02.Session Management & Connections
02 Session Management & Connections
WxTerm supports 9 connection protocols. This chapter describes how to organize sessions with the session manager, use quick connect for temporary connections, and the configuration options for each protocol when creating/editing sessions.
2.1 Supported Protocols
| Protocol | Purpose | Default port | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSH | Remote login, SFTP, port forwarding, X11 | 22 | Password / Private key / SSH Agent |
| Telnet | Traditional remote login | 23 | None |
| Serial | Serial device communication | — | None |
| Local | Local terminal | — | System user |
| TCP | Raw TCP connection (client/server) | Custom | None |
| UDP | UDP communication | Custom | None |
| WebSocket | WebSocket / WSS connection | 80 / 443 | None / TLS certificate |
| VNC | Remote desktop (VNC protocol) | 5900 | Password |
| RDP | Remote desktop (RDP protocol) | 3389 | Username + password |
2.2 Session Manager (Session Sidebar)
The session manager is located on the left side of the main window and organizes sessions in a tree structure.
UI Elements
- Search box: input box at the top, filters session names and hosts in real time.
- Session tree: a tree list of folders (📁) and sessions (different icons per protocol).
- Connected sessions show a green connection marker.
- Local terminal sessions have a dedicated icon.
- Tool buttons: the bottom provides quick buttons for new session, new folder, quick connect, etc.
Context Menu
Right-click on empty space
- New Folder
- New Session
- Quick Connect
- Import Config
- Export Config
- Refresh
Right-click on a folder
- New Folder (subfolder)
- New Session
- Rename
- Delete
- Export (export all sessions under this folder)
Right-click on a session
- Connect
- Edit
- Copy (create a duplicate)
- Delete
- Export
Drag-and-Drop Organization
- Drag a session onto a folder to move it.
- Drag a session above another session to reorder.
- Drag folders to reorder them.
Import and Export
- Export: export selected sessions/folders as a
.jsonconfiguration file for backup or sharing. - Import: import sessions from a
.jsonfile; you can choose to import to the root or a specific folder.
Passwords in exported session configs are encrypted, but the private key files themselves are not packaged and must be backed up separately.
2.3 Quick Connect
Quick Connect is used to temporarily connect to a host and is not saved to the session manager. Suitable for one-off access or debugging.
How to open
- Menu “File → Quick Connect”
- Toolbar “Quick Connect” button
- Welcome screen “Quick Connect” card
- Shortcut
Ctrl+Q
Configuration Fields
| Field | Applicable protocols | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol | All | Select connection type; form fields change automatically after switching |
| Host | SSH/Telnet/TCP/UDP/WS/VNC/RDP | Remote host address (IP or domain) |
| Port | SSH/Telnet/TCP/UDP/WS/VNC/RDP | Port number; default value is auto-filled when switching protocols |
| Username | SSH | Login username |
| Authentication | SSH | Password / Private key / SSH Agent |
| Password | SSH/VNC | Login password (VNC uses connection password) |
| Private key file | SSH (private key auth) | Local private key path |
| Private key passphrase | SSH (private key auth) | Passphrase for the private key |
| Serial device | Serial | e.g. /dev/ttyUSB0 (Linux) or COM3 (Windows) |
| Baud rate | Serial | 300 ~ 921600, commonly 115200 |
| Data bits | Serial | 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 |
| Stop bits | Serial | 1 / 1.5 / 2 |
| Parity | Serial | None / Odd / Even / Mark / Space |
| Flow control | Serial | Serial flow control method |
| UDP local address | UDP | Local address to listen on, default 0.0.0.0 |
| UDP local port | UDP | Local port to listen on, 0 means random |
| WebSocket path | WebSocket | e.g. /ws, default / |
| WebSocket type | WebSocket | ws (plaintext) or wss (TLS) |
| Skip certificate verification | WebSocket (wss) | Check for self-signed certificates |
| RDP username/password | RDP | Remote desktop login credentials |
| RDP domain | RDP | Active Directory domain (optional) |
After filling in the fields, click “Connect” to establish the connection and open a new tab.
2.4 New/Edit Session (Session Edit Dialog)
New session and edit session use the same dialog; the only differences are the title and whether the “Name” and “Folder” fields are shown.
How to open
- Menu “File → New Session” or
Ctrl+N - Session sidebar right-click “New Session” / “Edit”
- Toolbar “New Session” button
Common Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Session name | Name shown in the session sidebar and tab |
| Protocol | Select connection type |
| Folder | Choose which folder to save to (you can create a new folder) |
| Host / Port | Remote host address and port |
| Encoding | Terminal character encoding, default UTF-8; options include GBK/GB2312/GB18030/Big5/Shift_JIS/EUC-JP/EUC-KR/ISO-8859-1/Windows-1252 |
SSH-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Username | SSH login username |
| Authentication | Password / Private key / SSH Agent |
| Password | Password for password authentication (encrypted storage) |
| Private key file | Local private key path for private key auth; can be selected from the key manager |
| Private key passphrase | Passphrase for the private key (encrypted storage) |
If the server uses PAM keyboard-interactive authentication (rejects the normal password method), WxTerm automatically falls back to the keyboard-interactive authentication method.
Serial-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Device | Serial device path |
| Baud rate | 300 ~ 921600 |
| Data bits | 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 |
| Stop bits | 1 / 1.5 / 2 |
| Parity | None / Odd / Even |
| Transfer direction | Default directory for serial file transfers |
TCP-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Connection type | TCP Client (active connection) / TCP Server (listen and wait) |
UDP-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Local address | Listen address, default 0.0.0.0 |
| Local port | Listen port, 0 means random assignment |
WebSocket-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Path | WebSocket path, default / |
| Type | ws (plaintext) or wss (TLS) |
| Skip certificate verification | Whether to skip TLS certificate verification for wss |
| CA certificate | wss self-signed CA certificate path |
| Client certificate | Client certificate for wss mutual authentication |
| Client key | Client private key for wss mutual authentication |
VNC-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Password | VNC connection password |
RDP-specific Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Username / Password | RDP login credentials (password encrypted storage) |
| Domain | Active Directory domain (optional) |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 / 1280×720 / 1024×768 / 800×600 / Custom |
| Custom width/height | Filled in when “Custom” resolution is selected |
| Color depth | 8-bit / 16-bit / 24-bit / 32-bit |
| Launch fullscreen | Enter fullscreen mode immediately after connecting |
| Redirect clipboard | Enable local/remote clipboard sync |
| Redirect printer | Map local printer to remote |
| Redirect smart card | Map local smart card to remote |
| Redirect audio | Redirect remote audio to local |
| Drive mapping | Map local directories as remote drives (see table below) |
RDP Drive Mapping
You can map one or more local directories as network drives on the remote Windows, enabling bidirectional file access.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Drive name | Drive name shown on the remote |
| Local path | Absolute path of the local directory |
Click “Add Drive” to add a mapping, or “Delete” to remove the selected mapping.
RDP drive mapping requires the remote Windows to enable RDPDR (redirected drives) support.
Logging
All protocol sessions support terminal logging:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable logging | When enabled, terminal output is written to a log file |
| Log path | Log file save directory; if left blank, the logs subdirectory under the default config directory is used (location see 01 Getting Started & UI Overview) |
Save and Connect
The bottom of the dialog provides two buttons:
- Save: save the session to the session manager without connecting immediately.
- Save and Connect: save the session and establish a connection immediately.
2.5 Connect and Disconnect
Connect
- Double-click a session node in the session sidebar.
- Right-click a session → “Connect”.
- Edit session dialog → “Save and Connect”.
Disconnect
- Menu “File → Disconnect”.
- Toolbar “Disconnect” button.
- Tab right-click → “Disconnect”.
- After executing
exit/logouton the remote, WxTerm automatically disconnects and closes the corresponding tab.
Reconnect
- Toolbar “Reconnect” button.
- Tab right-click → “Reconnect”.
Authentication Failure Retry
When an SSH connection fails due to authentication (wrong password, wrong key, Agent failure, etc.), WxTerm pops up an authentication retry dialog, allowing the user to re-enter credentials and reconnect without reopening the new session dialog.
In the retry dialog you can re-select the authentication method and enter a new password/private key; after confirmation, it reconnects automatically. On success, the new credentials are synced to the cloud (if cloud sync is enabled).
2.6 Session Sidebar Search
Type a keyword in the search box at the top of the session sidebar to filter sessions whose display name or host contains that keyword in real time. In search mode, the folder structure is flattened to show matching sessions.
2.7 Multiple Simultaneous Sessions
WxTerm supports opening multiple sessions at the same time (subject to the plan’s tab limit; see 13 Plan Feature Matrix):
- Each session runs in an independent tab.
- SSH sessions can share multiple connections to the same host (SFTP, port forwarding, etc. reuse the connection).
- When all tabs of the same SSH host are closed, the associated port forwarding, X11 forwarding, and Agent forwarding automatically stop.