Perle Systems Technical Notes

Hi there, I need some assistance. I am working on a Windows 10 project and one of the requirements is to enable serial port console logon. My understanding is that I. Download this app from Microsoft Store for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1. See screenshots, read the latest customer reviews, and compare ratings for Bluetooth Serial Terminal.

Go to the VM instances page. Click the instance you want to connect to. Under Remote access, click Connect to serial console to connect on the default port (port 1). If you want to connect to another serial port, click the down arrow next to the Connect to serial console button and change the port number accordingly. A serial control connection can also be use on Windows Servers as well. Someone only needs to set the Windows 'Boot Parameters' to 'Enable EMS Redirection' and windows will respond to a serial connection. Yes, those 'Legacy Windows Servers' without Network Management Consoles can also talk to the Pi Serial Console Server.;). For older Windows Server images (created before February 2018), you can automatically enable the serial console through the Azure portal's run command feature. In the Azure portal, select Run command, then select the command named EnableEM from the list.

The Emergency Management Services (EMS), available in Windows Server Operating Systems provides “headless” support for today enterprise servers. It enables management services without the need for a keyboard, mouse, local monitor, and video adapter. A server administrator interacts with EMS through a Special Administration Console (SAC) to perform management and recovery tasks, even when the system’s operational status is questionable.

In this scenario, a Windows server can be managed through the server’s console port using a text-based command-line interface. Microsoft recommends using a 'terminal server' or 'console server' to connect multiple servers to a single point of contact for remote management. The benefits include:

managing the servers without having to be physically located at the serial port,
more than one administrator can access the servers, and
multiple servers can be monitored from one location.

This “Out-of- Band” operation provides the best method for recovery of Windows Servers in remote locations today.

As stated by Microsoft some scenarios where access to SAC is the best way to recovery are;

The server is not functioning properly due to a Stop message event.
The server is very low on resources, which causes the network driver to be exceptionally slow or unable to respond to requests.
The network stack is malfunctioning or has failed.
A Windows Server component is running that does not support in-band communication, such as the loader or the Recovery Console.
The server is not yet fully initialized.

Example for Setting Up a Windows Server Port for SAC

bootcfg /ems ON /port COM1 /baud 9600 /id 1

Azure Serial Console Windows

In this example we are specifying COM1 as the port to redirect console SAC traffic to. Please refer to Microsoft’s documentation for specific information on the SAC feature.

Simple SAC Web Interface

Using Microsoft’s EMS - SAC tool can be a daunting task for some Windows administrators who are more comfortable with a graphical interface.

Windows EMS – SAC’s text-based command line interface

Perle has addressed this issue on its IOLAN Terminal Servers by providing a simple browser-based graphical user interface tool that speeds up system recovery time specifically for Windows Servers administrators. All of the EMS/SAC functions are available to the user such as;

Reboot
Shutdown
Set/Change IP address
View and kill processes
View system uptime and date
View system performance
View log of messages from the SAC serial port

IOLAN Console / Terminal Servers

Perle offers a complete line of products that consolidate serial console access using strong security and data encryption and providing fault-tolerant models with dual Ethernet and dual power supplies for ultimate reliability. Serial and USB port densities up to 50 ports are available giving customers the ability to connect all of their Windows, Linux, Solaris and Unix servers, network and infrastructure equipment by using the same console management system.

Customers who want a single solution for all of their Windows and non-Windows network and telecom equipment can upgrade their Windows servers to take advantage of the EMS features. Using a Perle Console Server, they can reduce equipment and operating costs, minimize network downtime, and add secure remote access to all systems for remote console management.

I would be a very rich man if I had a £/$/€ for every time someone asked me how they can view the console of a VM hosted in Azure. Well you can! Well, kind of. There is a feature called Console Output and Screenshot support for Azure Virtual Machines. Whilst it isn’t controllable like Team Viewer, VNC and the like, it does show you what the VM is doing or not doing as the case may be. A typical use for this would be when you have uploaded your own VM image to Azure you can then troubleshoot the Virtual Machine if it gets into a non-bootable state.

How do we do this, well log into the Azure Portal portal.azure.com and select Virtual Machines > Select your VM > All Settings > Boot diagnostics

The boot diagnostics blade will show you the output (this is a Linux Machine):

Serial Console Windows 10

For windows you may need to enable this. On the Boot diagnostics blade click the Information bar to enable it:

Change the status to On and Click on the Storage Account option:

Select the storage account you wish place these diagnostic files and click Save. Monitor the progress by clicking the Bell icon at the top of the Portal.

Windows Serial Console Server Settings

Now navigate to Virtual Machines > Select your VM > All Settings > Boot diagnostics and ensure you select your Windows VM and you can then see the Console Output.

Serial Console Server

You can also ensure these options are enabled when you create a VM by ensuring the same settings are configured during the creation process on Step 3.