Console and console commands

FAQ › EUZOS Desktop › Console · Nederlands

What is it?

The console is the text screen of the EUZOS kernel with its shell (the > prompt). Everything the kernel prints goes to the serial port and to the screen at the same time (kernel/src/console.rs), and into the log. The same shell can be reached in four ways:

• on the screen of the PC itself (after boot, or with Ctrl+Alt+F1 / Ctrl+Alt+T from the login screen or desktop);
• in the Terminal app on the desktop (kernel/src/terminal.rs): a window with the same console and the same shell;
• on the serial port (Ctrl+T switches between console and graphical screen there);
• over SSH (kernel/src/net/sshd.rs, port 22), interactively or as ssh <pc> '<command>'.

Both editions have the console; EUZOS Server has no desktop, so there it is the main screen (see Server console).

How do I…?

How do I open the console?

From the login screen or the desktop press Ctrl+Alt+F1 or Ctrl+Alt+T; the same keys (or screen back) bring the graphical screen back. screen console does the same from the shell. You stay logged in. screen off instead closes the graphical screen and logs the profile out. On the serial port, Ctrl+T toggles. On the desktop the Terminal app opens the same shell in a window (close it with the title-bar button or Alt+F4; logout closes it).

How do I make the PC always start in the console?

Put console as the first word in \EOS\FW\SCREEN.TXT on the boot volume (the old name SCHERM.TXT is still read). Then there is no boot screen and no login screen after boot. A panic or a reboot always shows the console.

How do I find a command?

Type help. It lists the commands of the edition you are running. A few diagnostic subcommands are left out of help, such as perf yt, perf play, perf set, net window/net ack (see the A–Z table below). The legacy Dutch names are never in help. Typing a command with wrong arguments usually prints a usage: line.

How do I repeat an earlier command?

Arrow up / arrow down walk through the history. The shell keeps the last 50 commands (HISTORY_MAX); a line equal to the previous one is not stored twice. SSH sessions have their own history of the same size.

Why is the console split into two panes?

On a wide screen (at least 135 columns at the console's text size, so 1024x768 and up; 800x600 stays one pane) the console has two panes below the header (the logo, the name with the motto, and "v13 · x86-64" with the address and uptime on the right):

• Left: input. The prompt and the line you type at the bottom; above it the commands of this session, each with its time (newest at the bottom). Arrow up/down still walk through the history; a click or tap on a command puts it on the prompt line (not run). The pane is about a third of the width (40 to 60 columns).
• Right: output. What the commands print and every other console line (network, SSH, notices). Each command's output starts with a dim line -- 14:03:12 > <command> ---; when lines from elsewhere come in between, the rest of the command's output gets a (continued) line. PgUp/PgDn (also with Shift) or the mouse wheel scroll the output pane back, Home goes to the oldest line, End back to the bottom (the divider is yellow while scrolled back). A new command jumps back to the bottom.

Only the screen changes: the serial port, log, the Terminal app and SSH get the same text as before (no split over SSH). The server's text installer and the graphical screens are unchanged.

Why do I see asterisks when I type a Wi-Fi password?

The shell recognises secret arguments and echoes them as *:

• the password of wifi connect <name> <password> and wifi remember <name> <password> (also with an adapter word: wifi usb connect …);
• the pairing key in --pair=<key> (legacy spelling --koppel=) of install;
• a line asked for by a secret prompt (for example the password of mail imap …): "type it in the pc's console; Enter without text aborts". A secret prompt cannot be answered over SSH.

Lines with a secret are not stored in the history, are written to the log and to [ssh] lines as **** (crate::redact), and are wiped from memory after use.

What happens to the history when I log out?

On logout (profile::clear_user) the kernel calls wipe_shell(): the shell history and the current line are overwritten and emptied (also the commands in the console's input pane, console::wipe_history), a pending secret prompt is dropped, and the Terminal's scrollback is cleared.

Why does a command say "not available"?

The console follows a policy (kernel/src/environment.rs, libs/profile/src/console.rs):

• In a test build every command is allowed, unless the logged-in user's signed profile has an admin policy; then exactly that policy applies.
• In a production build (make … EUZOS_ENV=production, Cargo feature production):
  • without a logged-in session only help, reboot, poweroff, screen login, screen back, and battery, date, mem without arguments are allowed;
  • the admin commands (showing the console/Terminal, sshd, log, profile/environment, and changing ports with ports … on|off, see Ports) need a signed policy in the profile (key beheer=, values console, sshd, log, profiel, ports; lokaal counts as profiel), and in a production build only from a production profile signed with the built-in production key. The admin sets this on the profile server; the user cannot.
• On EUZOS Server in a production build nobody logs in; the console may only run the harmless commands above plus workplace (status, setup, now), packages, installer [text], ip, dhcp, ping, dns, ps, log [n], pci, usb [hid [all|fields]], disks, network and firewall (view only); each with exactly these arguments and no others.

The messages are: "'<name>' is not available (<build> build, no signed policy that allows it)" or "this command needs a logged-in session (production build); …".

How do I use SSH?

Put the allowed public keys (OpenSSH lines, ed25519 only) in \EOS\FW\AUTHKEYS.TXT. With that file present, sshd starts by itself once the network has an address (unless \EOS\FW\SSHD.TXT says off; legacy uit). Then:

• ssh <pc> for an interactive shell (arrows work; exit or logout ends the session);
• ssh <pc> '<command>' to run one command and get its output;
• ssh <pc> 'put EOS/<path>' < file to write a file in \EOS\ on the boot volume (not the committed kernel KX64.ELF; that is what commit is for);
• ssh <pc> 'apps receive' < X.APP to receive a signed app package;
• ssh <pc> 'package receive <name>' < X.PAK to receive a Linux app package.

sshd itself cannot be controlled over SSH. Every SSH login shows a line in the log and a toast on the screen, and a label in the top bar while a session is open. On EUZOS Server sshd only runs in a test build with dev-ssh=yes (legacy ontwikkel-ssh=ja) in WORKPLC.TXT; a production server has no SSH (see Network and firewall).

Details

• Shell loop. The shell runs in kernel/src/main.rs (the loop after boot) at high priority, so the desktop stays responsive. Keys from the keyboard, the on-screen keyboard (console_keyboard.rs, shown automatically on a tablet without keyboard) and the Terminal all go to the same line. A character outside ASCII goes to the graphical screen if one is visible. Each finished line goes through environment::shell_allowed(policy_line(cmd)) and then run_command.
• Command names. command_name maps a legacy Dutch command name to its English one. policy_line does the reverse for the policy check, because the policy in euzos_profile::console still knows the commands by their old Dutch names (scherm inlog, werkplek nu, schijven, …).
• Network commands. ip, dhcp, ping, dns, http, e1000, rtl8168, bcm and net answer "no network adapter active" when there is no adapter.
• Edition. Commands of the other edition are not in the kernel; the server answers "<name>: not in EUZOS Server, only in EUZOS Desktop", the desktop answers "workplace/packages: only in EUZOS Server".
• SSH execution. ssh <pc> '<cmd>' runs the command through run_command with the console output mirrored (console::mirror_start / mirror_take); log is returned directly. Output is capped at 112 KiB ("[... output truncated after 112 KiB]"). try and reboot over SSH reply first and reboot afterwards.
• Terminal. The Terminal window keeps a scrollback of everything the console writes, redraws live (a thread checks for changes), and keeps Page Up/Down, Home and End for paging. terminal::terminal_allowed uses the same rule as showing the console (environment::console_allowed).

Reference

Console commands (A–Z)

Edition: both = Desktop and Server; D = Desktop only; S = Server only; test = only in a test build; x86 = only on x86-64.

SSH-only verbs (handled in net::sshd before run_command):

Since 27-10-2026 EUZOS writes English config file names, keys, values and confirmation words (for example WIPE-…, environment= in PROFILE.TXT); the old Dutch names (marked legacy here) are still read and accepted (docs/ENGLISH.md).

Legacy Dutch command names

The old Dutch names (before 27-10-2026) are still accepted as hidden aliases for one release (LEGACY_COMMANDS in kernel/src/main.rs); they are not in help.

Dutch subcommand aliases the code still accepts (examples, per command): camera foto, camera test uit|microfoon; screen inlog|terug| welkom|foto|thema|slot|tik|wiel|vinger|typ|uit; screen lock vergrendel| wakker; dhcp vernieuw; counter stand|druk; net venster; mem processen; linuxtrace uit|fouten|alles; installer tekst (Server); battery lees; nvme lees|snelheid; ahci lees|ontgrendel|vergrendel| schrijftest|wis|wisslot and --grondig; install --proef, --zonder-wifi, --koppel=; apps lijst|catalogus|installeer|laad| controleer|wis|proefhaal; package lijst|laad|ontvang|weg|inhoud; perf speel|zet|voorrang|raster|kopie and aan|uit; sound toon|demp| tikje|opstart|opname|opnieuw; drivers tekst|stuur|aan|uit|vergeet; explorer proef|mijn|opslaan-proef|uitwerpen; fetch manifest … controleer; input … alles|velden|opnieuw|muis|absoluut|volg|aanraak|omdraaien| toetsenbord, input keyboard ja|nee; usb hid alles|velden; microsoft inloggen|opnieuw|vergeet; mobile verbruik [wis]; network … geen; offline wis; pckey maak; profile prive|privé; environment productie; screen desktop zakelijk|prive; smp aan, smp opstart aan|uit; stick wis (and stick delete); storage maak|opruimen; vault lijst|wis; wifi kies|verbind|verbreek|vergeet|onthoud|aan, adapter words intern, ingebouwd; workplace inrichten|nu; chromium spoor; browser nieuw, browser debug aan|uit; firewall sluit; process names hallo, teller, fout, lek; SSH apps ontvang, pakket ontvang; screen app bestanden|instellingen|profiel; screen lock screensaver sterren|klok. English aliases from older help texts: stick delete, fetch manifest … check, sound click, sound again, explorer trial, explorer save-trial. Typed confirmation words: WIS-<serial>, WIS-<MiB>-<disk>, ALLES-WISSEN, BEVESTIG-<serial>.

Functions and modules

Config files

Protocol messages and formats

• SSH: port 22, host key and user keys ed25519 only; at most 3 clients at once and 2 per address; a client must authenticate within 30 s; an idle logging-in session is closed after 300 s. Interactive sessions get > prompts and CRLF line endings; exec output is capped at 112 KiB.
• Policy refusal over SSH: not available (build or policy); sshd over SSH: sshd cannot be controlled from SSH.
• Log lines: every SSH command appears as [ssh] <command> with secrets replaced by ****.

See also

• docs/DESKTOP-DESIGN.md ("Console and admin", "Terminal")
• docs/ENVIRONMENTS.md
• docs/EDITIONS.md
• docs/ENGLISH.md (console command names)
• docs/NETWORK-THROUGHPUT.md
• Server console