Browser console and rescue system

When SSH does not work (a firewall rule gone wrong, a broken network setting, a forgotten password), you can still reach the server from your browser. And if the system does not boot at all, you can repair it by booting a rescue system.

The console

On the server's page, click Console. The server's screen opens in your browser, exactly as if a monitor and keyboard were plugged into it.

• The console does not depend on the network, so it works even if you have locked yourself out with a firewall.
• Password login works here even when SSH accepts keys only.
• If the screen is dark, press a key: a Linux console blanks itself when idle while the machine keeps running.
• The Ctrl+Alt+Del button sends that key combination to the server.

The console is not available while the server is being built or while it is suspended. If the machine has just started and the console does not connect, try again in a minute.

The rescue system

The rescue system is a separate, small operating system that the server boots instead of its own. Your disk is left untouched, so you can mount it and repair it. Typical cases:

• the system does not boot because of a broken /etc/fstab or bootloader setting,
• you have forgotten the password and need to set a new one,
• you want to copy data out of a system that does not start.

How to use it:

1. On the Recovery tab, choose a rescue system. If you are not sure which, leave the first.
2. Boot the server into the rescue system.
3. Open the Console and work in the rescue system. You can mount your disk (for example mount /dev/xvda1 /mnt; lsblk shows the exact device name).
4. When you are done, Leave rescue and reboot starts the server from its own system again.

A new password from the rescue system: mount the root partition, enter it with chroot /mnt, then set the new password with passwd <username>.