browser. I’m about to turn my freedombox into a coffee tray, because my patience is running pretty thin. But if you have any other ideas or suggestions, or know of anyone who would be able to helpw me work through this issue, I guess i could pick it back up again for one more try.

I tested cockpit app on both stable and testing containers today. I was able to login in using Firefox and Chromium.

I have a FreedomBox installed on Debian testing and a FreedomBox Pioneer. Cockpit works on both of them.

Cockpit only allows you to login using the domain names it’s configured with.
Are you using one of the URLs listed under the Access section in the Cockpit app?

This is how it looks on my FreedomBox.

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