Fix a terminal that will not open

A Blink terminal opens a command window on the remote computer (PowerShell or Command Prompt on Windows, a login shell on a Mac) in a separate browser window. When your plan includes Terminal history, everything shown in a terminal is recorded.

The Terminal button is missing

The Terminal button only shows when your role allows terminals. Granting a whole area such as Support or Access does not include the terminal: a role must name Terminal (support) or Terminal (access) itself. Only the Owner role has them by default; the starter Admin, Technician and Viewer roles do not.

Ask an administrator to add the permission to your role in Roles. The viewer says so too: You don’t have permission to open a terminal here. Ask an administrator to grant Terminal in Roles.

Your plan must also include Remote terminal. If it does not, the button does not appear for anyone, whatever their role. See Understand your plan and its limits.

The Terminal button is greyed out

Hover over the button to see why. Common reasons:

Message	What to do
Confirm the computer first	In a Support session, confirm the computer first: click Confirm and take control on the Is this your customer’s computer? card.
Waiting for the customer’s computer	The customer’s computer is not connected right now. Wait for it to reconnect.
The customer’s Blink app is too old for a terminal; they can download the current one	Create a new Support code and have the customer download the tool again.
Agent update required for terminal	The Access device runs an older Blink. It updates itself when a newer release is available.
Device is offline	See Fix a Blink agent that will not connect.
Device is restarting	Wait until the device is back online.

The terminal window does not appear

Terminals open in a new browser window or tab. If your browser blocks pop-ups for your Blink address, nothing opens. Allow pop-ups for your Blink address and try again.

The terminal shows an error or closes

The terminal window says why it could not open, or its last line says why it closed. The most common messages:

Message	Meaning
Elevate the session to run as administrator or The session isn’t elevated.	You chose to run as administrator in a Support session that is not elevated. Click Run as admin in the viewer first, or open the terminal as the customer.
The device already has 3 terminals open.	A computer can have at most 3 terminals open. Close one first.
You have 10 terminals open	Close some of your terminals.
Nobody is signed in on that session any more. or That user signed out.	In an Access session you chose to run as a user who is no longer signed in. Pick another choice in Open as….
The device couldn’t connect to the server for the terminal.	The remote computer reached Blink for the session but not for the terminal. Check its network as for any connection problem.
The device didn’t respond. It may be offline or blocked from reaching the server.	As above.
The shell couldn’t be started. or The user’s profile couldn’t be loaded.	The remote computer could not start the chosen shell. Try another shell, or run as another account.
Closed after 30 minutes without input.	Terminals close after 30 minutes with nothing typed. Open a new one.
Closed because no window was attached for 2 minutes.	The terminal window was closed for too long. Open a new one.
The customer closed the command window.	The customer clicked Close command windows on their Blink banner or menu. Ask before opening another one.
Too many terminals opened; try again in N s.	Wait and try again.
The remote terminal is not included in your plan.	Your plan does not include Remote terminal. Ask IZT about changing your plan.
Disconnected: the console’s IP rule does not allow this network. The terminal keeps running on the device for 2 minutes.	Your address is outside the console’s IP and country rule. Move to an allowed network, such as your company VPN: a terminal that no window attaches to for 2 minutes closes. See Fix a block by an IP or country rule.
The device’s address is not allowed by the organization’s agent IP rule.	The Access device’s organization limits where its devices may connect from, and the device is outside it. See Fix a block by an IP or country rule.

When to contact IZT

Contact IZT if a terminal fails with The terminal closed because of an error. or another message not listed here. Send the session id (or the device name), the time and the message. See Collect logs for IZT support.