How to use the VPS emergency console in CustomerPanel
The emergency console gives browser-based access to your VPS even when SSH is unreachable. Use it to fix firewall lockouts, recover access,
UnderHost NOC
Network Operations
The emergency console (also called the out-of-band console or VNC console) provides browser-based access to your VPS at the hardware level. It works even if SSH is blocked, the network is misconfigured, or the server is in a weird state. Think of it as a keyboard and monitor plugged directly into the server.
Access the console
- Log in to customerpanel.ca
- Go to Services → My Services → your VPS
- Click Emergency Console (or Launch Console)
- A browser window or tab opens showing the server's display
- Log in with your root username and password
If you've lost the root password, reset it from CustomerPanel → service details → Change Root Password before opening the console. The new password takes effect immediately.
Common use cases
| Situation | How the console helps |
|---|---|
| Accidentally blocked own IP in firewall | Log in via console, remove the blocking firewall rule, restore SSH access |
| SSH service crashed or misconfigured | Restart SSH from console: systemctl restart sshd |
| Broke sshd_config and locked yourself out | Edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config via console, fix the error, restart SSH |
| Server stuck in boot loop | See boot messages in real time, access recovery mode if needed |
| Need to reset the root password | As an alternative, use the console to change it: passwd root |
Console limitations
- The console is slow-it's a video feed, not a native terminal. Use SSH for regular work.
- Copy/paste may not work well-most console implementations don't support clipboard integration
- The console shows the server's display-if the server is off, you see nothing (use CustomerPanel to power it on first)
- The console cannot help if the server hardware itself has failed-in that case, contact UnderHost support
Related: Setting up a firewall on your VPS | How to manage your Cloud VPS | How to connect to your VPS via SSH | VPS resource monitoring and usage tracking
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