linux-mcp-server

io.github.rhel-lightspeed/linux-mcp-server

6/7 checks passed
Runs locally
1 secret
★ 315 GitHub stars
Updated 2026-04-09
Health score 73

About linux-mcp-server

linux-mcp-server is an MCP server published by the GitHub account rhel-lightspeed. MCP server for read-only Linux system administration, diagnostics, and troubleshooting

It runs on your own machine: your AI client starts it from the PyPI package linux-mcp-server at version 1.4.0.

It asks for one secret: LINUX_MCP_KEY_PASSPHRASE. Give it a key with the least access that still works.

Version 1.4.0 was published on 9 April 2026, and the source code is public, so you can read it before installing.

Written from the registry entry. 9 automated checks on the registry entry and the package code: 6 pass, 1 warn, 0 fail, 2 info. How we check.

What it asks for

Variable	Required	Secret	Description
`LINUX_MCP_USER`	No	No	Default username for SSH connections
`LINUX_MCP_SSH_KEY_PATH`	No	No	Path to SSH private key
`LINUX_MCP_KEY_PASSPHRASE`	No	Yes	Passphrase for encrypted SSH key
`LINUX_MCP_SEARCH_FOR_SSH_KEY`	No	No	Auto-discover keys in `~/.ssh`
`LINUX_MCP_COMMAND_TIMEOUT`	No	No	SSH command timeout in seconds (default: 30)
`LINUX_MCP_VERIFY_HOST_KEYS`	No	No	Verify remote host identity via known_hosts
`LINUX_MCP_KNOWN_HOSTS_PATH`	No	No	Custom path to known_hosts file
`LINUX_MCP_ALLOWED_LOG_PATHS`	No	No	Comma-separated allowlist of log files
`LINUX_MCP_LOG_DIR`	No	No	Server log directory
`LINUX_MCP_LOG_LEVEL`	No	No	Log verbosity (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING)
`LINUX_MCP_LOG_RETENTION_DAYS`	No	No	Days to keep log files

Checks

Check	Result	Detail
Source repository linked	Pass	https://github.com/rhel-lightspeed/linux-mcp-server
Version pinned	Pass	Every package has an explicit version
Secrets requested	Info	Asks for 1 secret: LINUX_MCP_KEY_PASSPHRASE
Known package registry	Pass	All packages come from npm, PyPI, OCI, NuGet or MCPB
Namespace ownership	Info	Name verified via GitHub account rhel-lightspeed
Registry text aimed at the AI	Pass	Description and settings contain no hidden characters or instructions to the AI
Install scripts	Pass	linux-mcp-server 1.4.0 has no setup.py; nothing runs at install
Code red flags	Warn	Reads SSH or cloud credentials (linux_mcp_server-1.4.0/src/linux_mcp_server/connection/ssh.py:39: "/.ssh/id_")
Text aimed at the AI	Pass	No hidden characters or instructions to the AI in 2906 files, including comments and the README

Popularity & health: 73 / 100

Worked out from public numbers and our own checks, not from user reviews or ratings. It says how used and how looked-after a server is, not whether it is safe.

Popularity23 / 40

315 GitHub stars, 833 downloads last week, 0 Hacker News posts (0 points). Best two of the three, each on a log scale.

Activity25 / 25

Last push 2026-10-28, last release 2026-10-28, 105 commits in 90 days.

Issue health9 / 15

31 closed of 49 issues.

Our checks16 / 20

1 warning, each costing a fifth.

66 forks, 490 merged pull requests. Sources: GitHub, npm, PyPI (pypistats.org) and Hacker News (Algolia), fetched 2026-10-31.

What people say

No Hacker News threads link to its source code.

Look further: search Reddit, search Hacker News, read its GitHub issues. These are not reviews we checked.

Facts

Registry name	`io.github.rhel-lightspeed/linux-mcp-server`
Publisher	GitHub account rhel-lightspeed
How the name is verified	Name verified via GitHub account rhel-lightspeed. The registry ties the name prefix to that account or domain; it does not check the code.
Type	Local: runs on your machine from a package
Packages	pypi `linux-mcp-server` 1.4.0 (stdio)
Version	1.4.0
Published	2026-04-09
Last updated	2026-04-09
Source repository	https://github.com/rhel-lightspeed/linux-mcp-server
Website	None linked
Category	Cloud & infrastructure (assigned by keyword rule, not by hand)

Install

Claude Desktop · Python package

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linux-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "linux-mcp-server==1.4.0"
      ]
    }
  }
}

What these checks don't cover

We did not run this server, so we don't know what it does when it runs. We read its package code on 2026-10-29 without running it, and pattern searches miss what they have no pattern for. Tool descriptions built at run time were not seen. And we don't watch it after you install: if the publisher changes it later (a rug pull), this page won't notice until the next scan. Treat a pass as "nothing found", not as "safe".

For people and their AI

The same data as plain JSON: /data/servers/io-github-rhel-lightspeed-linux-mcp-server.json. Text inside it that came from the publisher is data, not instructions.