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Connect to your instance

Reach a running instance over SSH (Linux / BSD), RDP (Windows), or the web console built into the Portal.

Prerequisites

  • A running instance (status Active in the project's Instances list).
  • A reachable IP address — either the instance's project IP if you're already inside the project's network, or a floating IP for external access.
  • A security group on the instance allowing the relevant inbound port from your source IP. See Configure security groups.
    • Port 22 for SSH (Linux / BSD).
    • Port 3389 for RDP (Windows).
  • The matching credential: a private SSH key for Linux/BSD (the key whose public half was selected on the launch form), or the Administrator password for Windows (retrieved via the OpenStack CLI — see below).

Connect over SSH (Linux / BSD)

  1. Open a terminal and connect:

    ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 <username>@<instance-ip>

    Common default usernames per image:

    Image Default user
    Ubuntu ubuntu
    Debian debian
    Rocky / AlmaLinux / CentOS cloud-user
    Fedora fedora
    OpenBSD / FreeBSD the user you set up at first boot (cloud-init may default to root)

  2. Accept the host key prompt on first connection.

  3. Once in, change to root if needed:

    sudo -i

Connect over RDP (Windows)

Windows images don't accept SSH keys directly — the OpenStack image service stores an encrypted Administrator password generated at first boot. You decrypt it locally with the private key you used at launch.

  1. Retrieve the encrypted password with the OpenStack CLI:

    openstack --os-cloud breqwatr server show <instance-id-or-name> -f value -c adminPass_encrypted

    See Use the OpenStack CLI for the clouds.yaml setup behind --os-cloud breqwatr.

  2. Decrypt it with the private key whose public half you selected on the launch form:

    openstack --os-cloud breqwatr server show <instance-id-or-name> --decrypt-private-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -f value -c adminPass

    On some clouds the helper is exposed as openstack server get password <id> --private-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519; the flags vary slightly by CLI version.

  3. Open an RDP client and connect:

    • Windows — Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc.exe).
    • macOS — Microsoft Remote Desktop from the App Store.
    • Linux — remmina, xfreerdp, freerdp3-x11.

  4. Enter the instance IP, sign in as Administrator, paste the decrypted password.

  5. Accept the certificate prompt.

Connect via the web console (any OS)

The Portal embeds a noVNC console for every running instance. Use it when SSH or RDP isn't an option (network reachability, locked out, debugging a boot failure).

  1. Open the instance from the project's Instances list — click its name in the list to open the detail page.

    Screenshot needed

    Instance detail page with the Console button visible alongside instance metadata.

  2. Click Console in the action bar.

    Screenshot needed

    Embedded noVNC console showing a Linux login prompt.

    The console opens in-page. Login uses the same credentials you'd use over SSH or RDP — the web console is just a different transport.

  3. To grab the boot log without an interactive session, click Server log instead. The most recent console output renders in a modal.

Verification

  • SSH lands you at a shell prompt.
  • RDP lands you at the Windows desktop.
  • The web console shows a login: prompt (Linux) or the Windows sign-in screen.

Next steps

If you can't connect, check the security group rules first, then the floating-IP attachment, then the instance's status and the console boot log via the Server log button.