← Docs

Servers & terminal

A server is the hub for everything on a host: its agents, an interactive terminal, recorded sessions, live metrics and the access gate. Open a server and switch tabs — Terminal and Agents both live here (there are no separate top-level pages).

Steps below happen in the Subnomic console at app.subnomic.com.

Create a server

  1. Go to Servers → New server and name it.
  2. You land on the new server's Agents tab with the install step open.
  3. Install an agent (next section). When it connects, the server shows online and metrics/metadata start flowing.
A server with no agent can't do anything yet — the Overview shows a "no agent connected" banner until you install one. Online status comes from the agent's live presence, not a ping.

Open a terminal

The shell runs over the server's host agent (tunnel agents have no shell). Open the server → Terminal tab → Connect, or use the Connect action on the servers list. The session is a full PTY (htop, vim, etc.) and is recorded.

  • Quick commands — one-click common commands (htop, journalctl, df…).
  • Files — upload to a path or download a file over the same tunnel.
  • If the server has no host agent, the tab points you to the Agents tab to install one.

Sessions (replay & live)

The Sessions tab lists every recorded SSH session. Replay one to scrub through it with timing, or — for an active session — Watch live to mirror it in real time (and take it over, with permission). See Live sessions.

Require approval to connect

Open the server → Access card → toggle Require approval to connect. Opening a terminal then needs an active just-in-time grant (or break-glass), even for users who already have terminal access. See Access requests.

Metrics

A host agent reports CPU (per core), memory, disk and per-NIC network, plus the top processes — on the Metrics tab with selectable ranges. Tunnel / kubernetes / docker agents don't report host metrics.

Troubleshooting

  • No Terminal tab / "no host agent" — the server only has a tunnel/kubernetes/docker agent. Install a host agent.
  • Connect button disabled — the host agent is offline. Check it's running on the host (Agents tab shows its status).
  • "approval required" — the server is gated; request access (or break-glass) and reconnect.

Permissions

server.read server.create server.update server.delete terminal.access session.monitor session.takeover