Using the Console

What the console is

The console shows you your server's screen in your browser, as if you had plugged in a monitor and keyboard. It is provided by the platform, not by anything running inside your server, so it works when SSH does not: during boot, when the network configuration is wrong, when a firewall rule has locked you out, or when the system is asking a question at start-up.

Every virtual server has a graphical console. Most servers also have a serial console:

• Console: the graphical console. You see exactly what a monitor would show, including the boot process and any graphical login.
• Serial console: a text terminal attached to the server's serial port. It is the better choice for command-line work and the one to reach for when the graphical console shows nothing useful.

Opening it

1. Open Compute and select the server. It must be Running; both console buttons are disabled otherwise.
2. Click Console or Serial console. The console opens in a new browser tab, so allow pop-ups from the dashboard if nothing appears.
3. Log in at the prompt with a local account, normally the username shown on the Initial Password card (root on Linux, Administrator on Windows) and its password.

If Serial console reports that it becomes available after the next restart, restart the server once from the dashboard; if it still does not open, use the graphical console.

Logging in at the console

The console is your server's own login screen, so it takes the server's local password, not your dashboard password and not an SSH key.

• A server built without an SSH key has a password shown on the server page under Initial Password, with the username to use (root on Linux, Administrator on Windows); click View Initial Password. It is never sent by email.
• A server built with an SSH key has no password to type. Set one first: on the server page choose More, then Reset Password, generate or enter a password, copy it, and use it at the console. Password reset needs the server to be Running and uses the guest agent in our images; it is not available for router appliances.

Limits to know about

• No clipboard in the graphical console. Text on your computer cannot be pasted into the graphical console; you type it. For long commands, use the serial console, where your browser's usual paste works, or fix SSH access and use that.
• Keyboard layout. The graphical console passes your key presses to the server, which interprets them with its own keyboard layout, usually US. If your keyboard uses another layout, some symbols (for example |, @ or ~) can come out differently. The serial console does not have this problem.
• Browser shortcuts such as Ctrl+W or Ctrl+T are taken by the browser before the console sees them. The screen scales to fit the tab; resize the tab if text is too small.
• Sessions are short-lived. The link to the console is valid for a few minutes after you click the button, and a session ends when the server reboots or the connection drops. If the tab shows Disconnected, click Reconnect to start a new session, or close the tab and open the console again from the server page.
• No file transfer. The console carries a screen and a keyboard, nothing else. Move files with scp, rsync or object storage once SSH is working.
• Text on the serial console. If the serial console opens but shows nothing, press Enter. Some operating systems need a login prompt enabled on the serial port before they will show one.

When to use it

• You cannot connect over SSH and want to see why (see Cannot Connect to Your Server).
• The server does not finish booting, asks for a disk check, or drops to an emergency shell.
• You are changing network or firewall settings and want a session that survives the change.
• You have booted a rescue or installer image from ISO Management and need to work in it.
• You are installing an operating system yourself from an uploaded image.

Self-managed servers

The console gives you the same access an administrator at the machine would have. What you do with it inside the operating system is under your control: your server is self-managed, and as a matter of policy we do not log in to customer servers. If the console itself will not open or connect for a Running server, that is our side; open a support ticket with the server name and the time you tried.