🏗️ Server Watchtower

A powerful web-based server monitoring application that connects to multiple servers via SSH and displays real-time resource usage metrics with beautiful progress bars and responsive UI.

✨ Features

• Real-time Monitoring: Monitor CPU, RAM, and disk usage across multiple servers
• SSH Connection: Secure SSH connections to remote servers (password or key-based auth)
• Beautiful UI: Modern, responsive interface with progress bars and status indicators
• Auto-refresh: Automatically refreshes metrics every 30 seconds
• Connection Testing: Test SSH connections before adding servers
• Multi-server Support: Monitor unlimited number of servers simultaneously
• Error Handling: Graceful handling of connection failures and errors

📊 Monitored Metrics

• CPU Usage: Real-time CPU utilization percentage
• Memory Usage: RAM usage with total/used capacity
• Disk Usage: Disk utilization with total/used space
• Server Status: Online/offline indicators
• Connection Health: Visual status indicators for each server

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• pip3 package manager
• SSH access to target servers
• Linux/Unix target servers (tested on Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd watchtower

2. Run the startup script:

   ./start.sh

   The script will:

   • Create a virtual environment
   • Install all dependencies
   • Start the Flask server

3. Access the application: Open your browser and navigate to: http://localhost:5000

Manual Installation

If you prefer manual setup:

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Start the application
cd backend
python app.py

🎮 Usage

Adding a Server

1. Click the "Add Server" button

2. Fill in the server details:

   • Server Alias: Friendly name (optional)
   • Host/IP Address: Server IP or hostname
   • SSH Port: Usually 22
   • Username: SSH username
   • Password: SSH password (optional if using key auth)
   • SSH Key Path: Path to private key file (optional)

3. Click "Test Connection" to verify connectivity

4. Click "Add Server" to start monitoring

Managing Servers

• Refresh Individual Server: Click the refresh button on any server card
• Refresh All Servers: Click "Refresh All" to update all servers
• Remove Server: Click the trash icon to remove a server
• Auto-refresh: Servers automatically refresh every 30 seconds

🏗️ Project Structure

watchtower/
├── backend/
│   └── app.py              # Flask application and SSH monitoring logic
├── frontend/
│   ├── templates/
│   │   └── index.html      # Main HTML template
│   └── static/
│       ├── styles.css      # CSS styling
│       └── script.js       # JavaScript functionality
├── requirements.txt        # Python dependencies
├── start.sh               # Startup script
├── .gitignore            # Git ignore file
└── README.md             # This file

🔧 API Endpoints

The application provides a REST API:

• GET / - Main web interface
• GET /api/servers - List all configured servers
• POST /api/servers - Add a new server
• DELETE /api/servers/<server_id> - Remove a server
• GET /api/metrics/<server_id> - Get metrics for a specific server
• GET /api/metrics/all - Get metrics for all servers
• POST /api/test-connection - Test SSH connection

🔐 Security Considerations

1. SSH Keys: Use SSH key authentication when possible instead of passwords
2. Network Security: Run on a secure network or use VPN
3. User Permissions: Use limited SSH users with minimal required permissions
4. Firewall: Configure firewalls appropriately
5. HTTPS: For production, serve over HTTPS using a reverse proxy

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Connection Timeouts:

• Verify SSH port is accessible
• Check firewall settings
• Ensure SSH service is running on target server

Permission Denied:

• Verify username and password/key
• Check SSH user permissions
• Ensure SSH key has correct permissions (600)

Metrics Not Loading:

• Check if target server has required commands (top, free, df)
• Verify user has permission to execute system commands

Debug Mode

To run in debug mode for development:

export FLASK_DEBUG=1
cd backend
python app.py

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

📝 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with Flask web framework
• SSH connectivity via Paramiko library
• UI icons from Font Awesome
• Responsive design principles

📞 Support

For issues and questions:

1. Check the troubleshooting section
2. Open an issue on GitHub
3. Review the code for customization options

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Happy Monitoring! 🚀📊