It's possible for both Commander® and Service Portal users to open console connections to VMs depending on their rights and permissions. Administrators choose whether to allow only connections originating on the same network as the managed system, or deploy the Commander® Console Proxy so connections can traverse the firewall.

For more details, please review Providing Console Access to Portal Users. When console sessions are requested from Commander or the Service Portal, Commander handles the session and the security context under which it is established, but cannot correct any issues that would prevent a successful connection. As such, connections must succeed outside Commander or they will fail when initiated from within the system.

In order for console connections to be successful, the following requirements must be met.

1. A route must exist to vCenter and the ESX host.
   Commander does not act as a proxy server for the console connections, so a route must exist between the computer where the request originated and the vCenter, as well as the EXS host on which the VM resides. If no route exists, for example because the Service Portal is being accessed through an Internet-facing firewall, you must install the Console Proxy appliance to provide the route.
    
2. A supported web browser must be used.
   Refer to VMware documentation for your version of vCenter to ensure the browser you are using is supported.
    
3. The vCenter Client Integration Plug-in must be successfully installed.
   When providing console credentials on behalf of Commander or service portal users, Commander is unable to provide a path to install the vCenter Client Integration Plug-in, because VMware does not allow its redistribution. This means that users who do not have the plug-in installed successfully will receive only a black screen with a message advising that the plug-in is not properly installed.
   
   
   To correct, a user with permission to login to the vCenter must connect and install the plug-in manually. For information on how to do this, refer to the vendor documentation for your version of vCenter.
4. Browser-specific settings must be configured.Depending on the web browser used to initiate the console connection, as well as its version and your environmental security policies, you may have to enable compatibility view, add Commander to Trusted Sites, and/or disable protected mode.
    
5. vCenter 5.5 supports two connection methods:

• WebMKS
  • Supported only with HTML5 web browsers (see below)
  • No browser plug-in required
  • vCenter 5.5 Update 2 or later required
  • Secure WebSockets (wss://) must be enabled on the managed system, and its port (7343)
  • vCenter must use a valid SSL certificate
     
• VMRC Plug-in
  • Users must install the VMware Remote Console plug-in manually

See Also

If you are unable to get console connections working, please see

• Accessing Console Connection Logs on Client Computers
• Publishing Console Plugin Downloads in the Service Portal