Requirements for accessing the Xen virtual console

Your Cruzio VPS is managed through the Xen virtual console. To access the virtual console for your Cruzio VPS, you will need:

• SSH (Secure Shell) client software, such as Mac OS X’s built-in Terminal application, or PuTTY for Windows (click this link to get PuTTY).
• Your VPS username and password, found on your Cruzio Info Sheet.

Connecting to the Xen Shell

Open your SSH client of choice and connect to vps1.cruziohost.com (you may need to replace “vps1” with the vps server your VPS is hosted on.)

Using PuTTY on Windows to access the Xen Shell

1. Open PuTTY and enter the following settings:
   

   Host Name: vps1.cruziohost.com (you may need to replace “vps1” with the vps server your VPS is hosted on)

   Port 22

   Connection Type: SSH

2. Click Open.

   You may be shown this message: “The server’s host key is not cached in the registry…”

   Click Yes to accept the server’s RSA key and store it in your computer’s memory for future sessions.

3. At the “login as” prompt, enter your username and press the Enter key.
4. You’re now prompted for your password. Enter your password and press the Enter key. You’ll now be taken to the Xen Shell.

Using Terminal on Mac OSX to access the Xen Shell

1. Open the Terminal application on your Mac (you can find it in the Applications -> Utilities folder).
2. Type ssh [username]@vps1.cruziohost.com (you may need to replace “vps1” with the vps server your VPS is hosted on.)
3. You may be shown this message: “The authenticity of host ‘vps1.cruziohost.com’ can’t be established. RSA key fingerprint is (…) Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?”

   Type “yes” and press the Enter key. This permanently adds vps1.cruziohost.com to the list of known hosts on your computer.

4. You’re now prompted for your password. Enter your password and press the Enter key. You’ll now be taken to the Xen Shell.

Using the Xen Shell commands

The following is a complete list of the commands available within the Xen shell. You can see this list at any time within the shell by entering the “help” command.

For command-specific help, run “help [name of command]”.

boot

Start the Xen guest, if it is not running.

console

Connect to the serial console of the Xen instance using GNU Screen.

To exit the serial prompt, type ‘Ctrl+]’

You may instead exit screen with ‘Ctrl+a k’, or ‘Ctrl+a d’.

exit

Exit the shell.

help [command]

Show help about the specified command, or all commands if no command is specified.

passwd

Change your login password (this will only change the Xen Shell password, not the VPS root password).

pause

Pause your instance. This will pause the Xen guest (your VPS).

quit

Exit this shell.

rdns [ipaddress some.host.name]

Set up Reverse DNS for allocated IP addresses.

When called with no arguments, show current reverse DNS details.

reboot

Reboot the Xen guest.

serial

Connect to the serial console of the Xen instance using GNU Screen.

To exit the serial prompt, type ‘Ctrl+]’.

You may instead exit screen with ‘Ctrl+a k’, or ‘Ctrl+a d’.

shutdown [force]

Shut down the Xen guest.

If the ‘force’ parameter is used, then we’ll forcibly terminate.

status

Show whether the Xen guest is running or not.

sysreq [string]

Send a ‘sysreq’ keystroke to the guest.

This allows you to try to cleanly shut down a hung instance, for example.

unpause

Unpause your instance, and start it running again.

uptime

Show the uptime information of your guest system and this host.

version

Show the version of this shell, and of Xen.

whoami

Show the user you’re connected to the host system as.