User manual

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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 an 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 VMware Blast 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.
When a redirected COM port is opened and in use on a remote desktop, you cannot access the port
on the local computer. Conversely, when a COM port is in use on the local computer, you cannot
access the port on the remote desktop.
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In the remote desktop, you can use the Windows Device Manager Port Settings tab to set the
default Baud rate for a particular COM port. Be sure to use the same settings in the Windows Device
Manager on your client system. Note that the settings from this tab are used only if the application
does not specify the port settings.
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Before you can disconnect the COM port, you must close the port in the application or close the
application. You can then select the Disconnect command to disconnect and make the physical
COM port available for use on the client computer.
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If you configure a serial port to connect automatically, launch an application that opens the serial port,
and then disconnect and resonnect the desktop session, the auto-connect feature does not work. You
also cannot connect using the serial port's system tray icon's menu option. In most cases, the
application can no longer use the serial port. This is expected behavior. You must terminate the
application, disconnect the desktop session and reconnect again to resolve the problem.
VMware Horizon Client for Windows User Guide
VMware, Inc. 45