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Working with the VSI console

Working with the VSI console

IBM Power Virtual Server in IBM data center

IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud in Client location

The Virtual Server Instance (VSI) console in the IBM® Power® Virtual Server environment is also known as VTERM. You can use the VSI console to interact with the AIX®, IBM i, and Linux®-based Power virtual servers. The VSI console performs several management and troubleshooting activities. The VSI console provides the following benefits:

  • Provides access to the AIX, IBM i, and Linux-based VSIs (Linux, SAP HANA, and SAP NetWeaver) to perform various OS-related tasks such as installation, configuration, troubleshooting, and recovery
  • Debugs VSI boot issues
  • Resets the Dedicated Service Tools (DST) password for the IBM i standard user

Starting the VSI console for a Power Virtual Server instance

To start the VSI console of a Power Virtual Server instance from the IBM Cloud UI after you create the instance, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Power Virtual Server user interface and log in with your credentials.

  2. Click Virtual server instances from the left navigation pane in the Power Virtual Server user interface. The Virtual server instances page is displayed. A list of the existing virtual server instances that are associated with the selected workspace is displayed on the Servers tab.

  3. Select a virtual server instance to open the Virtual server instance details page.

  4. Click VM actions in the Virtual server details page and select Open console from the drop-down list. The VSI console opens in a new browser window. Ensure that your browser settings allow pop-up windows.

    When you open the console for an IBM i-based Power Virtual Server instance through the IBM Cloud GUI, the Console Setting dialog is displayed. You can optionally select a language other than English and click Open console to open the VSI console. To change the language, see Changing the VSI console language.

To open the VSI console of a Power Virtual Server instance by using the IBM Cloud CLI, complete the following steps:

  1. To get the URL that you can use to open the VSI console, use the ibmcloud pi instance console IBM Cloud CLI command. In the following command, INSTANCE_ID is a unique identifier or the name of the instance and must be replaced with the actual ID of your VSI.

    ibmcloud pi instance console get INSTANCE_ID

  2. Copy the URL that is generated in the previous step and paste it into the address bar of a web browser. The console window for the VSI is displayed.

Closing a VSI console session

To close a VSI console session for a Power Virtual Server instance, close the browser window or the tab.

Changing the VSI console language

When you open the VSI console of a Power Virtual Server instance that is running IBM i as the boot image, you can change the console language from English to another language.

To change the VSI console language using the Power Virtual Server user interface, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Power Virtual Server user interface and log in with your credentials.

  2. Click Virtual server instances from the left navigation pane in the Power Virtual Server user interface. The Virtual server instances page is displayed. A list of the existing virtual server instances that are associated with the selected workspace is displayed on the Servers tab.

  3. Select an IBM i-based virtual server instance to open the Virtual server instance details page.

  4. Click VM actions in the Virtual server details page and select Open console from the drop-down list. The Console Setting dialog is displayed.

  5. Select a language from the Console language drop-down list.

  6. Click Open console to open the console using the language that you selected in the previous step.

To change the VSI console language from the IBM Cloud CLI, run the ibmcloud pi instance console update command. In the following command, INSTANCE_ID and CODE must be replaced with the ID of your VSI and the associated language code:

ibmcloud pi instance console update INSTANCE_ID --code CODE

To view the languages available for an IBM i-based Power Virtual Server instance, you can use the following IBM Cloud CLI command:

ibmcloud pi instance console list

Changing the VSI console language on an IBM i-based Power Virtual Server instance terminates any open console sessions before a new console session is started.

Copying and pasting text in the VSI console

The copy and paste functionality of the VSI console enables bidirectional text transfer between Windows®, macOS®, and Linux-based workstations and AIX, IBM i, and Linux-based VSI console. You can copy text, such as commands and large scripts and paste the copied text into the VSI console to run them. You can also copy logs and error messages from the console to your workstation for troubleshooting or support tickets.

Copying and pasting text from your workstation to the VSI console

To copy and paste text from your workstation to the VSI console, complete the following steps:

  1. To copy text from your workstation, select the text that you want to copy and use the following key combination for your operating system:

    • Windows: Ctrl + C
    • Mac: Command + C
    • Linux : Ctrl + C

  2. From the Virtual server instance details page, click the overflow menu (icon with 3 vertical dots) and select Open Console. The VSI console window is displayed.

  3. Click the Show/hide the control bar icon, which is located on the left side of the VSI console window.

  4. Click the Clipboard icon. The Clipboard panel is displayed.

  5. Paste the copied text into the VSI console by completing the following steps:

    1. Type or paste the copied text into the text field of the Clipboard panel. To paste, press Ctrl + V (Windows/Linux) or Command + V (Mac).

    2. After the text appears in the Clipboard panel, click the Clipboard icon to return to the VSI console, or click directly inside the console window, which remains visible in the background. Then, press the same key combination to paste the text at the cursor in the console window.

Copying and pasting text from the VSI console to your workstation

To copy and paste text from the VSI console to your workstation, complete the following steps:

  1. From the Virtual server instance details page, click the overflow menu (icon with 3 vertical dots) and select Open Console. The VSI console window is displayed.

  2. Click the Show/hide the control bar icon, which is located on the left side of the VSI console window.

  3. Click the Clipboard icon. The Clipboard panel is displayed.

  4. To copy text from the VSI, select the text that you want to copy, and the selected text is automatically copied to the clipboard. However, for the IBM i-based VSI console, press Ctrl + C or Command + C to copy the selected text.

  5. To paste the copied text to your workstation, use the following key combination for your operating system:

    • Windows: Ctrl + V
    • Mac: Command + V
    • Linux : Ctrl + V

You can use the Full screen option on the control bar to open the VSI console in the full-screen mode.

Copy and paste limitations

The copy and paste functionality in the VSI console have the following limitations:

  • The copy and paste functionality from the clipboard into the VSI console might not work if the Caps Lock key is turned on.

  • The copy and paste functionality in the VSI console currently supports only English text.

  • Special characters such as ^V, [[200~, {}, or [[201~ might appear when you paste text from your workstation into the VSI console of an AIX- or Linux-based VSI that uses bash as the command shell and is configured to use bracketed-paste mode. For more information, see enable-bracketed-paste.

Sharing the VSI console session

When multiple users open the VSI console for the same Power Virtual Server instance, the same VSI console (VTERM) session is shared among all users. When the last user closes the VSI console, the underlying console session is terminated. Reopening the VSI console creates a new VTERM and establishes a new console connection to the VSI on the host.

VSI console considerations

To use the VSI console, consider the following factors:

  • Power Virtual Server attempts to keep the browser window for the VSI console active and open for up to 2 hours. After the VSI console is idle for 2 hours, the console connection is terminated.

  • The connection to the VSI console can be interrupted or disconnected for various reasons, including a disruption in the network connectivity between your workstation and the Power Virtual Server host. When the VSI console connection is interrupted, Power Virtual Server attempts to reconnect and restore the connection automatically.

  • If multiple users connect to the same IBM i-based Power Virtual Server instance and one of the users changes the console language and opens the VSI console, the console that is in use by the other users is terminated and requires the console to be reopened.

For more information about how to use the VSI console with IBM i, see Tips for working with the IBM i console.