Console access
In case you need to access an instance directly for any reason, such as SSH access not working, you can activate an instance's out-of-band console access to enable you to get back to normal operation.
Your instance must be configured to permit access through username and password to successfully be able to access it using the console. Console access to instances is intended as an emergency tool only, and does not allow for copy/paste or other conveniences.
Console access can currently be enabled using the Civo API or CLI only.
- Civo CLI
Activating console access on the command line
If your Civo CLI is configured to act in the region where your instance is running, you can initiate a console access session by running civo instance vnc INSTANCE_NAME without having to provide a --region flag:
$ civo instance vnc vnc-demo
Info: VNC has been successfully enabled for instance: vnc-demo
Info: VNC URL: https://vnc.lon1.civo.com/c603a1f0-cfb5-47ed-80c8-d77fe4dba385/vnc.html?path=c603a1f0-cfb5-47ed-80c8-d77fe4dba385/websockify
Info: We're preparing the VNC Console Access. This may take a while...
Info: New attempt to reach the VNC Console URI...
Info: Opening VNC in your default browser...
Info: VNC session is now active. You can access your instance's graphical interface.
This will open up your default web browser to the console access URL and allow you to log in using a username and password.
Only one session can be active for a particular instance at a time: subsequent requests to initiate a console while a session has already been initialized will respond idempotently, returning a link to the currently active session.
The console only supports one concurrent connection to the instance at any time. You can disconnect or close the browser tab if you wish to let other users interact with the instance using the web console.
You can see all available options for managing console access on the CLI by running civo instance vnc --help.