Cockpit’s +cockpit-ws+ component is what the browser connects to and it typically starts on demand via +systemd+ socket activation.
The actual +cockpit.service+ and +cockpit-ws+ process will start on demand when a browser accesses the +cockpit.socket+, usually on port 9090. Once a user logs in then a +cockpit-bridge+ process will be started in a Linux user login session.
Only systems that you connect to with your browser need to have the +cockpit.socket+ enabled. For systems that you add through host switcher the bridge is started via SSH on demand.
Process exit
The +cockpit-bridge+ process will exit when the user logs out. In addition, after 10 minutes of inactivity, the +cockpit-ws+ process will exit on its own. The browser will automatically disconnect if it fails to hear from the +cockpit-ws+ process for 30 seconds.
Boot start up
To make Cockpit available by default after system boot the +cockpit.socket+ needs to be enabled:
$ sudo systemctl enable cockpit.socket
If you wish to not have Cockpit available by default via a browser, then the +cockpit.socket+ should be disabled:
$ sudo systemctl disable cockpit.socket