The serial tunnel client is a self-installing executable found in the root of the NiagaraAX distribution CD. There are three different versions of the executable, as shown in Figure 143 below.
Depending on your client PC’s Windows operating system, select to install from one of the following:
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Windows XP:
Install_Serial_Tunnel.exe -
Windows 7 or Windows Vista (32-bit):
InstallVserialAx2.exe -
Windows 7 or Windows Vista (64-bit):
InstallVserialAx2_64bit.exe
See the following additional sections for more details:
To install the serial tunnel client on a Windows machine
To install the serial tunnel client, at the Windows PC do the following:
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Access the appropriate installation executable, as found in the root of the NiagaraAX CD (Figure 143).
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Windows XP:
Install_Serial_Tunnel.exe -
Windows 7 or Windows Vista (32-bit):
InstallVserialAx2.exe -
Windows 7 or Windows Vista (64-bit):
InstallVserialAx2_64bit.exe
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Double-click this file to launch the installation.
Click to install, where other popup appears, as shown above.
Click again to configure.
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In the Niagara AX Serial Tunnel dialog, enter any known data, or accept defaults.
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In the Windows XP serial tunnel client dialog, you select a serial port (
COMn), as shown in Figure 144.Do not duplicate any existing serial (
COMn) port already used by Windows. You can always reconfigure again, by returning via the Windows XP Control Panel. If left “interactive” all remaining fields in this dialog are editable each time you specify this COM port from the serial application that you are tunneling (this popup dialog reappears each time). -
In the Windows 7 / Vista serial tunnel client dialog, an unused port (
COMn) is already selected, as shown in Figure 144If left ‘interactive”, you can configure the remaining fields in this dialog each time you specify this COM port from your serial application you are tunneling (this popup dialog reappears each time).
See Serial tunnel client configuration for details on all fields in this dialog. Parameters work essentially the same whether you have the Windows XP driver or (either) Windows 7/Vista driver.
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Click to finish the install.
The “Installation Finished” dialog appears—click again. See Serial tunnel client installation details for a listing of installed components.
By default after installation you see the serial tunnel configuration dialog each time you specify its named Serial Port (COMn) from your serial application. In the case of the Windows XP driver, you can also access this dialog by selecting “NiagaraAX
Serial Tunneling Client” from the Windows XP Control Panel.
As shown for an example session in Figure 146, all tunnel client fields require a valid entry.
Fields in this dialog are described as follows:
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Serial Port
The “virtual” COM port provided by this tunnel client. This should not conflict with any existing COM port assignment, as known to Windows, for a physical serial port (e.g. COM1).
When you tunnel from a serial-based Windows application, you specify this “virtual” COM port.
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Host Address
The IP address (or hostname) of the tunnel server, meaning the target JACE running a station with a serial-based network, TunnelService, and SerialTunnel.
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Tunnel Name
The
COMndevice name (identifier) of the JACE’s driver network to access. This will vary depending on the configuration of the network and its corresponding SerialTunnel. -
User Name
User in the target JACE station, where this station user must have admin write permissions for the station’s TunnelService and child SerialTunnel(s).
The TunnelService uses “basic authentication” for login on any client connection (serial tunnel or Lon tunnel), so we recommend
you create a special user in the station to use (only) for all serial or Lon tunnel access. For configuration details, see Best security practices for tunneling.
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Password
Password for this station user.
The password is not encrypted when passed to the station (see Caution above).
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Interactive (checkbox)
If checked, this dialog reappears each time a serial-based application first opens this “virtual” COM port. If cleared, this dialog displays only if an open fails to establish a connection to the tunnel server (as stored from last entry). Typically, you leave Interactive checked (regardless of driver version).
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In the case of the Windows XP driver, when this dialog appears interactively, the Serial Port setting is read-only. To change it, you must access the Serial Tunneling applet from the Windows XP Control Panel.
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In the case of either Windows 7/Vista driver, the Serial Port setting is always read only. However, a second “No Retry” checkbox becomes available if you clear “Interactive”.
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Depending which type of serial tunnel client you installed, the driver’s Windows interface, files installed, and method of uninstalling vary.
The Windows XP serial tunnel client installs as a Windows service (NiagaraAX Serial Tunnel), and has a Control Panel applet available (Figure 147).
The following files are installed, with services referenced in the Windows registry:
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Control Panel
<WINDOWS_SYSTEM_DIR>\vserax.cpl -
Network Tunnel Service
<WINDOWS_SYSTEM_DIR>\vserax.exeService name:
vseraxSvc(vseraxdependency) -
Serial Driver Service
<WINDOWS_SYSTEM_DIR>\drivers\vseraxx.sysService name:
vserax -
Uninstaller
<WINDOWS_SYSTEM_DIR>\vseraxun.exe
If necessary, uninstall the serial tunnel client driver using the “Add or Remove Programs” entry from the Windows XP Control Panel.
If uninstalling, and the uninstall appears to fail, try reinstalling the tunnel client, and then uninstall again.
The serial tunnel client for Windows 7/Vista installs as a “virtual” serial COM port (no separate Windows service or Control Panel applet). You can this port listed in the Windows Device Manager under Ports (Figure 148 ).
From the Windows Device Manager, you can right-click this virtual COM port to see its Properties, or if necessary, to Uninstall the driver. From its Properties dialog, the “Driver” tab and “Driver Details” button provides a popup dialog that lists the various files installed (Figure 149).
The file shown highlighted (vseraxConfig.exe) produces the tunnel client’s configuration dialog.