pi-server-remote-rust

A lightweight web dashboard that runs on a Raspberry Pi, allowing you to trigger configurable shell commands and monitor status checks from a browser. Built with Rust and Axum, designed to use as little memory and CPU as possible.

Why?

I got into self-hosting and turned my old PC into a Linux server. Had a Raspberry Pi 1 Model A sitting in my loft for 12 years, so I thought I'd actually use it for something. I wanted a way to wake up the server, run commands on it, and shut it down without having to sit at a keyboard.

I had originally written this in python but it was using about a 20% of the available 512mb of RAM, so I thought I would try writing it in rust so that it uses as little memory and CPU as possible. This decreased RAM consumption to around 5%.

My Pi is always on and connected to my home network over WiFi. It's also connected to the server directly via Ethernet. This dashboard lets me:

• Send a Wake-on-LAN packet over the Ethernet interface to power the server on
• SSH into the server to run commands remotely (start/stop Docker containers, shut down, etc.)
• Monitor status to see if the server is online
• Quick-link to other services on my network (router, media server, etc.)

Screenshots

Controls	Links

PWA Support

This project includes a manifest.json and sw.js (service worker) in the static files so I can run the dashboard as a Progressive Web App (PWA) on my phone. I had create a certificate and add it to my phone it was more work than I hoped but feels a bit nicer when I use it.

Features

• Run configurable shell commands from a web UI (e.g. wake-on-LAN, SSH, reboot)
• Poll status targets on a configurable interval (e.g. check if a server is online)
• Quick-link list to other local services
• All configuration via a single config.yaml file
• Serves on port 7878

Project Structure

├── app/                    # Rust web application
│   ├── Cargo.toml
│   ├── src/
│   ├── templates/
│   ├── static/
│   ├── config.yaml.example
│   └── config.yaml         (git-ignored, your local config)
├── images/                 # Screenshots
├── server-remote-rust.service.example
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Requirements

• Rust toolchain (stable)
• cross for cross-compilation
• Docker (required by cross)

Building

The Raspberry Pi 1 is far too slow to compile Rust. Cross-compile on a more powerful machine using cross and copy the binary over.

Install cross if you haven't already:

cargo install cross

Add the target (only needed once):

rustup target add arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf

Build a release binary from the app/ directory:

cd app
cross build --release --target arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf

The compiled binary will be at:

app/target/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf/release/server-remote-rust

Installation on the Pi

1. Create a directory on the Pi and copy the required files:

   ssh user@your-pi "sudo mkdir -p /opt/server-remote-rust"
   
   scp app/target/arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf/release/server-remote-rust user@your-pi:/opt/server-remote-rust/
   scp -r app/templates/ user@your-pi:/opt/server-remote-rust/
   scp -r app/static/ user@your-pi:/opt/server-remote-rust/
   scp app/config.yaml user@your-pi:/opt/server-remote-rust/

2. Make the binary executable:

   ssh user@your-pi "chmod +x /opt/server-remote-rust/server-remote-rust"

3. Set up the systemd service:

   Copy and edit the example service file:

   scp server-remote-rust.service.example user@your-pi:/tmp/server-remote-rust.service

   On the Pi, edit the service file to set your User and Group, then install it:

   sudo cp /tmp/server-remote-rust.service /etc/systemd/system/server-remote-rust.service
   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable server-remote-rust
   sudo systemctl start server-remote-rust

4. Access the dashboard:

   Open http://your-pi-ip:7878 in a browser.

Configuration

Copy config.yaml.example to config.yaml and edit to suit your setup:

commands:
  - id: wake_server
    title: Wake Server
    shell: "ether-wake -i eth0 d8:cb:8a:3b:92:91"

  - id: reboot_pi
    title: Reboot Pi
    shell: "sudo reboot"

status:
  - id: server_status
    name: "Server Status"
    shell: "ping -c 1 -W 2 192.168.1.100"

links:
  - name: Router Dashboard
    url: "http://192.168.1.1"

• commands — buttons that execute a shell command when clicked
• status — polled periodically to show online/offline indicators
• links — quick-link tiles to other local services

API

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/	Serves the dashboard UI
POST	/api/run/:id	Executes a command by ID
GET	/api/status/:id	Polls a status check by ID

License

MIT License