The console shows you a guest's screen or terminal, exactly as if a monitor and keyboard were attached: the installer of a new VM, the login prompt of a container, or the shell of a node. Aprox offers four console types, so you can pick the one that works best on your device. Console access is part of Aprox Pro and needs a password login.

Where to find it

  • iPhone, iPad, Android: open the guest or node, then tap the Console tab.
  • Mac: select the guest or node and click Open Console in the toolbar (⇧⌘K), or choose Guest › Open Console, or right-click the guest or node in the sidebar › Open Console. The console opens in its own window.
  • Default console types: Settings › Graphical Console and Settings › Serial Console (Mac: Aprox › Settings…, ⌘,).

On the free plan the Console tab shows a lock and the placeholder Unlock with Aprox Pro. Tap it to see what Aprox Pro includes.

The console types

Type What it is Works for
noVNC Proxmox's HTML5 VNC viewer, shown inside the app. "Works on every platform." Graphical and serial consoles
xterm.js Proxmox's HTML5 terminal, shown inside the app. "Best for shell access." Serial consoles and node shells
Built-in VNC Aprox draws the VNC screen natively, with keyboard layout mapping and an on-screen keyboard with modifier keys. See Built-in VNC console. iPhone, iPad, Mac: graphical and serial. Android: graphical only; there, serial consoles open in noVNC instead.
External VNC viewer Hands the session to another VNC app. See External VNC viewer. Mac and Android only

Aprox has no SPICE console. SPICE appears in Aprox only as a display and audio hardware type of a virtual machine.

Which type is used when

Aprox decides by what you open:

  • A virtual machine with a normal display uses the type you chose under Graphical Console: noVNC (the default), Built-in VNC or External VNC viewer.
  • A container, or a virtual machine whose display is a serial port (display Serial 0 in its hardware), uses the type you chose under Serial Console: noVNC, xterm.js, Built-in VNC or External VNC viewer.
  • A node always opens its shell in xterm.js. See Node shell.

Choose the default console

  1. Open Settings (Mac: ⌘,).
  2. Under Graphical Console, choose the type for virtual machines with a display.
  3. Under Serial Console, choose the type for containers and serial-display VMs.
  4. Read the footer under each setting; it explains the type you picked.

The choice applies to every server and guest on this device.

Note

On iPhone, iPad and Mac, serial consoles open in xterm.js until you choose a Serial Console type yourself, even though Settings shows noVNC as selected. Pick a type once to make Aprox use it. On Android the serial default is noVNC.

Open a console

iPhone, iPad and Android

  1. Open the guest or node, for example plex.
  2. Tap the Console tab. Aprox shows Connecting… while Proxmox opens the session.
  3. Work in the console. A hardware keyboard, mouse or trackpad works too.
  4. Optional: tap Full Screen (Android: Full screen) for the whole screen. While full screen is up, the tab itself shows Console paused: "The console is showing in full screen. Exit full screen to resume here." Close full screen (Android: Exit full screen) to continue in the tab.

Mac

  1. Select the guest or node.
  2. Press ⇧⌘K, or use Open Console in the toolbar, the Guest menu or the sidebar's right-click menu.
  3. The console opens in its own window, 1024 × 720 by default. You can resize it and switch it to full screen, and it is listed in the Window menu.
  4. Asking for the console of the same guest again brings its existing window to the front instead of opening a second one.

Requirements

  • Aprox Pro.
  • Password login. Proxmox does not accept API tokens for console connections. A server that signs in with a token shows Console needs a password login: "Proxmox does not accept API tokens for console connections. Switch this server to username and password authentication to use the console." Edit the server and switch its Method to Password. See Sign-in methods and two-factor.
  • Signed in. If the server is not signed in, the console shows Not signed in: "Sign in to this server to open the console."
  • Privileges on the server: typically VM.Console on the guest, or Sys.Console on the node for a node shell.
  • Proxmox VE only. Backup Servers have no console in Aprox, and the demo cluster has no Console tab.

Troubleshooting

What you see What to do
Console could not be opened, or the console stays blank Tap Try Again. Make sure the server's certificate is trusted in Aprox (pinned), not merely skipped with Skip TLS validation, and that Aprox is up to date. Try another console type in Settings. See Self-signed certificates.
Console needs a password login Switch the server from API Token to Password.
External viewers require macOS. On iPhone and iPad, choose noVNC or Built-in VNC instead.
No console available The selected item, for example a storage, has no console.
A black screen in a running VM The guest may have turned off its display. Press a key or move the mouse. For a VM with Serial 0 as display, make sure the guest's operating system uses the serial port as its console.

More in Troubleshooting.