Enable Remote Access and Connect to a Container

Overview

You can use this document to learn how to enable remote access and then connect to a container. 

• To learn how to enable remote access and connect to a virtual machine, see Enable Remote Access and Connect to a Virtual Machine.

After you enable remote access for a workload, all instances (containers and virtual machines) within the workload will have remote access enabled. For containers, you can connect via a container console. 

Step 1: Enable remote access for a container

You can use these instructions to enable remote access for a virtual machine or for a container. 

1. In the StackPath Control Portal, in the left-side navigation, click Edge Compute. 
2. In the left-side navigation menu, click Workloads. 
3. Locate and select the desired workload. 
4. Navigate to Manage Your Instances, and then use the slider to enable Remote Management.
5. Above Manage Your Instances, navigate to Instances, and then select the desired instance. 
   • You will be redirected to the detailed screen for the selected instance. 
6. Navigate to Remote Management, and then review the on-screen instructions.
   • You can use the populated command to connect to your container and execute commands.  
   • For additional connection information, see Step 2: Connect to a container.

Step 2: Connect to a container

After you enable remote access for a container, you can:

• Use the container console as an interactive shell to run commands, or
  • For each connection to container console, a new process starts and commands are executed, similar to Docker Exec.
• Execute commands over an SSH connection to your container.

Unlike virtual machine access, no user is required on the container to remotely connect to a StackPath container.

Option 1: Connect to an interactive shell

A container's interactive shell creates a process with a bash shell and interprets the output through a simulated terminal driver.

1. To understand how to populate the command, review the following table:

   Variable	Description
   -p 9600	Changes the port for SSH from 22 to 9600
   -t	Creates a psuedo-TTY, a terminal-like interface for interaction with your live container
   /bin/bash	Opens a bash shell on the container in a new process
   <stack-id>	Stack ID or Stack Slug can be used here. Stack ID can be found in the URL ../stack/<stack_id>in the portal. Stack Slug can be found on your list of Stacks in the portal.
   <instance-name>	The hostname of your instance
   <container-name>	"container-0"
   <portal-username>	The email address used to login to control.stackpath.com

2. Based on your instance and account details, run the following command in a command line interface on a local computer:

   ssh -p 9600 -t <stack-id>.<instance-name>.<container-name>.<portal-username>@container-console.edgeengine.io /bin/bash

3. When prompted, enter your StackPath account password. 
   • A successful login will result in a bash interface. 

Option 2: Execute a command

1. To understand how to populate the command, review the following table:

   Variable	Description
   -p 9600	Changes the port for SSH from 22 to 9600
   <your_command>	Any unix statement that will execute on your container.
   <stack-id>	Stack ID or Stack Slug can be used here. Stack ID can be found in the URL ../stack/<stack_id>in the portal. Stack Slug can be found on your list of Stacks in the portal.
   <instance-name>	The hostname of your instance
   <container-name>	"container-0"
   <portal-username>	The email address used to login to control.stackpath.com

2. To execute a command remotely on your container, run the following command in a command line interface on a local computer. You must populate the command with your own account and container information.

   ssh -p 9600 <stack-id>.<instance-name>.<container-name>.<portal-username>@container-console.edgeengine.io <your_command>

3. When directed, enter your StackPath account password.
   • A successful login will result in execution on the container and the output of the command sent to your terminal.