Claude Code: A Surprising DevOps Assistant for Server Management Tasks
I recently discovered how powerful Claude Code can be for DevOps tasks. Unlike basic chatbots, Claude Code can directly interact with your mounted servers and execute commands, making it like having an expert sysadmin at your fingertips.
What I’ve Been Doing With Claude Code
Today I used Claude to:
- Configure Nagios monitoring for Docker containers on a production server
- Read and modify config files on SSHFS-mounted remote servers
- Apply changes and reload services with proper syntax
Handle unmounting of SSHFS directories
Why It’s Game-Changing for DevOps
1. Handles Complex Server Configurations — Claude understood and modified our Nagios config files to add monitoring for Docker containers
2. Works With Remote Systems — It can read from SSHFS-mounted directories or execute remote commands via SSH
3. Remembers System-Specific Details — After showing it once, Claude remembered how to restart Nagios using the correct Docker exec command
4. Respects System Safety — It properly checks if directories are mounted before attempting operations
5. Adapts When Commands Fail — When trying to restart Nagios with -it (docker) flags that failed, it automatically adjusted
Practical Example
When I needed to add monitoring for “umami” and “umami_db” Docker containers:
1. Claude examined the existing Nagios config structure
2. Added properly formatted service definitions with the correct check commands
3. Reloaded the Nagios service with docker exec nagios service nagios reload
4. Verified the changes worked
Claude vs. Ansible
For one-off admin tasks or small team environments, Claude Code offers:
- No playbooks to maintain
- Natural language instructions
- Handles edge cases without explicit programming
- Adapts to your existing setup without frameworks
- No need for any 3rd-party MCPs
I’m not suggesting replacing your entire automation pipeline, but for specific operational tasks, having an AI assistant that understands both your instructions and system architecture is incredibly useful.
When it comes to Claude Code, I only had “coding” in my mind…
But this “DevOps Thing” really pushes me hard to switch to the Max plan 🙈
*Disclaimer: I know, Nagios is 100 years old, I only took this as a simple real-world use-case for better understanding, so please don’t waste any energy telling me and everyone — we all know ;)
Has anyone else tried using Claude Code for DevOps work?
