For those getting "Unexpectedly Disconnected from Server"

[NullByDesign]

Ran into one reason for this problem while at the office. The server(s) for the VMs only accept one connection from any particular IP. If another co-worker/roommate/student/etc. is logged into linuxzoo the server will refuse all other connections.

It caused some frustration for a couple of hours trying to figure out if I just sucked at using PuTTY or if there was some other issue with whatever I was trying. Luckily we were sitting right next to each other so it wasn't too hard to diagnose once it was clear it wasn't the method of connection.

Hope this helps some people who have been frustrated by being unable to connect.

[drgrussell]

For SSH the system works out the virtual machine you wish to connect to from your own IP.
If two of you are on the same IP then the system has no chance of working out which SSH should go where, and so SSH is disabled.
This should be indicated in the control panel with a cryptic warning "shared ip mode" and the hiding of the SSH connection method.
Telnet currently has an extra prompt in shared ip mode which asks you where you wish to connect to.
Other methods, such as vnc, can use other connection schemes (HTTP CONNECT or web sockets) and are unaffected by shared ip mode.
The security of SSH prevents me doing anything else in this case.

Gordon.