Remote console access: run commands on your PCs, servers and devices from anywhere

"Console" means a few different things, and RemoteAccessApp covers each of them:

• A command line on a Windows PC: PowerShell or Command Prompt, for checking settings, restarting a service or clearing a stuck print queue.
• A shell on a server over SSH: Linux, macOS, or Windows with an SSH server, for admin work and scripts.
• A serial console: the console port of a router, switch or other device, through a cable plugged into one of your PCs.
• The PC's own screen: when a command line isn't enough, the same desktop the person at the PC sees, with its mouse and keyboard.

In the RemoteAccessApp Console on Windows, right-click a PC on the Devices page and choose Open command prompt. Or, during a session, click Terminal in the session toolbar (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T) and pick Command Prompt or PowerShell. You're typing on the PC, next to its screen.

To run one command on several PCs, select them on the Devices page, right-click and choose Run a command. You get each PC's output and exit code, so you can see at a glance where it worked.

For a look around without typing commands, Windows tools show the processes, services, sign-in sessions and Event Log of one PC or several side by side. You can end a process, or start, stop and restart a service, while remote control is allowed on that PC.

On a Mac, a Chromebook, a phone or a borrowed computer, sign in at remoteaccessapp.com and open the PC. You see its desktop, so you can start PowerShell or Command Prompt there as if you were sitting at it. The Shortcuts menu sends the keys a browser can't, like Win+R for Run and Win+X for the quick menu. The browser connection is encrypted, but not end to end: our website decodes the picture to show it to you. More in access your PC from a browser.

Your saved SSH hosts open in a terminal in the browser too, with Open terminal on your dashboard and a key row for Esc, Tab, Ctrl and the arrows on phones. A server on your home or office network can be reached through one of your own PCs, so it doesn't have to be open to the internet.

ProWith Pro, the dashboard's Management page can run a saved PowerShell or Command Prompt script on many PCs at once, or on a schedule, after showing you the exact command and the PCs that will run it.

On a Linux PC with the RemoteAccessApp Agent, the Windows app offers bash instead of PowerShell: open a terminal during a session, or run a command from the Devices page without opening one. The person at the PC sees the exact command first, unless unattended access lets you in. See how to run commands on a Linux PC without a remote session.

The Windows app opens SSH sessions in tabs, where full-screen programs like htop and vim work. Type a command once and send it to every open SSH tab, or keep labeled scripts in the Scripts & History panel (Ctrl+Shift+S) and run one on many saved hosts at once, with each host's output and exit code. You can sign in with a key instead of a password, and the app checks each server's host key. See the SSH client and how to SSH to a Linux server.

Routers, switches and other network gear often have a console port for setup and recovery. Plug a console cable into one of your PCs, open a session with that PC in the Windows app, and choose Serial ports on this PC from the Terminal menu, or right-click the PC on the Devices page and choose Serial ports. The port opens in a terminal on your screen, with the speed and line settings your device needs. It needs remote control allowed on that PC. The serial connections help page has the details.

Network gear, servers and virtual machines each have their own kind of console. Here's how to reach each one from somewhere else, without opening it to the internet:

• Routers, switches and firewalls: their console port, through a cable plugged into one of your PCs (above), or SSH when the device has it. Save it as an SSH host and it opens in a tab, or in the browser through one of your PCs. For firewall web pages, see managing a firewall safely.
• Servers that won't boot: the server's management controller has its own remote console that works before the operating system starts. Save its web panel next to your other hosts; an HTML5 virtual console opens as another tab. Guides for Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO and Supermicro IPMI.
• Virtual machines: their console screen, usually over VNC through an SSH tunnel. See KVM and QEMU VM consoles and Proxmox VE remote management.
• A Raspberry Pi or other small computer: SSH for the command line, and VNC through an SSH tunnel for its desktop. See Raspberry Pi remote access.

1. 1

   Step 1: Install RemoteAccessApp on the PC

   Run the free installer from the download page on the PC you want to reach and choose Set up this PC. It joins your account.

2. 2

   Step 2: Install the Console where you'll work

   On your own Windows PC, run the same installer, pick the Console and sign in with the same account.

3. 3

   Step 3: Open the PC

   Click it on the Devices page. Someone at the PC clicks Allow, or it opens straight away if you've set up unattended access for your console.

4. 4

   Step 4: Open the terminal

   Click Terminal in the session toolbar (or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T) and choose PowerShell or Command Prompt.

5. 5

   Step 5: Run your commands

   Type as you would at the PC. The banner on the PC shows that a command prompt is open. Close the terminal or disconnect when you're done.

• Commands need the same say-so as the mouse and keyboard: they only run during a session the PC allowed, while Allow remote control is on there.
• The banner on the PC says when a command prompt is open, and the person there can switch off remote control at any time, which stops commands too.
• A view-only PC accepts no commands, and Windows tools can't change anything on it.
• To reach your own PCs with nobody there, set up free unattended remote access, and protect your account with two-step verification.

• The PC is offline. It's asleep, shut down or not signed in. RemoteAccessApp runs in the signed-in session.
• Commands are refused. Allow remote control is off at the PC, or it's view-only. Someone there has to switch remote control back on.
• No Terminal on an older PC. The command prompt needs Windows 10 version 1809 or later. Use PowerShell on the PC's desktop in a normal session instead.
• A command asks for administrator rights. Windows shows its own permission prompt, which someone at the PC has to approve.
• Nobody is there to click Allow. Commands need the same Allow as a session. Turn on unattended access for your console, and they start without a click.