Post-installation method, no login to Cockpit possible

[abdulkadirakinsola]

Hello,

I have completed my tpot installation and i am able to access the webui and SSH, but i am unable to login to the cockpit. Please can anyone help out,

Thanks!

[Ganesh-403]

@abdulkadirakinsola
If you can access the Web UI and SSH, but Cockpit won't accept your login, then the issue is most likely related to which credentials you're using or the Cockpit service itself.

A few things to verify:

1. Make sure you're using the correct credentials

T-Pot has different users for different interfaces:

• Cockpit (Admin UI) → Use your OS/Linux user (e.g. tsec or the username you created during installation).
• Web UI (Landing Page) → Uses the separate WEB_USER credentials.

The official documentation distinguishes these user types:

• Cockpit: https://<IP>:64294
• SSH: ssh -p 64295
• Web UI: https://<IP>:64297 (uses the web user). :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Using the Web UI username/password for Cockpit will result in repeated login failures.

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2. Verify Cockpit is running

Check the socket and service:

sudo systemctl status cockpit.socket
sudo systemctl status cockpit

Cockpit is normally started via systemd socket activation, so the socket should be enabled even if the service isn't permanently running. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

If necessary:

sudo systemctl enable --now cockpit.socket

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3. Check the Cockpit logs

If the credentials are correct but authentication still fails, inspect the logs:

sudo journalctl -u cockpit -xe

or

sudo journalctl -u cockpit.socket -xe

These often show whether the failure is due to authentication, PAM, or another system issue.

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4. Confirm password authentication

Cockpit's initial login requires an authentication method supported by web browsers (typically a local username/password). If you've disabled password authentication and only use SSH keys, Cockpit won't be able to authenticate that way by default. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

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Could you share a few more details?

1. Which username are you trying to log in with? (tsec, your Linux user, or the Web UI user?)
2. What happens after clicking "Log In"?
   • "Login incorrect"
   • Page refreshes back to the login screen
   • 401/403 error
   • Something else?
3. What is the output of:

sudo systemctl status cockpit.socket
sudo journalctl -u cockpit -n 50

That should help determine whether this is a credentials issue, a Cockpit service issue, or a PAM/authentication problem.

If this solves your problem, feel free to mark it as the accepted answer so others can find it easily.