[SOLVED] Unable to use Xterm.js

[Deleted member 33567]

I have tried to use Xterm.js for all servers yet it is working only for main proxmox nodes.

We receive this:

unable to find a serial interface
Connection to 172.18.2.1 closed.

 

[dietmar]

You need to configure a serial VM console if you want to use that for VMs. But it should work out of the box for containers and the host shell.

 

[Deleted member 33567]

Any good directions to do so? I tried from GUI interface it seems this in version 5 still requires CLI changes and reboots... Why isn't Serial Console a standard in matters of configs standards?

 

[dietmar]

see https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Serial_Terminal

 

[Mitch Maris]

Hello @dietmar

I have also encountered this exact issue. When the initial shell (js) was made available it worked for all vm's just like the noVNC but after the latest series of updates I can no longer use xterm.js for my KVM vm's but it still works for the proxmox host.

Spoiler: pve versions

proxmox-ve: 5.1-32 (running kernel: 4.13.13-2-pve)
pve-manager: 5.1-41 (running version: 5.1-41/0b958203)
pve-kernel-4.13.4-1-pve: 4.13.4-26
pve-kernel-4.13.8-2-pve: 4.13.8-28
pve-kernel-4.13.13-2-pve: 4.13.13-32
libpve-http-server-perl: 2.0-8
lvm2: 2.02.168-pve6
corosync: 2.4.2-pve3
libqb0: 1.0.1-1
pve-cluster: 5.0-19
qemu-server: 5.0-18
pve-firmware: 2.0-3
libpve-common-perl: 5.0-25
libpve-guest-common-perl: 2.0-14
libpve-access-control: 5.0-7
libpve-storage-perl: 5.0-17
pve-libspice-server1: 0.12.8-3
vncterm: 1.5-3
pve-docs: 5.1-12
pve-qemu-kvm: 2.9.1-5
pve-container: 2.0-18
pve-firewall: 3.0-5
pve-ha-manager: 2.0-4
ksm-control-daemon: 1.2-2
glusterfs-client: 3.8.8-1
lxc-pve: 2.1.1-2
lxcfs: 2.0.8-1
criu: 2.11.1-1~bpo90
novnc-pve: 0.6-4
smartmontools: 6.5+svn4324-1
zfsutils-linux: 0.7.3-pve1~bpo9

 

[dietmar]

Again, this is expected - you need to configure a serial console to make that work.

 

[KHosting]

Hello @dietmar

I am in a similar situation, xterm works on how and I have tried to enable serial0 on the VM but when I try to connect, it stays forever on "starting serial terminal on interface serial0 (press Ctrl+O to exit)".

-------------------------------------------------------
root@LOCAL:~# qm status 216
status: running

root@LOCAL:~# qm config 216 | grep serial0
serial0: socket

root@LOCAL:~# qm terminal 216
starting serial terminal on interface serial0 (press Ctrl+O to exit)
-------------------------------------------------------

 

[dietmar]

I am in a similar situation, xterm works on how and I have tried to enable serial0 on the VM but when I try to connect, it stays forever on "starting serial terminal on interface serial0 (press Ctrl+O to exit)".

You need to configure the VM to run a console on the serial device ...

 

[shantanu]

@dietmar, The Xterm.js seems to be a really nice addition. Keep up the enhancements!!!

Though I think this confusion about having to pre configure a serial port for QEMU/KVM will arise more and more.
Would it make sense to add the link to the serial configuration on the release notes' page to reduce the confusion ?

Regards,
Shantanu

 

[Enrique Garcia Polo]

Hi,
Anybody can explain how to configure the VM to run a console on the serial device? I want use xterm in my KVMs too.

I just added a serial port to the KVM machine as serial 0, but, what now?
If I click on xterm console, It opens and say: "starting serial terminal on interface serial0" but nothing

 

[dcsapak]

you have to configure the vm to send output to the serial terminal

https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Serial_Terminal

 

[ignaqui]

https://www.centos.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54984
In case anyone needs to setup console on Centos7 VM:

1) Edit the /etc/default/grub file. Append the console=ttyS0 statement to the grub config file at the end of the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX line: console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200

2) Create the grub.cfg file:
BIOS:
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
EFI:
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg

3) Enable a getty login service for ttyS0 with the systemctl command:
systemctl enable serial-getty@ttyS0.service

4) Shut down and start the server up

 

[trevor.watson.at.home]

I used these instructions for setting up the console in debian vm (changing the console=tty0 to console=ttyS0,115200)

and if it complains about not finding "update-grub" use "su - root"

EDIT: Remembering to also enable a Serial socket in the VM setup

 

[aleksdj]

Hello, after configuring correctly the terminal serial port to be able to access by xterm.js, the terminal window is not as good as with containers, for example, if you edit a file with an editor (like nano or vi) the terminal doesn't extend to the window size (like in containers), or even worse, when you enter a large command, the characters/lines get messed up like if it hadn't fit...

How can I configure the xterm/terminal/serial in VMs to act as good as in containers?

 

[LnxBil]

How can I configure the xterm/terminal/serial in VMs to act as good as in containers?

First, this is normal and it has been for the last 40y or more. You need stty for that and need a mechanism to resize your terminal window accordingly.

And to counter a possible follow-up-question ... no this cannot be integrated in PVE, it is a pure VM problem that needs to be solved there.