Two technologies, one button
The mode swap is automatic. The button label is the same — Console on the detail page, Open Terminal on the row Actions menu — but you can see which mode opened by what’s on screen: a text shell with your prompt = SSH terminal; a graphical desktop / login screen = VNC console.
The decision the dashboard makes
For Linux, the SSH terminal is preferred because it’s lighter, supports clipboard, and behaves like every other terminal you’re used to. VNC is the fallback for the cases where SSH-via-agent can’t work. For Windows, there’s no SSH-terminal option, so VNC is always what you get.SSH terminal — Linux primary (default)
When you click Console on a healthy Linux VM, the browser opens a fresh terminal tab pre-authenticated against the VM asroot (or your sudo user). It looks like this:
For local-terminal SSH (your own iTerm, Terminal, PuTTY, Windows OpenSSH), see Connect via SSH — that’s a separate option with its own advantages (local file access, persistent sessions, multiplexing).
VNC console — Windows always, Linux fallback, universal recovery
When the dashboard opens VNC mode, you see the VM’s actual screen — login prompt, desktop, BIOS, GRUB menu, BSOD, anything the framebuffer is rendering.
Special keys
VNC sends keystrokes byte-for-byte, but the browser intercepts several useful chords for its own use (Ctrl-T opens a tab, F11 fullscreen, Alt-Tab switches host apps). Use the toolbar’s special-keys menu to send those into the VM:Session lifetime — 1 hour
Each VNC session has a fixed 1-hour TTL from the moment you click Console. There’s no idle-disconnect inside the hour and no auto-extend. When the session expires, the canvas freezes / disconnects. The VM keeps running normally — only your viewer disconnected. Close the tab and reopen Console from the VM detail page to mint a fresh 1-hour session and reconnect to the same VM with no state loss. For long debugging or recovery sessions, plan to reconnect every hour. The SSH terminal mode doesn’t have this limit — if you’re working on Linux and don’t specifically need VNC, prefer the SSH terminal for marathon sessions.Open the Console
The same Console action opens in three places — they’re equivalent:
The dashboard generates a one-time session token, opens a new browser tab pointed at the right protocol (SSH WebSocket or NoVNC), and authenticates you transparently. You don’t enter the VM password manually — the session is already authorized.
When to deliberately reach for VNC over SSH
Even for a healthy Linux VM where the dashboard would pick SSH terminal by default, there are situations where you specifically want VNC:
To force VNC mode on a Linux VM where SSH would otherwise work, the simplest path is to temporarily stop the agent inside the VM (
systemctl stop raff-agent) — the next Console click will fall back to VNC. Re-enable when you’re done.
Recovery path — the universal fallback
VNC is the always-works connection method for any locked-out scenario:- Linux — SSH config broken, firewall locked you out, disk full, single-user mode → see Recover a locked-out VM § Linux
- Windows — Safe Mode, WinRE, password recovery → see Recover a locked-out VM § Windows
Common questions
How do I tell which mode opened?
How do I tell which mode opened?
Look at the screen. Text shell with a prompt = SSH terminal. Graphical login or desktop, or text-mode getty (with
login: prompt) = VNC console. The two also have different toolbars: SSH terminal has clipboard / paste controls; VNC has the special-keys menu and disconnect button.Can I copy / paste between my laptop and the VM?
Can I copy / paste between my laptop and the VM?
SSH terminal — copy and paste work normally via your browser’s clipboard. VNC console — paste-into-VM works via the toolbar’s clipboard tool (most browsers prompt for permission once); copy-out is browser-dependent and limited. For real data transfer either way, use Transfer files.
Can two people open the console on the same VM at the same time?
Can two people open the console on the same VM at the same time?
For VNC, no — the underlying VNC session is single-attach; the second connection bumps the first. For SSH terminal, multiple parallel sessions are fine. Coordinate via chat before two of you click Console.
Why does my Windows VM only show VNC?
Why does my Windows VM only show VNC?
Windows doesn’t ship with a native SSH server (and Raff doesn’t run an SSH-terminal-compatible agent on Windows VMs by default). For Windows graphical access, VNC and RDP are the two options — see Connect via RDP for the local-client RDP path.
The VNC session expired mid-recovery. Did I lose my work?
The VNC session expired mid-recovery. Did I lose my work?
No — the VM kept running uninterrupted. Only your VNC viewer disconnected. Close the tab and click Console again from the VM detail page to get a fresh 1-hour session and reconnect to wherever the VM is now. If you were editing a file, it’s still in whatever editor you had open inside the VM.
Why is the VNC console laggy?
Why is the VNC console laggy?
Latency is bounded by your network round-trip to the hypervisor + the VM’s framebuffer-update rate. Tips:
- Use SSH terminal for everyday Linux work — VNC is for graphical / recovery cases
- Stay in text mode for Linux work in VNC — graphical desktops repaint a lot
- Close other tabs talking to Raff — they share rate limits and bandwidth
- For Windows, pure RDP from a local client outperforms VNC for sustained graphical work — VNC is best for getting in when RDP is broken
Related
Connect via SSH
Linux access — including the in-browser terminal and your own local SSH client.
Connect via RDP
Windows graphical desktop via RDP from a local client.
Recover a locked-out VM
Use the VNC console as the universal recovery path — Linux GRUB / Windows Safe Mode.