Hostinger supports the Browser terminal feature on all VPS plans! Browser Terminal makes it easy and convenient to manage your VPS via terminal commands inputted and executed right from the browser.
Accessing the Browser Terminal
To access the Browser terminal, log in to your hPanel and open the VPS section. Then, select the VPS you wish to manage by clicking on the arrow ❯ button next to it:
Once you access the VPS management dashboard, you'll find the Browser terminal button – click on it, and a new browser tab will open:
If your browser blocks pop-ups, the browser terminal will not load. To fix this, click on the pop-up blocked icon in your browser and make sure to change the setting to always allow pop-ups and redirects from hpanel.hostinger.com:
Once done, retry opening the browser terminal.
After a while, the page will load in a new browser tab and it will show the login prompt. Use your SSH user and password to log in as you would normally do when logging in via SSH:
That's it! You can now use the browser terminal to manage your VPS.
SSH Keys on Browser Terminal
Due to Hostinger’s security measures preventing unauthorized access, SSH keys added to your VPS will not work in the browser terminal. To access the browser terminal, use your SSH user and password when prompted with login.
Browser Terminal Features
On the left side of the terminal, you'll find a floating button Hide/Show the control bar:
You can drag this button up or down, and to the left or the right side of your browser window to reposition it. Click on the button to find more options:
1 – Show Extra Keys
Displays extra keys you can use:
Ctrl toggle – simulates pressing the Ctrl button on the machine; it's a toggle option, which means that the Ctrl button will be simulated until you turn it off by clicking on this button again
Alt toggle – simulates pressing the Alt button on the machine; it's a toggle option, which means that the Alt button will be simulated until you turn it off by clicking on this button again
Send Tab – simulates pressing the Tab button on the machine
Send Escape – simulates pressing the Esc button on the machine
Send Ctrl-Alt-Del – simulates pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete combination on the machine
For example, if you need to input Ctrl + C, click the Ctrl button and then press C on your keyboard. The browser terminal will register it as Ctrl + C
When the Ctrl or Alt buttons have a darker background, indicating that the option is enabled, the machine will interpret this as if you're holding down the Ctrl and/or Alt button(s), respectively 💡
2 – Power Button
Although the power button and its options are displayed by default, they are disabled, rendering them non-functional:
Therefore, clicking on any of them will not execute any action. To shut down or reboot your VPS, you should do so from the VPS dashboard instead.
3 – Clipboard
Clicking on this button will display a window with the contents of your VPS clipboard:
Any text copied from the browser terminal will appear here, and text entered in this window will be stored in the VPS's terminal. This stored text will automatically paste when using the terminal's Paste functionality. Here's a quick guide:
To copy text from the terminal, select (highlight) the desired text; it will be copied automatically upon releasing the mouse button
To paste text from the clipboard, right-click within the terminal window
If you input text into the clipboard, click the Clipboard icon again to ensure the browser saves it to the VPS's clipboard
4 – Fullscreen
Clicking on this button will act as a toggle, switching the view between full-screen and normal mode:
5 – Settings
Clicking on this button will open a window displaying various options. Among these, the following are the most commonly used for your day-to-day operations:
View Only – enabling this will make the terminal read-only
Scaling Mode – choose the preferred option:
None – to use the terminal in the server’s native display resolution
Local Scaling – to scale the terminal to your browser size
Remote Resizing – to scale the terminal based on the currently running command/program
Automatic Reconnect – if enabled, the Browser Terminal will attempt to reconnect to the VPS after the specified Reconnect Delay (in milliseconds)
6 – Disconnect
Clicking on this button will disconnect the browser terminal from your VPS. Connect again by clicking on the Browser Terminal link from your VPS dashboard.
Common Issues and Troubleshooting
The Browser Terminal Loads but It’s Empty
Close the browser terminal, reboot your VPS from the VPS dashboard and reopen the browser terminal.
Unable to Enter Terminal Commands
Make sure the View Only option is disabled in the settings window. If it’s already disabled, refresh the page from your web browser.
Using the Browser Terminal From a Mobile Device
It’s generally not recommended to access this feature from your mobile device due to screen size restraints. If you’d like to manage your VPS from your mobile device, you can use SSH to log in to your VPS and run the commands using SSH from a mobile device client.
Unexpected Characters on Clipboard After Copying From Browser Terminal
These are non-ASCII characters copied from the terminal that cannot be displayed in a text box. While they might render correctly if copied and pasted elsewhere, it's generally advisable to avoid copying and/or pasting non-ASCII characters from the browser terminal.
Browser Terminal Stuck on "starting serial terminal on interface serial0"
If you get this message, simply press the Enter key a few times until you get the prompt login for your VPS.
Learn more: Common SSH Commands 💡