A Cockpit module for managing systemd-nspawn containers through a clean web UI — because apparently nobody else made one.
If you have ever tried to find a Cockpit module for managing systemd-nspawn containers, you already know what happens: you find nothing. A few old forum threads, some "wouldn't that be nice" comments, and then silence.
Honestly, I find this strange. systemd-nspawn is a fantastic, lightweight container solution that ships with every modern systemd-based Linux system. No daemon, full systemd support inside the container, perfect for testing and isolation. And yet — no Cockpit UI. Not even a basic one.
So I built one.
I should be transparent: I am not a developer. I am a Linux sysadmin, an IT consultant, and what some might generously call a "datanisse" — a Scandinavian term for someone who lives and breathes computers but is not necessarily paid to write code. What I am paid to do is make Linux systems work, and I work far too much of the time already.
This module was built using Claude Code, which turned out to be a remarkable tool for exactly this kind of project — someone who knows what they want technically but needs help getting from idea to working software. If you are a sysadmin who has ever thought "I could specify this perfectly but couldn't code it from scratch", Claude Code is worth exploring.
- Lists all nspawn containers and machine images
- Start, stop, and force-terminate containers
- Open a shell inside a running container
- Stream live logs from the container via journald
- Create containers via DNF bootstrap (AlmaLinux, Fedora), URL pull, or clone
- Optional desktop environment at bootstrap: XFCE, KDE Plasma, or GNOME — installed inside the running container automatically, with xrdp configured and started via systemd
- Network mode: Bridge (own LAN IP) or NAT (shared NetworkManager bridge, 10.99.0.1/24)
- Autostart at boot, root password, optional autostart
- Change network mode (NAT ↔ Bridge) on stopped containers
- Open display — shows RDP connection info and downloads a
.rdpfile that opens directly in Windows Remote Desktop (mstsc.exe), Remmina, or xfreerdp. RDP is encrypted by default. - Export containers as tarballs with direct browser download streaming
- Enable/disable autostart at boot per container
- Interface available in English, Swedish, German, French, and Spanish
⚠️ Experimental — Desktop environment bootstrap is under active development and should be considered experimental. Functionality varies by distribution and may not work in all configurations.
Desktop environments are bootstrapped via DNF and use xrdp (X11-based DEs) or Weston (Wayland) for remote access on port 3389. RDP is encrypted by default and works with all major RDP clients including the Windows built-in client (mstsc.exe), Remmina, and xfreerdp.
| Distribution | XFCE | KDE Plasma | GNOME | Weston (Wayland) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 9 | ✅ tested | ✅ tested | ✅ tested | ❌ not offered |
| AlmaLinux 10 | ❌ not in EPEL 10 yet | ❌ not in EPEL 10 yet | ❌ not in EPEL 10 yet | ❌ not offered |
| Fedora 43 | ✅ tested | ❌ Plasma 6 is Wayland-only | ❌ GNOME 47+ is Wayland-only | ✅ tested |
KDE Plasma 6 and GNOME 47+ (Fedora 40+) dropped X11 support and are incompatible with xrdp's X11 backend. XFCE remains X11-based and works with xrdp on Fedora 43. Weston is the alternative for a Wayland-native desktop: a standalone compositor with a built-in FreeRDP/RDP server, no GPU required, works headlessly in containers.
| Distribution | Status |
|---|---|
| Fedora 43 | ✅ Tested |
| Fedora 41 / 42 | 🔲 Should work, untested |
| AlmaLinux 9 | ✅ Tested (host + containers) |
| AlmaLinux 10 | ✅ Tested (bootstrapping) |
Pre-built RPM packages for Fedora 43, AlmaLinux 9, and AlmaLinux 10 are available on the Releases page.
# Download the RPM for your distribution and install
dnf install ./cockpit-nspawn-*.noarch.rpmgit clone https://github.com/realmcuser/cockpit-nspawn
cd cockpit-nspawn
# Fetch the cockpit lib files (required for building)
git fetch https://github.com/cockpit-project/cockpit main
git archive FETCH_HEAD -- pkg/lib | tar -x
npm ci
npm run build
make installRequires Cockpit ≥ 300 and systemd ≥ 246.
This is a personal project maintained in whatever spare time I can find — which is not much. I use it on my own systems and it works well for me.
That said:
- I am not accepting pull requests at this time
- I am not maintaining a Wiki
- Use this at your own risk
If this module helps you, wonderful. If something breaks, please do not come after me — I have enough on my plate. You are a sysadmin, you know how to read logs.
That said, if you find it useful and want to build on it, fork it and make it your own. The world needs more nspawn tooling.
- Ships with systemd — nothing extra to install
- Full systemd support inside the container (unlike most OCI runtimes)
- Lightweight and simple
- Perfect for testing RPM packages, services, and system configurations in isolation
- Works beautifully with AlmaLinux, Fedora, and other RPM-based systems
LGPL-2.1
Built by a sysadmin who got tired of waiting for a real developer to do it.