Connection types¶

Ten connection types ship. The type you pick decides which fields the new connection dialog shows, and what kind of surface the connection opens: an in-app terminal tab, an embedded desktop, a file browser, or an external application launched outside OpsPilot.

Type	Transport	Opens	Use it for
SSH	Encrypted, port 22	In-app terminal	Linux, Unix, macOS servers. The primary path.
Telnet	Unencrypted, port 23	In-app terminal	Legacy network gear with no SSH
RSH	Unencrypted, port 514	In-app terminal	Legacy UNIX systems
Mosh	UDP roaming	External client	High-latency or unstable links
RDP	Encrypted, port 3389	Embedded desktop on Windows, external client on macOS and Linux	Windows servers and desktops
VNC	Varies, port 5900	External viewer, or an embedded console through a hypervisor	Linux desktops, KVM and OpenStack instance consoles
FTP	Varies, port 21	File browser	File transfer
AWS S3	HTTPS	Object browser	Buckets, artifacts, log archives
Serial	Local COM port	In-app terminal	Console access to appliances over a local COM port
Local	None	In-app terminal	Your own shell

Telnet and RSH are unencrypted

Credentials and session content travel in clear text, by the design of those protocols; there is no encryption to switch on. Both types exist because the switches, PDUs and old UNIX boxes that still require them are real. Use them on trusted management networks and nowhere else.

SSH¶

Secure Shell — encrypted terminal to Linux/Unix/macOS servers. Supports password or private key auth. The standard for server management.

Default port 22. Opens an in-app terminal tab with full xterm emulation. Shows host, port, username and the password / SSH key authentication toggle. SSH sessions are the ones that get the file explorer over SFTP, port forwarding, and per-connection Command Safety and Data Handling profile assignment.

Telnet¶

Telnet — unencrypted terminal over TCP (port 23). Use only on trusted networks or legacy network gear that lacks SSH support.

Default port 23. Opens an in-app terminal tab. Host and port only — no username or password field, because Telnet devices prompt for credentials inside the session itself.

RSH¶

Remote Shell — legacy unencrypted remote execution protocol (port 514). For old UNIX systems. Avoid on untrusted networks.

Port 514. Opens an in-app terminal tab. Shows host and username; there is no password field and no port field in the dialog.

Mosh¶

Mobile Shell — SSH with roaming and local echo. Ideal for high-latency or unstable connections. Requires mosh installed on the server.

Default port 22, and the same host, port, username and password / SSH key fields as SSH, because Mosh bootstraps over SSH.

Mosh launches an external client rather than opening an in-app tab. The session runs outside OpsPilot, in its own window, so the AI panel, the tab bar and the in-app tooling do not apply to it. mosh must be installed on the server as well as on your workstation.

RDP¶

Remote Desktop Protocol — Microsoft graphical desktop for Windows servers.

Default port 3389. Shows host, port, username, a single password field, an optional Windows domain, and a Force fresh session before connecting option. What you get differs by platform — an embedded in-app tab on Windows, Microsoft's Windows App on macOS, and a FreeRDP client in its own window on Linux. The per-platform detail, and what each platform needs installed, is on Remote desktop.

VNC¶

Virtual Network Computing — cross-platform graphical remote desktop.

Default port 5900. VNC has a target selector, chosen before the other fields, because it changes what they mean:

Direct VNC host — host, port and a password, opening your system's own VNC viewer as an external application.
Hypervisor VM — KVM or Hypervisor VM — OpenStack — the console of a virtual machine reached through its hypervisor, which opens as an embedded session inside OpsPilot. See Hypervisor consoles.

FTP / SFTP¶

File Transfer Protocol — browse and manage files on an FTP server. Note: unencrypted. Use SFTP (via SSH) when possible.

Default port 21. Shows host, port, username, a password, an initial path, and a Secure (FTPS — explicit TLS) option; with FTPS on, a further checkbox skips TLS certificate verification for a self-signed or internal-CA certificate. Opens a file browser panel rather than a terminal. If FTP support is unavailable in your installation, the connection reports that when you open it.

SFTP is not a separate connection type. It arrives through SSH: open an SSH connection and the file explorer browses that host over SFTP, which is the encrypted path the type description above is pointing you at. See Files & transfers.

AWS S3¶

Amazon S3 / S3-compatible object storage. Browse buckets and objects on AWS S3, MinIO, Wasabi, Backblaze, and more.

No host and no port — S3 has its own field set instead. Opens an object browser. If S3 support is unavailable in your installation, the connection reports that when you open it. See Object storage.

Serial¶

Serial port — RS-232 console access to routers, switches, firewalls, and embedded devices via a COM port on your machine.

No host, no port and no credentials. You pick a serial port on your own machine and a baud rate instead, and it opens an in-app terminal tab. This is the path for an appliance you can only reach with a cable.

Local¶

A local shell on this machine, running as its own tab.

No host, no port, no credentials. Opens a real shell on your own workstation as an in-app terminal tab — cmd.exe or PowerShell on Windows, your $SHELL on macOS and Linux. Every install ships with one ready-to-use Local connection, so there is always a terminal available without filling in the dialog first.