Console in the browser
Your VPS screen via noVNC in the browser: for everything that no longer works over SSH.
3 min read
On this page
The Console shows your server's screen right in the browser, as if a monitor were plugged in. It does not need working networking inside the server and helps when SSH no longer works: a firewall rule locks you out, the system does not boot, the network is misconfigured.
Open the console
- Open the server under Services and go to Console.
- The connection starts by itself. The state is shown at the top left: Preparing, Connecting, Connected.
- Click into the screen to type. Sign in as
rootwith the password from Credentials.
If the server is off, the page says the console is not available right now and shows the Start server button. After starting, reconnect.
The bar above the screen
| Button | What for |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+Del | Sends the key combination to the server. On Linux this usually reboots. |
| Paste text | Puts text on the server's clipboard, e.g. a long password. Confirm with Send. |
| Fit | Scales the screen to the window size. |
| Full screen / Exit full screen | Console across the whole screen. |
| Disconnect | Ends the session. |
| Connect / Reconnect | Opens the connection again. |
Good to know
- A session is short-lived. If you see The session has expired or Disconnected, click Reconnect.
- Pasted text lands on the server's clipboard. On a plain text console without a graphical desktop it does not arrive everywhere. Type short commands by hand instead.
- The console does not replace SSH for daily work. Copying, scrolling and file transfer work much better over SSH, see Connecting via SSH.
Typical cases
The firewall locks out SSH. Sign in on the console and open port 22 again, e.g. with ufw allow 22/tcp or firewall-cmd --add-service=ssh --permanent && firewall-cmd --reload. More in Firewall.
Forgot the password. Set a new root password under System, see System, then sign in on the console or via SSH.
The system no longer boots. The console shows what goes wrong during startup. If it cannot be repaired, a reinstall under System remains. That deletes all data.
If you get stuck, open a ticket.