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VM console

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The console connects you to a VM like a keyboard and screen plugged into it. It works without SSH, without a public address and with the VM’s network down, so it’s the way in when something is broken: a firewall rule that locked you out, a boot that hangs, a full disk.

There are two kinds:

Console What you get Use it for
Serial A text terminal on the VM’s serial port Boot messages, logging in, fixing configs
VNC The VM’s screen Anything that only shows on the screen

TebibHost images set no passwords, so to log in on the console you need a user with a password. Set one while you can still SSH in (sudo passwd ubuntu), or through cloud-init when you create the VM. Without one you can still read the boot messages.

On the VM’s page, open the Console tab and pick serial or VNC. The VM must be running. Switch between the two at the top of the console without closing it.

  • Full screen fills the window (on an iPhone, the page).
  • Paste types your clipboard into the VM. If the browser won’t share the clipboard, a box opens to paste into. In VNC the text is typed key by key, so keep it short.
  • The key bar sends the keys a browser keeps for itself: Ctrl-Alt-Del (VNC), Esc, Tab, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-D and F1 to F12.
  • If the connection drops, the console reconnects on its own (up to five tries over about 30 seconds) with a fresh ticket. Reconnect now skips the wait. When the VM itself is stopped, it waits for you instead.

How access works

Section titled “How access works”

Opening a console needs the IAM action compute:ConnectConsole on the VM. Each connection uses a one-time ticket that is valid for 60 seconds, and every console session is recorded in your organization’s audit log. The VM’s Activity tab (or tebib vm activity "$VM") lists them, with who opened each one and from which address.