flex.planeflex.plane
Virtual Machines

VM Console

Access the VNC console for direct VM interaction.

The VM console gives you direct, in-browser access to a virtual machine's display, just like sitting in front of a physical server's monitor and keyboard. This is especially useful when SSH is not available, the network is misconfigured, or you need to interact with the boot process.

Open the console

In the flex.plane portal, navigate to a VM's detail page and click the Console button. This opens a noVNC session in your browser that connects directly to the VM's virtual display.

The console provides:

  • Full keyboard and mouse input: you can type commands, use key combinations (Ctrl+Alt+Delete, etc.), and interact with graphical environments.
  • Real-time display: you see exactly what the VM's virtual display shows, including boot messages, login prompts, and graphical desktops.
  • No guest agent required: the console works at the hypervisor level, so it is available even if the VM has no network, no SSH server, and no guest agent.
The console is your escape hatch. If you accidentally misconfigure the firewall and lock yourself out of SSH, the console still works because it bypasses the VM's network entirely.

Understand the connection

The console uses a WebSocket-based noVNC proxy that connects your browser to the VM's VNC display on the Proxmox host.

The connection path looks like this:

  1. Your browser opens a WebSocket connection to the flex.plane terminal proxy.
  2. The terminal proxy authenticates your session and resolves the VM's location.
  3. The proxy establishes a VNC connection to the Proxmox host running the VM.
  4. VNC frames are streamed to your browser over the WebSocket, and your keyboard/mouse input is sent back.

All communication is encrypted in transit. The terminal proxy handles authentication. You do not need separate VNC credentials.

Console performance depends on your network latency to the flex.plane platform. For the best experience, use a wired connection or low-latency network. The console is optimized for server administration tasks, not for graphical-intensive workloads.
The console is only available while the VM is running. If the VM is stopped, you will see a blank screen or connection error until you start the VM.

Create a Virtual Machine

Provision a new VM with an OS image, compute profile, storage, and network.

VM Metrics

Monitor CPU, memory, disk, and network usage.