Accessing the VM Console

There are three options for accessing the console of a vSphere virtual machine:

● Use the Web Console.

● Use the VMware Remote Console.
● Configure a remote access solution within the guest operating system.

Web Console
The Web Console allows you to access the console of the VM in a browser window. To do this,
select the VM in the vSphere Web Client and then click on the gear icon in the console
thumbnail graphic and select Launch Web Console. The console of the guest OS is displayed in
a new browser tab.

The Web Console doesn’t require client software to be installed on the management
workstation (other than a web browser.) However, it lacks many advanced features. For
example, you can’t use it to install VMware Tools, send a shutdown signal to the guest OS, or
reconfigure virtual hardware settings.

VMware Remote Console

For more robust access to a VM’s console, consider using the VMware Remote Console. This
option provides more features than the Web Console. However, it also requires the VMware
Remote Console Client software to be installed on your management workstation. To do this,
select the VM in the vSphere Web Client and then click on the gear icon in the console
thumbnail graphic and select Launch Remote Console. The console of the guest OS is displayed
in the VMware Remote Console Client. Within the Remote Console Client, you can:

● Power on, shutdown, or reboot the guest OS.

● Pause the VM.
● Connect the VM to local removable devices on the management workstation, such as
USB devices or an optical drive.
● Install/reinstall VMware tools.
● Edit the VM’s configuration settings.

Native Remote Access

The last option for accessing the VM’s console is to configure some kind of native remote
access solution within the guest operating system itself. For example:

● Within Windows guests, enable Remote Desktop.

● Within Linux guests, configure VNC or SSH access.