User manual

Using Serial Port Redirection
With this feature, users can redirect locally connected, serial (COM) ports such as built-in RS232 ports or
USB-to-serial adapters. Devices such as printers, bar code readers, and other serial devices can be connected
to these ports and used in the remote desktops.
If a View administrator has configured the serial port redirection feature, and if you use the VMware Blast
Extreme or the PCoIP display protocol, serial port redirection works on your remote desktop without
further configuration. For example, COM1 on the local client system is redirected as COM1 on the remote
desktop. COM2 is redirected as COM2, unless the COM port is already in use. If so the COM port is mapped
to avoid conflicts. For example, if COM1 and COM2 already exist on the remote desktop, COM1 on the
client is mapped to COM3 by default.
Although you must have any required device drivers installed on the client system, you do not need to
install the device drivers on the remote desktop operating system where the agent is installed. For example,
if you use a USB-to-serial adapter that requires specific device drivers to work on your local client system,
you must install those drivers but only on the client system.
IMPORTANT If you are using a device that plugs in to a USB-to-serial adapter, do not connect the device from
the Connect USB Device menu in Horizon Client. To do so routes the device through USB redirection, and
bypasses the serial port redirection functionality.
Tips for Using the Serial Port Redirection Feature
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Click the serial port icon ( ) in the system tray, or notification area, of the remote desktop to connect,
disconnect, and customize the mapped COM ports.
When you click the serial port icon, the Serial COM Redirection for VMware Horizon context menu
appears.
NOTE If the items in the context menu are grayed out, it means that the administrator has locked the
configuration. Also note that the icon appears only if you use the required versions of the agent and
Horizon Client for Windows, and you must connect over Blast Extreme or PCoIP. The icon does not
appear if you connect to a remote desktop from a Mac, Linux, or mobile client.
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In the context menu, the port items are listed using the following format, for example: COM1 mapped
to COM3. The first port, which is COM1 in this example, is the physical port or the USB-to-serial
adapter used on the local client system. The second port, which is COM3 in this example, is the port
used in the virtual desktop.
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Right-click a COM port to select the Port Properties command.
In the COM Properties dialog box, you can configure a port to connect automatically when a remote
desktop session is started, or you can ignore DSR (that is, ignore the data-set-ready signal), which is
required for some modems and other devices.
You can also change the port number used in the remote desktop. For example, if the COM1 port on the
client is mapped to COM3 in the remote desktop, but the application you are using requires COM1, you
can change the port number to COM1. If COM1 already exists in the remote desktop, you might see
COM1 (Overlapped). You can still use this overlapped port. The remote desktop can receive serial data
through the port from the ESXi host and also from the client system.
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Make sure you connect to a mapped COM port before you attempt to launch an application that
requires access to this port. For example, right-click a COM port and select Connect to use the port in
the remote desktop. When you launch the application, the application opens the serial port.
Using VMware Horizon Client for Windows
88 VMware, Inc.