Configuring Remote Desktop Features

Table Of Contents
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If your users are knowledge workers who use a variety of 3rd-party applications and might also use
their COM ports locally on their client machines, make sure that users can connect and disconnect
from the redirected COM ports.
You might set the PortSettings policy setting if the default port mappings are incorrect. You might or
might not set the Autoconnect item, depending on your users' requirements. Do not enable the Lock
Configuration policy setting.
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Make sure that your 3rd-party applications open the COM port that is mapped to the remote desktop.
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Make sure that the baud rate that is in use for a device matches the baud rate that the 3rd-party
application is attempting to use.
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You can redirect up to five COM ports from a client system to a remote desktop.
Configuring Serial Port Redirection Group Policy Settings
You can configure group policy settings that control the behavior of serial port redirection on your remote
desktops. With these policy settings, you can control centrally, from Active Directory, the options that are
available in the Serial COM Redirection for VMware Horizon menu on users' desktops.
You do not have to configure these policy settings. Serial port redirection works with the default settings
that are configured for redirected COM ports on remote desktops and client systems.
These policy settings affect your remote desktops, not the client systems where the physical COM port
devices are connected. To configure these settings on your desktops, add the Serial Port Redirection
Group Policy Administrative Template (ADMX) file in Active Directory.
Add the Serial Port Redirection ADMX Template in Active Directory
You can add the policy settings in the Serial COM (serial port redirection) ADMX file
(vdm_agent_serialport.admx), to group policy objects (GPOs) in Active Directory and configure the
settings in the Group Policy Object Editor.
Prerequisites
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Verify that the Serial Port Redirection setup option is installed on your desktops. The group policy
settings have no effect if serial port redirection is not installed. See your Setting Up document for
more information on installing the Horizon Agent.
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Verify that Active Directory GPOs are created for the serial port redirection group policy settings. The
GPOs must be linked to the OU that contains your desktops. See Active Directory Group Policy
Example.
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Verify that the MMC and the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in are available on your Active Directory
server.
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Familiarize yourself with serial port redirection group policy settings. See Serial Port Redirection
Group Policy Settings.
Configuring Remote Desktop Features in Horizon 7
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