refused ssh access after ifdown eth0 command

I’ve got centOS 6 installed, with some yum problems. Trying to fix them I gave the following my command ifdown eth0

and then I can’t access to the virtual machine by ssh

subu @ VR46-U: ~ $ ssh ndrini@192.XX.XX.55 ssh: connect to host 192.XX.XXX.55 port 22: Connection timed out

I think I should fix this by the command ifup eth0

Is it possible access to linux shell (not via ssh) to give the command?

Thanks,

Andrea