The console shows your server's screen the way a monitor plugged into the machine would. It does not travel through SSH or through any service running inside the server, which is the whole point of it: when you have locked yourself out, the console is still there.
Opening the console
Open Console in the server sidebar, or go to the Options tab and use Open console on the VNC console card. Both land on the same screen.
The session connects as soon as the page loads. Click into the screen to type, the same as you would with a physical keyboard.
A server that has not finished provisioning has no console yet. Until it does, the page reads "This server isn't fully provisioned yet, so the console isn't available."
When to use it instead of SSH
This is the one way into your server that does not depend on the network stack inside it. It keeps working when:
- A firewall rule you added blocks port 22, or blocks the address you connect from.
- A change to the network configuration left the server unreachable.
- The SSH daemon is not running, or fails to start after a config change.
- You replaced or removed the only key in
/root/.ssh/authorized_keys. - You need to watch the machine boot, or work through an installer that runs before networking comes up.
The power controls sit directly above the console, so you can restart the server and watch it come back on the same page. The panel puts it this way:
Browser console for installs, rescue, or when SSH is inaccessible. Click into the screen to type. Use the power controls above to reboot and watch it come up.
For everyday work, use SSH or RDP. The console is a single screen with no scrollback, no file transfer, and no way to copy text out of the server, so it is a recovery tool rather than a replacement for a real session.
The toolbar
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+Del | Sends the key combination to the server. |
| Paste clipboard | Pastes your clipboard into the server as keystrokes. |
| Save screenshot | Downloads the current screen as a PNG. |
| View-only | Ignores your clicks and keys, so you can watch without touching anything. |
| Fullscreen | Expands the console to the whole browser window. |
| Reconnect | Drops the session and starts a fresh one. |
Every control except reconnect stays disabled until the session is connected.
Browser caveats
Clipboard paste needs browser permission. The button reads your clipboard through the browser, and if the browser refuses you get "Clipboard access was blocked by the browser". Firefox does not grant pages clipboard read at all, so in practice this button works in Chromium browsers. Typing directly into the console works everywhere.
Fullscreen can fail silently. It is a browser request, and a restrictive browser policy makes the button do nothing without an error.
The session connects once, when the page opens. It does not re-establish itself if the connection drops, and navigating to another tab in the panel ends it. Use the reconnect button, or reload the console page.
Connecting has a 14 second ceiling. If nothing comes back in that time you see:
Couldn't establish the console session. VNC isn't responding for this server yet. Try again, or open a support ticket if it persists.
Try reconnect once. If it keeps timing out, that is a real fault rather than something you can fix from your side, so open a ticket.