Source: Dev.to

Octofleet – An Open‑Source Endpoint Management Platform

“I have too many computers.”

Three Windows Servers, a handful of workstations, a Linux box… you get the picture. Commercial endpoint‑management tools quickly become expensive:

• Basic plans: $10‑15 per endpoint per month
• PDQ Deploy: $500 / year minimum
• Microsoft Intune: …well, it’s Microsoft.
• Self‑hosted SCCM: a nightmare to maintain

So I did what any reasonable developer does when faced with pricey software: I built my own.

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Meet Octofleet

Octofleet is an open‑source endpoint‑management platform. It’s exactly what I wished existed when I started looking for a solution: simple to deploy, actually useful, and it doesn’t need a finance‑department approval.

Fair warning: This is still beta software. I run it in production on my own infrastructure (I like living dangerously), but you should test it thoroughly before using it on anything critical. It’s been stable for weeks now.

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What It Actually Does

The feature list grew organically from “things I kept needing”.

Hardware & Software Inventory

Every machine reports installed software, hardware details, disk space, network adapters… the works. No more RDP‑ing into servers just to check if something is installed.

Remote Job Execution

Run PowerShell scripts or Bash commands across your fleet. Schedule them, target specific groups, and see results in real‑time.

Vulnerability Scanning

Octofleet pulls CVE data from the NVD and cross‑references it with installed software, so you instantly know which machines have vulnerable versions.

Auto‑Remediation

Found a vulnerability? Octofleet can automatically update the affected software via winget or Chocolatey. It’s like having a very focused, very patient sysadmin working 24/7.

Performance Monitoring

Real‑time CPU, RAM, and disk metrics with a “hotspot matrix” that shows at a glance which machines need attention.

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The Architecture (For Those Who Care)

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│          Frontend (Next.js)          │
│   React + Tailwind CSS + REST API    │
└─────────────────────┬───────────────┘
                      │
┌─────────────────────▼─────────────────────┐
│            Backend (FastAPI)              │
│               Python 3.12                │
└─────────────────────┬─────────────────────┘
                      │
┌─────────────────────▼─────────────────────┐
│   PostgreSQL 16 + TimescaleDB (TSDB)      │
│   – time‑series metrics storage          │
└───────────────────────────────────────────┘

   ┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐
   │ Windows │   │ Windows │   │  Linux  │
   │ Agent   │   │ Agent   │   │ Agent   │
   │ (.NET 8)│   │ (.NET 8)│   │ (Bash)  │
   └────┬────┘   └────┬────┘   └────┬────┘
        └─────────────┴─────────────┘
               HTTPS polling

Why TimescaleDB? Storing weeks of performance metrics in regular PostgreSQL tables gets ugly fast. TimescaleDB handles time‑series compression and retention automatically.

• Windows agent: a single .NET 8 executable (~8 MB) that runs as a service – no installer, no runtime dependencies.
• Linux agent: a simple Bash script (because sometimes simple wins).

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Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/BenediktSchackenberg/octofleet.git
cd octofleet
docker compose up -d

That’s it. Open http://localhost:3000, log in with admin/admin, and you have a running instance.

Install the Windows Agent (one‑liner)

iwr "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BenediktSchackenberg/octofleet/main/Install-OctofleetAgent.ps1" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\install.ps1"; & "$env:TEMP\install.ps1"

The agent auto‑registers with your server and starts reporting immediately.

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How It Compares

The big players have more features, better polish, and enterprise support – but they also come with enterprise complexity and enterprise pricing. For homelabs, small businesses, or anyone who just wants basic fleet management without the hassle, Octofleet is a solid alternative.

ck your poison

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The Honest “Beta Software” Section

Things that work well

• Inventory collection is solid
• Job execution is reliable
• The dashboard is genuinely useful day‑to‑day
• Auto‑updates for agents work (finally, after some painful debugging)

Things I’m still working on

• Documentation could be better (it exists, but it’s … sparse)
• macOS agent doesn’t exist yet
• Reporting/exports are basic
• No mobile app (and probably never will be)

Known quirks

• First‑time setup requires you to configure the gateway URL manually
• Some edge cases in vulnerability matching (CVE data is messy)
• The UI has a few rough edges on mobile

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Why I’m Sharing This

Honestly? I want feedback.

This started as a personal project to scratch my own itch, but it’s grown into something that might be useful for others. I’d love to know:

• What features are missing that would make this useful for you?
• What’s confusing about the setup?
• What breaks when you try it?

I’m also very open to contributions. The codebase is reasonably clean (I think), the stack is modern, and there’s plenty of low‑hanging fruit for anyone wanting to contribute to an open‑source project.

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Links

• GitHub:
• Screenshots: See the README in the repository
• License: MIT – do whatever you want with it

If you try it, let me know how it goes. Open an issue, leave a comment here, or just star the repo if you think it’s cool.

And if you’re managing a fleet of machines and paying too much for basic management tools — maybe give this a shot.

Worst case, you’ll waste 5 minutes on docker compose up.
Best case, you’ll save a bunch of money and have something you can actually customize.

Currently managing 9 endpoints with Octofleet. My wallet is happier, even if my spare time isn’t.