Linux Windows
This page describes how to enable interactive access to an instance's serial console to debug boot and networking issues, troubleshoot malfunctioning instances, interact with the GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB), and perform other troubleshooting tasks.
Note: You can't enable interactive access to the serial console for bare metal instances; the serial console is read-only for bare metal instances. To execute commands interactively, you can connect to the instance using SSH after the instance starts.A virtual machine (VM) instance has four virtual serial ports. Interacting with a serial port is similar to using a terminal window, in that input and output is entirely in text mode and there is no graphical interface or mouse support. The instance's operating system, BIOS, and other system-level entities often write output to the serial ports, and can accept input such as commands or answers to prompts. Typically, these system-level entities use the first serial port (port 1) and serial port 1 is often referred to as the serial console.
If you only need to view serial port output without issuing any commands to the serial console, you can call the getSerialPortOutput
method or use Cloud Logging to read information that your instance has written to its serial port; see Viewing serial port logs. However, if you run into problems accessing your instance through SSH or need to troubleshoot an instance that is not fully booted, you can enable interactive access to the serial console, which lets you connect to and interact with any of your instance's serial ports. For example, you can directly run commands and respond to prompts in the serial port.
When you enable or disable the serial port, you can use any Boolean value that is accepted by the metadata server. For more information, see Boolean values.
Before you beginSelect the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:
ConsoleWhen you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.
gcloudInstall the Google Cloud CLI. After installation, initialize the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command:
gcloud init
If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.
Note: If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by runninggcloud components update
.To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.
Install the Google Cloud CLI. After installation, initialize the Google Cloud CLI by running the following command:
gcloud init
If you're using an external identity provider (IdP), you must first sign in to the gcloud CLI with your federated identity.
For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.
To perform this task, you must have the following permissions:
compute.instances.setMetadata
on the VM if enabling interactive access on a specific VMcompute.projects.setCommonInstanceMetadata
on the project, if enabling interactive access for all VMs in the projectiam.serviceAccountUser
role on the instance's service accountEnable interactive serial console access for individual VM instances or for an entire project.
Caution: The interactive serial console does not support IP-based access restrictions such as IP allowlists, unless you use VPC Service Controls. If you enable the interactive serial console on an instance, clients can attempt to connect to that instance from any IP address. Anybody can connect to that instance if they know the correct SSH key, username, project ID, zone, and instance name. Enabling access for a projectEnabling interactive serial console access on a project enables access for all VM instances that are part of that project.
By default, interactive serial port access is disabled. You can also explicitly disable it by setting the serial-port-enable
key to FALSE
. In either case, any per-instance setting overrides the project-level setting or the default setting.
Using the Google Cloud CLI, enter the project-info add-metadata
command as follows:
gcloud compute project-info add-metadata \ --metadata serial-port-enable=TRUEREST
In the API, make a request to the projects().setCommonInstanceMetadata
method, providing the serial-port-enable
key with a value of TRUE
:
{ "fingerprint": "FikclA7UBC0=", "items": [ { "key": "serial-port-enable", "value": "TRUE" } ] }Enabling access for a VM instance
Enable interactive serial console access for a specific instance. A per-instance setting, if it exists, overrides any project-level setting. You can also disable access for a specific instance, even if access is enabled on the project level, by setting serial-port-enable
to FALSE
, instead of TRUE
. Similarly, you can enable access for one or more instances even if it is disabled for the project, explicitly or by default.
Using the Google Cloud CLI, enter the instances add-metadata
command, replacing instance-name
with the name of your instance.
gcloud compute instances add-metadata instance-name \ --metadata serial-port-enable=TRUEREST
In the API, make a request to the instances().setMetadata
method with the serial-port-enable
key and a value of TRUE
:
POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/myproject/zones/us-central1-a/instances/example-instance/setMetadata { "fingerprint": "zhma6O1w2l8=", "items": [ { "key": "serial-port-enable", "value": "TRUE" } ] }
For bare metal instances, increase the bit rate, also known as baud rate, for the serial console to 115,200 bps (~11.5kB/sec). Using a slower speed results in garbled or missing console output.
Bootloader configuration varies between operating systems and OS versions. Refer to the OS distributor's documentation for instructions.
If modifying the bit rate on the command line for the current session, use a command similar to the following:
console=ttyS0,115200
If modifying the GRUB configuration, use a command similar to the following:
serial --speed=115200
Make sure that you update the actual bootloader configuration. This can be done with update-grub
, grub2-mkconfig
, or a similar command.
Compute Engine offers regional serial console gateways for each Google Cloud region. After enabling interactive access for a VM's serial console, you can connect to a regional serial console.
The serial console authenticates users with SSH keys. Specifically, you must add your public SSH key to the project or instance metadata and store your private key on the local machine from which you want to connect. The gcloud CLI and the Google Cloud console automatically add SSH keys to the project for you. If you are using a third-party client, you might need to add SSH keys manually.
If you are using a third-party client, you can additionally validate the connection using the serial console's host keys. When you use the Google Cloud CLI to connect, host key authentication is done automatically on your behalf.
Caution: Directly connecting to the serial console using its IP address rather than its hostname is not recommended. Serial console IP addresses can change without notice. ConsoleTo connect to a VM's regional serial console, do the following:
To connect to a VM's regional serial console, use the gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port
command:
gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port VM_NAME
--port=PORT_NUMBER
Replace the following:
VM_NAME
: the name of the VM whose serial console you want to connect to.PORT_NUMBER
: the port number you want to connect. For Linux VMs, use 1
, for Windows VMs, use 2
. To learn more about port numbers, see Understanding serial port numbering.
1
.PUBLIC_KEY_FILE
is likely located at $HOME/.ssh/google_compute_engine.pub
. If you have never connected to an instance in this project before (so have never added public keys), you need to add your SSH keys to the project or instance metadata before you can connect using a third-party SSH client. See Managing SSH keys in metadata for more information.
You can connect to an instance's serial console using other third-party SSH clients, as long as the client lets you connect to TCP port 9600. Before you connect, you can optionally validate the connection using the serial console's host keys.
Caution: As of March 31, 2025, the serial console SSH host key endpoint was deprecated and a new endpoint was introduced. If you previously set up your SSH client to validate the serial console's SSH host key, we recommend that you repeat this process using the new endpoint. For more information, see Serial console SSH host key endpoint deprecation.To connect to a VM's regional serial console, run one of the following commands, depending on your VM's OS:
To connect to a Linux VM:
ssh -i PRIVATE_SSH_KEY_FILE -p 9600 PROJECT_ID.ZONE.VM_NAME.USERNAME.OPTIONS@REGION-ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
To connect to a Windows VM:
ssh -i PRIVATE_SSH_KEY_FILE -p 9600 PROJECT_ID.ZONE.VM_NAME.USERNAME.OPTIONS.port=2@REGION-ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
Replace the following:
PRIVATE_SSH_KEY_FILE
: The private SSH key for the instance.PROJECT_ID
: The project ID for this VM instance.ZONE
: The zone of the VM instance.REGION
: The region of the VM instance.VM_NAME
: The name of the VM instance.USERNAME
: The username you are using to connect to your instance. Typically, this is the username on your local machine.OPTIONS
: Additional options you can specify for this connection. For example, you can specify a certain serial port and specify any advanced option. The port number can be 1 through 4, inclusively. To learn more about port numbers, see understanding serial port numbering. If omitted, you will connect to serial port 1.To connect to the global serial console gateway, replace REGION-ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
with ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
as the hostname.
If you are having trouble connecting using a third-party SSH client, you can run the gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port
command with the --dry-run
command-line option to see the SSH command that it would have run on your behalf. Then you can compare the options with the command you are using.
When you use a third-party SSH client that isn't the Google Cloud CLI, we recommend that you verify that you're protected against impersonation or man-in-the-middle attacks by checking Google's Serial Port SSH host key. To set up your system to check the SSH host key, complete the following steps:
Download the SSH host key for the serial console you will be using:
For regional connections, the SSH host key for a region can be found at https://www.gstatic.com/vm_serial_port_public_keys/REGION/REGION.pub
https://www.gstatic.com/vm_serial_port/REGION/REGION.pub
is deprecated. For more information, see Serial console SSH key endpoint deprecation.For global connections, download Google's Serial Port SSH host key
Open your known hosts file, generally located at ~/.ssh/known_hosts
.
Add the contents of the SSH host key, with the server's hostname prepended to the key. For example, if the us-central1 server key contains the line ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc...
, then ~/.ssh/known_hosts
should have a line like this:
[us-central1-ssh-serialport.googleapis.com]:9600 ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc...
For security reasons, Google might occasionally change the Google Serial Port SSH host key. If your client fails to authenticate the server key, immediately end the connection attempt and complete the earlier steps to download a new Google Serial Port SSH host key.
If, after updating the host key, you continue to receive a host authentication error from your client, stop attempts to connect to the serial port and contact Google support. Don't provide any credentials over a connection where host authentication has failed.
Disconnecting from the serial consoleTo disconnect from the serial console, follow the instructions for the method you used to connect.
ConsoleIn the Google Cloud console, disconnect from the serial console by doing the following:
In the Google Cloud CLI, disconnect from the serial console by doing the following:
ENTER
key.~.
(tilde, followed by a period).In other SSH clients, disconnect from the serial console by doing the following:
ENTER
key.~.
(tilde, followed by a period).In the Google Cloud CLI, or using SSH, you can discover other commands by typing ~?
. You can also examine the man page for SSH with the following command:
man ssh
Don't try to disconnect using any of the following methods:
The CTRL+ALT+DELETE
key combination or other similar combinations. This doesn't work because the serial console does not recognize PC keyboard combinations.
The exit
or logout
command doesn't work because the guest is not aware of any network or modem connections. Using this command causes the console to close and then reopen again, and you remain connected to the session. If you would like to enable exit
and logout
commands for your session, you can enable it by setting the on-dtr-low
option.
If you are trying to troubleshoot an issue with a VM that has booted completely or trying to troubleshoot an issue that occurs after VM has booted past single user mode, you might be prompted for login information when trying to access the serial console.
By default, Google-supplied Linux system images are not configured to allow password-based logins for local users. However, Google-supplied Windows images are configured to allow password-based logins for local users.
If your VM is running an image that is preconfigured with serial port logins, you need to set up a local password on the VM so that you can sign in to the serial console, if prompted. You can set up a local password after connecting to the VM or by using a start-up script.
Note: This step is not required if you are interacting with the system during or prior to boot or with some serial-port-based service that does not require a password. This step is also not required if you have configuredgetty
to sign in automatically without a password using the "-a root" flag. Setting up a local password using a startup script
You can use a startup script to set up a local password that lets you connect to the serial console during or after VM creation.
To set up a local password in an existing VM, select one of the following options:
LinuxIn the Google Cloud console, go to the VM instances page.
In the Name column, click the name of the VM for which you want to add a local password.
The details page of the VM opens.
Click edit Edit.
The page to edit the details of the VM opens.
In the Metadata > Automation section, do the following:
If the VM has an existing startup script, then remove it and store the script somewhere safe.
Add the following startup script:
#!/bin/bash
useradd USERNAME
echo 'USERNAME:PASSWORD' | chpasswd
usermod -aG google-sudoers USERNAME
Replace the following:
USERNAME
: the username that you want to add.
PASSWORD
: the password for the username. As some operating systems require minimal password length and complexity, specify a password as follows:
Use at least 12 characters.
Use a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.
Click Save.
The details page of the VM opens.
Click Reset.
When prompted, enter your login information.
In the Google Cloud console, go to the VM instances page.
In the Name column, click the name of the VM for which you want to add a local password.
The details page of the VM opens.
Click edit Edit.
The page to edit the details of the VM opens.
In the Metadata section, do the following:
If the VM has an existing startup script, then store the script somewhere safe, and then, to delete the script, click delete Delete item.
Click Add item.
In the Key field, enter windows-startup-script-cmd
.
In the Value field, enter the following script:
net user USERNAME PASSWORD /ADD /Y
net localgroup administrators USERNAME /ADD
Replace the following:
USERNAME
: the username that you want to add.
PASSWORD
: the password for the username. As some operating systems require minimal password length and complexity, specify a password as follows:
Use at least 12 characters.
Use a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.
Click Save.
The details page of the VM opens.
Click Reset.
When prompted, enter your login information.
After the user has been created, replace the startup script with the startup script that you stored in this section.
Setting up a local password usingpasswd
on the VM
The following instructions describe how to set up a local password for a user on a VM so that the user can log on to the serial console of that VM using the specified password.
Connect to the VM. Replace instance-name
with the name of your instance.
gcloud compute ssh instance-name
On the VM, create a local password with the following command. This action sets a password for the user that you are logged in as.
sudo passwd $(whoami)
Follow the prompts to create a password.
Next, log out of the instance and connect to the serial console.
Enter your login information when prompted.
Login prompts are enabled on port 1 by default on all Linux public images that use systemd
service management. For Windows images, Login prompts are enabled on port 2 by default and managed by Device Manager. However, port 1 can often be overwhelmed by logging data and other information being printed to the port. As an alternative, you can choose to enable a login prompt on another port, such as port 2 (ttyS1), by executing the following command on your VM:
For Linux operating systems using systemd
:
Enable the service temporarily until the next reboot:
sudo systemctl start serial-getty@ttyS1.service
Enable the service permanently, starting with the next reboot:
sudo systemctl enable serial-getty@ttyS1.service
For Windows operating systems:
Open Command Prompt as Administrator
Change the EMS Port from COM2 to COM1:
bcdedit /emssettings EMSPORT:1 EMSBAUDRATE:9600
Reboot the VM
Each virtual machine instance has four serial ports. For consistency with the getSerialPortOutput
API, each port is numbered 1 through 4. Linux and other similar systems number their serial ports 0 through 3. For example, on many operating system images, the corresponding devices are /dev/ttyS0
through /dev/ttyS3
. Windows refers to serial ports as COM1
through COM4
. To connect to what Windows considers COM3
and Linux considers ttyS2
, you would specify port 3. Use the following table to help you figure out which port you want to connect to.
1
/dev/ttyS0
COM1
2
/dev/ttyS1
COM2
3
/dev/ttyS2
COM3
4
/dev/ttyS3
COM4
Note that many Linux images use port 1 (/dev/ttyS0
) for logging messages from the kernel and system programs.
The Magic SysRq key feature lets you perform low-level tasks regardless of the system's state. For example, you can sync file systems, reboot the instance, end processes, and unmount file systems using the Magic SysRq key feature.
To send a Magic SysRq command using a simulated serial break:
ENTER
key.~B
(tilde, followed by uppercase B
).Compute Engine provides audit logs to track who has connected and disconnected from an instance's serial console. To view logs, you must have permissions for the Logs Viewer or be a project viewer or editor.
ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
and press Enter.For any of the audit logs, you can:
protoPayload
property.methodName
to see activity this log applies to (either a connection or disconnection request). For example, if this log tracks a disconnection from the serial console, the method name would say "google.ssh-serialport.v1.disconnect"
. Similarly, a connection log would say "google.ssh-serialport.v1.connect"
. An audit log entry is recorded at the beginning and end of each session on the serial console.There are different audit log properties for different log types. For example, audit logs relating to connections have properties that are specific to connection logs, while audit logs for disconnections have their own set of properties. There are certain audit log properties that are also shared between both log types.
All serial console logs
The following table provides audit log properties and their values for all serial console logs:
Property ValuerequestMetadata.callerIp
The IP address and port number from which the connection originated. serviceName
ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
resourceName
A string containing the project ID, zone, instance name, and serial port number to indicate which serial console this pertains to. For example, projects/myproject/zones/us-east1-a/instances/example-instance/SerialPort/2
is port number 2, also known as COM2 or /dev/ttyS1, for the instance example-instance
. resource.labels
Properties identifying the instance ID, zone, and project ID. timestamp
A timestamp indicating when the session began or ended. severity
NOTICE
operation.id
An ID string uniquely identifying the session; you can use this to associate a disconnect entry with the corresponding connection entry. operation.producer
ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
Connection logs
The following table provides audit log properties and their values specific for connection logs:
Property ValuemethodName
google.ssh-serialport.v1.connect
status.message
Connection succeeded.
request.serialConsoleOptions
Any options that were specified with the request, including the serial port number. request.@type
type.googleapis.com/google.compute.SerialConsoleSessionBegin
request.username
The username specified for this request. This is used to select the public key to match. operation.first
TRUE
status.code
For successful connection requests, a status.code
value of google.rpc.Code.OK
indicates that the operation completed successfully without any errors. Because the enum value for this property is 0
, the status.code
property is not displayed. However, any code that checks for a status.code
value of google.rpc.Code.OK
will work as expected.
Disconnection logs
The following table provides audit log properties and their values specific for disconnection logs:
Property ValuemethodName
google.ssh-serialport.v1.disconnect
response.duration
The amount of time, in seconds, that the session lasted. response.@type
type.googleapis.com/google.compute.SerialConsoleSessionEnd
operation.last
TRUE
Failed connection logs
When a connection fails, Compute Engine creates an audit log entry. A failed connection log looks very similar to a successful connection entry, but has the following properties to indicate a failed connection.
Property Valueseverity
ERROR
status.code
The canonical Google API error code that best describes the error. The following are possible error codes that might appear:
google.rpc.Code.INVALID_ARGUMENT
: The connection failed because the client provided an invalid port number or tried to reach an unknown channel. See the list of valid port numbers.google.rpc.Code.PERMISSION_DENIED
: You have not enabled interactive serial console in the metadata server. For more information, see Enabling interactive access on the serial console.google.rpcCode.UNAUTHENTICATED
: No SSH keys found or no matching SSH key found for this instance. Check that you are authenticated to the VM instance.google.rpc.Code.UNKNOWN
: There was an unknown error with your request. You can reach out to Google on the gce-discussion group or file a bug report.status.message
The human-readable message for this entry. Disabling interactive serial console access
You can disable interactive serial console access by changing metadata on the specific instance or project, or by setting an Organization Policy that disables interactive serial console access to all VM instances for one or more projects that are part of the organization.
Disabling interactive serial console on a particular instance or projectProject owners and editors, as well as users who have been granted the compute.instanceAdmin.v1
role, can disable access to the serial console by changing the metadata on the particular instance or project. Similar to enabling serial console access, set the serial-port-enable
metadata to FALSE
:
serial-port-enable=FALSE
For example, using the Google Cloud CLI, you can apply this metadata to a specific instance like so:
gcloud compute instances add-metadata instance-name \ --metadata=serial-port-enable=FALSE
To apply the metadata to the project:
gcloud compute project-info add-metadata \ --metadata=serial-port-enable=FALSEDisabling interactive serial console access through Organization Policy
If you have been granted the orgpolicy.policyAdmin
role on the organization, you can set an organization policy that prevents interactive access to the serial console, regardless of whether interactive serial console access is enabled on the metadata server. After the organization policy is set, the policy effectively overrides the serial-port-enable
metadata key, and no users of the organization or project can enable interactive serial console access. By default, this constraint is set to FALSE
.
The constraint for disabling interactive serial console access is as follows:
compute.disableSerialPortAccess
Complete the following instructions to set this policy on the organization. After setting up a policy, you can grant exemptions on a per-project basis.
gcloudTo set the policy using the Google Cloud CLI, run the resource-manager enable-enforce
command. Replace organization-id
with your organization ID. For example, 1759840282
.
gcloud resource-manager org-policies enable-enforce \ --organization organization-id compute.disableSerialPortAccessREST
To set a policy in the API, make a POST
request to the following URL. Replace organization-name
with your organization name. For example, organizations/1759840282
.
POST https://cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/v1/organization-name:setOrgPolicy
The request body should contain a policy
object with the following constraint:
"constraint": "constraints/compute.disableSerialPortAccess"
For example:
{ "policy": { "booleanPolicy": { "enforced": TRUE }, "constraint": "constraints/compute.disableSerialPortAccess" } }
The policy is immediately effective, so any projects under the organization immediately stop allowing interactive access to the serial console.
To temporarily disable the policy, use the disable-enforce
command:
gcloud resource-manager org-policies disable-enforce \ --organization organization-id compute.disableSerialPortAccess
Alternatively, you can make an API request where the request body sets the enforced
parameter to FALSE
:
{ "policy": { "booleanPolicy": { "enforced": FALSE }, "constraint": "constraints/compute.disableSerialPortAccess" } }Setting the organization policy at the project level
You can set the same organizational policy on a per-project basis. This overrides the setting at the organization level.
gcloudTo turn off enforcement of this policy for a specific project. Replace project-id
with your project ID.
gcloud resource-manager org-policies disable-enforce \ --project project-id compute.disableSerialPortAccess
You can turn on enforcement of this policy by using the enable-enforce
command with the same values.
In the API, make a POST
request to the following URL to enable interactive serial console access for the project, replacing project-id
with the project ID:
POST https://cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com/v1/projects/project-id:setOrgPolicy
The request body should contain a policy
object with the following constraint:
"constraint": "constraints/compute.disableSerialPortAccess"
For example:
{ "policy": { "booleanPolicy": { "enforced": FALSE }, "constraint": "constraints/compute.disableSerialPortAccess" } }Tips and tricks
If you are having trouble connecting using a standard SSH client, but gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port
connects successfully, it might be helpful to run gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port
with the --dry-run
command-line option to see the SSH command that it would have run on your behalf, and compare the options with the command you are using.
If you're using a Windows VM with OS Login enabled and encounter an UNAUTHENTICATED
error, verify that your public SSH keys have been posted to your project or instance metadata. To learn more, see Managing SSH keys in metadata.
Setting the bit rate, also known as baud rate, you can set any bit rate you like, such as stty 9600
, but the feature normally forces the effective rate to 115,200 bps (~11.5kB/sec). This is because many public images default to slow bit rates, such as 9,600 on the serial console, and would boot slowly.
Some OS images have inconvenient defaults on the serial port. For example, on CentOS 7, the stty icrnl
default for the Enter key on the console is to send a CR
, also known as ^M
. The bash shell might mask this until you try to set a password, at which point you might wonder why it seems stuck at the password:
prompt.
Some public images have job control keys that are disabled by default if you attach a shell to a port in certain ways. Some examples of these keys include ^Z
and ^C
. The setsid
command might fix this. Otherwise, if you see a job control is disabled in this shell
message, be careful not to run commands that you will need to interrupt.
You might find it helpful to tell the system the size of the window you're using, so that bash and editors can manage it properly. Otherwise, you might experience odd display behavior because bash or editors attempt to manipulate the display based on incorrect assumptions about the number of rows and columns available. Use the stty rows Y cols X
command and stty -a
flag to see what the setting is. For example: stty rows 60 cols 120
(if your window is 120 chars by 60 lines).
If, for example, you connect using SSH from machine A to machine B, and then to machine C, creating a nested SSH session, and you want to use tilde (~) commands to disconnect or send a serial break signal, you will need to add enough extra tilde characters to the command to get to the right SSH client. A command following a single tilde is interpreted by the SSH client on machine A; a command following two consecutive tildes (Enter~~) is interpreted by the client on machine B, and so forth. You only need to press Enter one time because that is passed all the way through to the innermost SSH destination. This is true for any use of SSH clients that provide the tilde escape feature.
If you lose track of how many tilde characters you need, press the Enter key and then type tilde characters one at a time until the instance echoes the tilde back. This echo indicates that you have reached the end of the chain and you now know that to send a tilde command to the most nested SSH client, you need one less tilde than however many tildes you typed.
You can also use the following advanced options with the serial port.
Controlling max connectionsYou can set the max-connections
property to control how many concurrent connections can be made to this serial port at a time. The default and maximum number of connections is 5. For example:
gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port instance-name \ --port port-number \ --extra-args max-connections=3
ssh -i private-ssh-key-file -p 9600 project-id.zone.instance-name.username.max-connections=3@ssh-serialport.googleapis.comSetting replay options
By default, each time you connect to the serial console, you will receive a replay of the last 10 lines of data, regardless of whether the last 10 lines have been seen by another SSH client. You can change this setting and control how many and which lines are returned by setting the following options:
replay-lines=N
: Set N
to the number of lines you want replayed. For example, if N
is 50, then the last 50 lines of the console output is included.replay-bytes=N
: Replays the most recent N
bytes. You can also set N
to new
which replays all output that has not yet been sent to any client.replay-from=N
: Replays output starting from an absolute byte index that you provide. You can get the current byte index of serial console output by making a getSerialPortOutput
request. If you set replay-from
, all other replay options are ignored.With the Google Cloud CLI, append the following to your connect-to-serial-port
command, where N
is the specified number of lines (or bytes or absolute byte index, depending on which replay option you are selecting):
--extra-args replay-lines=N
If you are using a third-party SSH client, provide this option in your SSH command:
ssh -i private-ssh-key-file -p 9600 myproject.us-central1-f.example-instance.jane.port=3.replay-lines=N@ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
You can also use a combination of these options as well. For example:
replay-lines=N
and replay-bytes=new
N
lines. Examples:
gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port instance-name--port port-number --extra-args replay-lines=N,replay-bytes=new
ssh -i private-ssh-key-file -p 9600 project-id.zone.instance-name.username.replay-lines=N.replay-bytes=new@ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
replay-lines=N
and replay-bytes=M
N
or M
bytes.
gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port instance-name--port port-number --extra-args replay-lines=N,replay-bytes=M
ssh -i private-ssh-key-file -p 9600 project-id.zone.instance-name.username.replay-lines=N.replay-bytes=M@ssh-serialport.googleapis.comHandling dropped output
The most recent 1 MiB of output for each serial port is always available and generally, your SSH client shouldn't miss any output from the serial port. If, for some reason, your SSH client stops accepting output for a period of time but does not disconnect, and more than 1 MiB of new data is produced, your SSH client might miss some output. When your SSH client is not accepting data fast enough to keep up with the output on the serial console port, you can set the on-dropped-output
property to determine how the console behaves.
Set any of the following applicable options with this property:
insert-stderr-note
: Insert a note on the SSH client's stderr
indicating that output was dropped. This is the default option.ignore
: Silently drops output and does nothing.disconnect
: Stop the connection.For example:
gcloud compute connect-to-serial-port instance-name \ --port port-number \ --extra-args on-dropped-output=ignore
ssh -i private-ssh-key-file -p 9600 project-id.zone.instance-name.username.on-dropped-output=ignore@ssh-serialport.googleapis.comEnabling disconnect using exit or logout commands
You can enable disconnecting on exit or logout commands by setting the on-dtr-low
property to disconnect
when you connect to the serial console.
On the Google Cloud CLI, append the following flag to your connect-to-serial-port
command:
--extra-args on-dtr-low=disconnect
If you are using a third-party SSH client, provide this option in your SSH command:
ssh -i private-ssh-key-file -p 9600 myproject.us-central1-f.example-instance.jane.port=3.on-dtr-low=disconnect@ssh-serialport.googleapis.com
Enabling the disconnect
option might cause your instance to disconnect one or more times when you are rebooting the instance because the operating system resets the serial ports while booting up.
The default setting for the on-dtr-low
option is none
. If you use the default setting none
, you can reboot your instance without being disconnected from the serial console, but the console won't disconnect through normal means such as exit
or logout
commands, or normal key combinations like Ctrl+D.
getSerialPortOutput
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