Elastic Compute Service:Connect to an instance using VNC

Scope

• Supported instance statuses: Running or Stopping.

• Unsupported instance types: Bare Metal Server ecs.ebmhfc7.48xlarge.

Procedure

1. Go to the Instances page of the ECS console. In the upper-left corner, select the region and resource group of your instance.

2. Click the ID of the target instance to go to its details page.

3. Connect using VNC.

   Important

   The VNC connection times out after 300 seconds of inactivity. You will need to reconnect to the instance.

   1. Click Remote Connection > Show Other Logon Methods, and then select Sign in now under VNC.

   2. Log on to the OS.

      • Linux instance

        1. Enter a logon username (such as root or ecs-user) and press Enter.

        2. Enter the instance logon password and press Enter to access the Linux operating system.

           If you have not set a password or have forgotten it, on the instance details page, select All Actions > Reset Instance Password.

           

      • Windows instance

        1. In the upper-left corner of the page, click Send Remote Commands > CTRL+ALT+DELETE to unlock the system.

        2. Select a user account (the default is Administrator), enter the instance logon password, and press Enter to access the Windows operating system.

           If you have not set a password or have forgotten it, on the instance details page, select All Actions > Reset Instance Password.

           

FAQ

• How do I paste content?

  1. In the instance console, place the cursor where you want to paste the content.

  2. In the upper-left corner of the interface, click Enter Copy Commands.

     This feature supports up to 2,000 characters. It does not support special characters that are not on a standard keyboard, such as Chinese characters.

  3. In the Copy and Paste Commands dialog box, paste the copied content, and then click OK.

• How do I send remote commands?

  Use the Send Remote Commands feature to simulate keyboard shortcuts. For example, you can send CTRL+ALT+DELETE to unlock a Windows screen or keys CTRL+ALT+F1 through CTRL+ALT+F10 to switch between virtual terminals on a Linux instance.

  1. Log on to the ECS instance using VNC.

  2. In the upper-left corner of the interface, click Send Remote Commands and select the desired command from the drop-down menu.

     

• What do I do if I forget or have not set the instance password?

  If you forget the instance password or did not set one when you created the instance, go to the instance details page. select All Actions > Reset Instance Password and follow the on-screen instructions.

• Why do I see the error "The current state of the resource does not support this operation" when connecting?

  Instances in TDX confidential computing environments do not support VNC connections.

• What is the default username for an ECS instance?

  • Linux instances: The default username is root. If you configured the instance to use ecs-user during creation, the username is ecs-user.

  • Windows instances: The default username is Administrator.

• What is the default password for an ECS instance?

  There is no default password.

  For security reasons, Alibaba Cloud does not set a default password for an ECS instance, even if you did not specify one during creation.

• What should I do if the "You are not authorized to perform this operation" message appears when connecting?

  Grant the RAM User the ecs:DescribeInstances and ecs:DescribeInstanceVncUrl permissions. The access policy is as follows:

  {
    "Version": "1",
    "Statement": [
      {
        "Effect": "Allow",
        "Action": [
          "ecs:DescribeInstances",
          "ecs:DescribeInstanceVncUrl"
        ],
        "Resource": "*"
      }
    ]
  }

• What should I do if a "Login Incorrect" or "Incorrect password" error appears when logging on?

  Ensure that you have entered the correct password. If you have forgotten the password, go to the instance details page, select All Actions > Reset Instance Password and follow the on-screen instructions to reset it. Then, try to connect again.

• Why do I see a black screen after connecting to a Linux instance?

  A black screen appears when a Linux instance enters sleep mode. Press any key to wake it up.

• How do I connect to a Simple Application Server using VNC?

  On a Simple Application Server, the VNC remote connection feature is called Rescue Logon.

References

• Call the DescribeInstanceVncUrl API operation to obtain the VNC logon URL for an ECS instance.

• For VNC connection issues, see FAQ about connecting to instances using VNC.