diff --git a/nova/cmd/novnc.py b/nova/cmd/novnc.py
index dc96e2fac10d..0b69e5f3b676 100644
--- a/nova/cmd/novnc.py
+++ b/nova/cmd/novnc.py
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@
 from oslo_config import cfg
 
 opts = [
-    cfg.BoolOpt('record',
-                default=False,
-                help='Record sessions to FILE.[session_number]'),
+    cfg.StrOpt('record',
+                help='This is the filename that will be used for storing '
+                     'websocket frames received and sent by a proxy service '
+                     '(like VNC, spice, serial) running on this host. If this '
+                     'is not set (default), no recording will be done.'),
     cfg.BoolOpt('daemon',
                 default=False,
                 help='Become a daemon (background process)'),
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/cmd/test_baseproxy.py b/nova/tests/unit/cmd/test_baseproxy.py
index b8a16af3d075..8c89f8257ec0 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/cmd/test_baseproxy.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/cmd/test_baseproxy.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class BaseProxyTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         mock_init.assert_called_once_with(
             listen_host='0.0.0.0', listen_port='6080', source_is_ipv6=False,
             verbose=False, cert='self.pem', key=None, ssl_only=False,
-            daemon=False, record=False, traffic=False,
+            daemon=False, record=None, traffic=False,
             web='/usr/share/spice-html5', file_only=True,
             RequestHandlerClass=websocketproxy.NovaProxyRequestHandler)
         mock_start.assert_called_once_with()
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/bug-1559026-47c3fa3468d66b07.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/bug-1559026-47c3fa3468d66b07.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..62543bf94569
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/bug-1559026-47c3fa3468d66b07.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - The ``record`` configuration option for the console proxy
+    services (like VNC, serial, spice) is changed from
+    boolean to string. It specifies the filename that will
+    be used for recording websocket frames.