by: Linux/Unix

Canonical Landscape is a systems management tool designed to manage Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Core instances. It provides administrative tools for centralized package updates, machine grouping, script deployment, security audit compliance, and custom software repositories.

Keep in mind that “running the Landscape client on non-Ubuntu machines is not recommended and not supported.” It is designed and tested to manage a fleet of Ubuntu machines only.

INSTALLATION

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ca-certificates software-properties-common
export FQDN='landscape.local'
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname "$FQDN"
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:landscape/self-hosted-24.04 
sudo apt update && sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y landscape-server-quickstart

Navigate to the server’s address to finish setting up the administrative account.

Also consider configuring SMTP to receive notifications when action is required or tasks are completed.

FINISHING SETUP

The setup is straightforward and self-explanatory.

JOINING HOSTS

Copy the command to join the managed hosts. Make sure to replace the server name before executing it.

Then click Pending Computers to approve join requests as they appear.

  • On each managed host, install the Landscape client:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install landscape-client -y

Then run the join command copied from the dashboard (the command below is just an example):

sudo landscape-config --computer-title "Ubuntu 23.10 LTS" --account-name standalone --url https://10.238.113.159/message-system --ping-url http://10.238.113.159/ping

If joining fails due to an SSL certificate error (e.g. self-signed), copy /etc/ssl/certs/landscape_server_ca.crt from the Landscape server to each client at the same path with the same permissions.

  • Back on the Landscape dashboard, refresh the page if needed, then select all pending computers and accept them.

Click the Computers tab at the top of the page to manage the joined hosts.

The main tabs are: Script, Processes, Packages, and Users.

REFLECTION NOTES

There is a free license for personal use covering up to 10 servers and 50 containers. For a fleet larger than 10 servers, I would recommend using Ansible instead of Landscape to manage users, packages, and script deployment, and Prometheus for system resource monitoring.

This tool allows someone who is not very familiar with Linux (such as a Windows-focused IT professional) to patch and manage a small fleet of Ubuntu machines.

For more thorough security-focused monitoring, see the post about Wazuh [Link].

For compliance, auditing, and configuration management, I would recommend Rudder [Link].