Map client COM ports to the terminal server

To successfully perform RS-232 communication from a Citrix or Terminal Services client, you must make the client COM port available during a remote session.

The method used to perform this step depends on the server operating system version in use:

Windows 2003 Server

These steps configure your Terminal Services connection so that client COM ports will be automatically mapped to their equivalent port numbers on the terminal server.

  1. On the terminal server, verify that you are running Windows 2003 Server with (at minimum) Hotfix 838291 or Service Pack 1 (preferred).

    On previous versions of Windows 2003 Server, RS-232 communication via Terminal Services did not function correctly and generated an error 8020 ("error reading comm device").

  2. For each workstation, configure your Remote Desktop Connection settings:

    1. Open Remote Desktop Connection.

      To open Remote Desktop Connection, click Start, point to Programs or All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click Remote Desktop Connection.

    2. In the Remote Desktop Connection window, click Options.

    3. On the Local Resources tab, under Local devices, select the check box for Serial ports.

    4. Click Connect.

      When you click Connect, the information you have entered in Options becomes the default setting for all Remote Desktop connections and is saved in a file called Default.rdp.

  3. On each workstation, launch a remote session and use Windows HyperTerminal with a serial device to test RS-232 input from the workstation.

    If RS-232 communication from the client cannot be established:

Previous versions of Windows server operating systems, with Citrix MetaFrame

You must be running Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 or higher with the Citrix ICA client, and you must be running GainSeeker version 6.103 or higher.

  1. On the terminal server, verify that you are running (at minimum) Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 with hotfixes 28, 29, 36 and 38, or Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 with Service Pack 1 (preferred).

  2. For each workstation, verify that you are running the Citrix ICA client version 4.20.0.741 or higher. COM port mapping is available in the full web client but not in the minimal web client.

  3. For each workstation, map each client COM port to a server COM port:

    1. Check the Citrix Connection Configuration settings to verify that the Disable Client Com Port Mapping setting has been turned off.

      1. To launch the Citrix Connection Configuration utility, click Start, point to Programs or All Programs, point to Admin Tools, click MetaFrame Tools (Common), and then click Citrix Connection Configuration.
        Alternately, launch the Citrix Connection Configuration utility from the ICA Administrator Toolbar.

      2. In the Citrix Connection Configuration utility, double-click on a connection type (such as " ica-tcp"), and then click Client Settings.

    2. Start the ICA Client and log on to the Citrix server.

    3. In the Citrix session, start a DOS command prompt. One method of performing this step is to click Start, point to Programs or All Programs, and then click Command Prompt.

d.  At the prompt, type

net use comA: \\ client\comB: /persistent:yes

where A is the number of the COM port on the server (ports 1 through 9 are available for mapping) and B is the number of the client COM port you want to map. Then press ENTER.

For example, to map client COM port 1 to server COM port 3, you would enter this as command as

net use com3: \\client\com1: /persistent:yes

    1. To confirm the operation, type   net use   at the prompt. This displays a list of mapped COM ports, LPT ports, and drive letters.

Note:  To use this COM port in a session on a Citrix server, you must reference the COM port number on the server, not on the client.
For example, if you map client COM port 1 to server COM port 3, any RS-232 activity during a Citrix session must be configured for COM port 3.

Previous versions of Windows server operating systems, without Citrix MetaFrame

Direct serial input is not supported in this computing environment.

However, you can purchase an interface device that provides TCP/IP output from digital or serial input. GainSeeker can then use TCP/IP commands, instead of RS-232 commands, to access this data.

For information on purchasing TCP/IP interface devices, please contact Hertzler Systems.

 

More:

Client setup with Citrix and Terminal Services