Consoles
Open any device from the browser: serial, graphical desktop or container shell.
On this page
Every device opens in the browser. There is nothing to install on your laptop. Consoles go through the web interface you already signed in to.
What you get for each device#
| Device | Console |
|---|---|
| Routers and switches | Serial console in the browser |
| Virtual machines | Every virtual machine has a screen. A command-line system opens in the serial console, with a button to open its desktop. A system that boots to a desktop, such as Windows, opens in Desktop. |
| Containers on an application host | A shell into the container you choose |
Container console and actions are available on every edition.
Open a console#
- Double-click a running device on the canvas, or right-click it and choose Open console. The row is disabled while the device is stopped or suspended.
- In the Environment status panel, use the console control next to the device.
- The console opens in its own browser window. Opening the same device again reuses that window. If your browser blocks the window, allow pop-ups for the appliance and try again.
- The window title reads device · environment · ONEP.
Opening a console is recorded in the Audit log. Session recording is a setting of the environment; see Environments.
The console window#
One row runs along the top, a toolbar runs down the left, and the console fills the rest.
- Back to the canvas (the arrow) returns to the environment. The environment name follows it.
- Each open device has a tab with a status dot and a cross to close it. Up to five tabs show; the rest collapse into a +N button.
- Open another device (+, or Ctrl+K when the console does not have focus) opens a search box over every device in the environment, powered-on devices first. Open replaces the device you are in. Open beside puts the new device next to it; see Side by side.
- The status beside the tabs reads Connected, Connecting, Starting, In use elsewhere, Powered off or Failed. Point at it to see the device type and the console size.
- On the right: Open desktop or Back to console (devices that have both), Notes and sketch, Side by side, Reconnect and Full screen.
The serial console keeps 5,000 lines of scrollback.
The toolbar#
The toolbar on the left has two buttons. Each opens one panel at a time. Escape or a click in the console closes it.
Keys#
- Ctrl, Alt and Shift are held keys. Select one and it stays lit; the next key you press or send carries it, then it releases.
- Esc and Tab send that key once.
- Win and Ctrl+Alt+Del appear for devices that have a screen. They send keys your own keyboard cannot send through a browser. If you are in the serial console, they open the desktop first.
- Paste sends the text on your clipboard to the device. In the serial console it types the text in. On a desktop it sends the text to the device's clipboard, and a message tells you to press Ctrl+V on its screen. Your browser may ask permission to read the clipboard.
Power#
The same rows as the device menu on the canvas: Power on, Power off, Suspend or Resume, Force power off and Restart. Rows that do not apply to the device's state are disabled, and Suspend is for virtual machines. After Restart the console reconnects by itself when the device is back, and waits up to three minutes. See Power actions for a device.
Serial and desktop#
A virtual machine that opens in the serial console shows Open desktop in the top row. Select it to see the machine's screen. The same button reads Back to console while you are in the desktop. A device that opens in Desktop has no such switch.
- The desktop always fits the window.
- Use Keys for Ctrl+Alt+Del and the Windows key. Use Paste to send clipboard text.
- Full screen makes the console fill the browser screen. Use it again to leave.
- A device with no screen shows has no screen with a Console button that returns to the serial console.
Side by side#
Put two devices next to each other in one console window.
- Select Side by side in the top row. ONEP pairs the device you are in with the device you used last. With only one device open it opens the device search instead; choose Open beside on a device there. Control-click a tab to open it beside the current device.
- Each side is a card with its own strip: status dot, name, type, Swap sides and Close this side. The side with the blue ring has the keyboard, the top row and the toolbar. Click a card to give it focus.
- Drag the divider to resize. Each side keeps at least 30 percent of the width.
- Select Side by side again to return to one device.
- The button needs a window at least 1,100 pixels wide. In a narrower window it is disabled and its tooltip reads Needs a wider window. A container shell is never split.
Notes and sketch#
Notes and sketch opens a panel on the right with two tabs.
- Notes is a text area for the environment.
- Sketch is a drawing area with Pen, Rectangle, Line, Dotted line and Text tools, Clear and Expand. To add text, choose Text, click the sketch, type and press Enter.
Notes and sketches are kept in your browser for each environment, and the panel remembers whether you left it open.
Container shells#
An application host can show the containers running inside it. When it does, select a running container in the list on the device's panel, or its terminal icon, to open a shell in that container. The top row shows device › container. Several containers can each have their own window.
- A container has to be running. When an application host stops, its containers go with it, so there is no shell.
- If the list is empty on a device that has only just started, wait and look again. A note under the list says when the device did not answer.
- If a shell cannot open, the window says Could not open a shell in the container and gives the reason, with a Try again button.
What the console tells you#
When the console cannot show the device, it shows one message in the middle of the window.
| Message | What it means | Button |
|---|---|---|
| Powering on device | The console opens when the device is up. | None |
| Connecting to device | The console is opening. | None |
| Connected | The desktop is connected. A guest that is still booting shows a black screen for a moment. | None |
| device is powered off | Power it on to open the console. | Power on |
| Another session took over this console | Only one session at a time can hold a serial console. A newer one took it. | Take it back |
| This console is in use | Another session is connected to the device. | Connect anyway |
| No login prompt yet | The serial console has not received a prompt. The device may present its screen instead. | Desktop |
| Reconnecting to device | The connection dropped. ONEP retries up to five times, after 2, 4, 8, 8 and 8 seconds. The message shows the attempt number. | Reconnect now |
| The console could not be opened. Trying again… | The console link expired or could not be created. ONEP retries by itself. | Reconnect now |
| The console could not be opened. | ONEP stopped retrying. | Reconnect now |
| device has no screen | The device has only a serial console. | Console |
Things that look wrong but are not#
- A serial console is blank after it says Connected. A device prints nothing until it has something to say. Press Enter in the console to get a prompt.
- A desktop is black for a moment. A guest that is still booting shows a black screen. Wait for the first picture before you reconnect.
- Your serial console closed when you opened the same device in another browser tab. Only one session holds a serial console, and the newest connection takes over. Use Take it back to return.
If a console will not open#
- Check that the device, and for a container its application host, is powered on. The console window offers Power on when the device is off.
- Choose Reconnect in the top row, or close the tab and open the console again.
- Restart the device from the Power panel if the console stays dead after a reconnect.
- See Troubleshooting for more.