XenCenter

Managing SSH and Console Sessions

October 24, 2025

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Overview

In XenServer 8.4, SSH access to dom0 is enabled by default and can be toggled in xsconsole. Administrators can now manage SSH access directly through XenCenter at both the host and pool level.

New capabilities include:

Viewing SSH access status at host and pool level
Enabling or disabling SSH with optional timeouts
Enabling auto mode for SSH, letting XAPI dynamically control SSH status
Configuring idle timeout for SSH and VNC console sessions

These features simplify administration and align XenCenter with security best practices.

Benefits

Improved security – Limit open SSH and console sessions with timeouts.
Operational efficiency – Manage SSH access without logging in to xsconsole or using the CLI.
Reduced misuse risk – Automatically terminate idle sessions.
Flexibility – Temporarily enable SSH for troubleshooting, with automatic expiry.

Enabling SSH Access

Select a pool or host.
On the top Pool/Server menu or right click the pool/host, click SSH Access -> Enable….
On the Enable SSH access dialog, there’re 2 options:
- Enable SSH access
- Enable SSH access for a limited amount of time
  
  Note:
  
  The option enables SSH access only for the amount of time you specify and once this amount of time elapses SSH is disabled automatically.

Enabling SSH access on the pool will apply the same settings to all hosts within the pool.

After enabling the SSH access, the server’s Console tab displays a Launch SSH Console button. If SSH is disabled, this button is hidden.

Disabling SSH Access

Select a pool or host.
On the top Pool/Server menu or right click the pool/host, click SSH Access -> Disable.
On the Disable SSH access dialog, select whether to enable auto-mode while disabling SSH. Enabling SSH auto-mode will allow the server to automatically start the SSH service in case of an emergency where the XenServer API cannot be reached.

Bulk Operations

SSH access can be enabled or disabled for multiple pools or multiple hosts at once. If selections have inconsistent statuses, both enable and disable options remain available on the menu.

The official version of this content is in English. Some of the Cloud Software Group documentation content is machine translated for your convenience only. Cloud Software Group has no control over machine-translated content, which may contain errors, inaccuracies or unsuitable language. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, suitability, or correctness of any translations made from the English original into any other language, or that your Cloud Software Group product or service conforms to any machine translated content, and any warranty provided under the applicable end user license agreement or terms of service, or any other agreement with Cloud Software Group, that the product or service conforms with any documentation shall not apply to the extent that such documentation has been machine translated. Cloud Software Group will not be held responsible for any damage or issues that may arise from using machine-translated content.

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Managing SSH and Console Sessions

October 24, 2025

Contributed by:

October 24, 2025

Contributed by:

Managing SSH and Console Sessions

Overview

Benefits

Enabling SSH Access

Disabling SSH Access

Bulk Operations

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