Depending on what kind of "console" application that is, and what kind of OS you are running, there are various approaches that can help you:
- Expect - doesn't work on Windows, but can talk to "terminal based" processes on the same machine
- IPC::Run3 - works "everywhere", but can't talk to PTY-based terminals, only via STDIN / STDOUT
- Win32::GuiTest - works only on Windows and can talk to any local window there
- IBM 3270 console - can be automated through Win32::OLE
- perlipc has more hints on IPC in general
You haven't told us much to give you better advice. What would help us to give you more concrete advice would be the OS your server runs and the kind of application you're running. If that application uses a pseudo-TTY, you will need an automation that can talk to a PTY.
