Installing on Termial Server 2003

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Do you even have problem when you are logged in as admin in a TS session? Firewall off?

Yes, even when logged in as admin session. No, the firewall is not off but emails and attachments, including PDF attachments can be sent via Outlook, plus I can't very well ask them to turn off their firewall.

Also I just tried using a pop account (which works in Outlook on the TS) for the settings to use with the A5 built-in email client. Using the A5 built-in client works. The only trouble with this is that my client uses IMAP email, not POP, so I am not sure how much this does us since Alpha does not support IMAP email (which a business is much more likely to use than POP!).

Ray

[411tech]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

I usually do not use remote desktop to remotely access out TS Server (or any machine on the network.

We use 2 different products to remote access desktops & servers. For about 4 years we have been using RADMIN http://www.famatech.com . (GREAT PRODUCT)...This product is great if you have full access to the network firewall so you can set ports.

If you do not have access to the network or if it is a new client we use a product called TEAMVIEWER http://www.teamviewer.com . This product does not need any access to the network firewall.

Even though I have never had an issue, teamviewer must go thru their servers so you can find the machine you are trying to connect to.

If I was purchasing today, I would probably purchase teamviewer only, if only because network settings do not have to be changed. With Radmin you have better control and is a little faster.

If you are a consultant, and with the price of gas today, not having one of these products is a VERY big mistake. Save some money & the planet by reducing your driving.

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

I usually do not use remote desktop to remotely access out TS Server (or any machine on the network.

We use 2 different products to remote access desktops & servers. For about 4 years we have been using RADMIN http://www.famatech.com . (GREAT PRODUCT)...This product is great if you have full access to the network firewall so you can set ports.

If you do not have access to the network or if it is a new client we use a product called TEAMVIEWER http://www.teamviewer.com . This product does not need any access to the network firewall......

Okay, I am an absolute novice with this TS stuff which probably explains why I do not understand what you are doing. In any case, all my client has done is set up a TS with A5 runtime installed to access my app which resides on a separate file server. Then users set up on the TS can setup Remote Desktop connections at home (or anywhere) and access their TS desktop (which includes their email setup and a number of other programs), my app, etc. and hopefully do just about everything they could if they had come into the office and used workstations accessing the app directly on the file server (those who have space at the office could but do not use the TS to access my app when they are in the office--a few are 100% remote users).

I thought one of the purposes of TS with remote desktops was to eliminate the need for the kind of products you refer to, including pcAnywhere and the like as a means to access programs remotely from virtually any remote computer on the planet. So instead of using this feature built into TS you are using these other products. What added benefit is there to this? For my edification, a related question, perhaps for others, would be what exactly does Citrix add that makes it worth the extra money? I presume there is something, no?

Ray

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

I seem to have a solution to my problem with Report.Send() not working in a TS environment whereas it does work elsewhere. While I still can't get this to work in a TS environment when using the Windows default email client e.g., Outlook, Eudora, etc., I can get it to work using A5's built-in e-mail client [set the "A5" flag in Report.Send()]. This was going to be a problem in my case because my client uses IMAP e-mail which A5 does not support. However, it turns out that I can set up a POP account on the e-mail server just for this purpose. So what I am thinking about doing is setting up just one such account for everyone on the TS to use with the A5 built-in client and use it for sending only. I might even be able to set up the account to bounce back any message sent to this account. TS users could presumably still use Outlook on the TS for regular e-mail.

Now, presumably on a TS the reason Report.Send() [and other similar functions] works only when using the A5 built-in email client is that unlike Outlook and others the A5 built-in email client does not use MAPI. Still, it sure would be nice to know why MAPI is a problem only in a TS environment because in a non-TS environment using Outlook and other programs that use MAPI is no problem. There must be a solution to that issue but I can't find it.

Ray

[turbojack]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Raymond I am a little confused.

When you run the email part on a TS it will not work, I understand that. When you have your application running on say a XP computer still accessing the same files on the file server does the email work or does it not work?

Have you tried sending the emails via email_smtp_send() & email_smtp_close() The way I read this is A5 is sending straight to a mail server (not using a pop account). If mail server is set up for this it should work perfect. May have to open up firewall where a5 and a5 alone can send out using port 25. Firewall is the one running on the TS. If mail server is not inside the network, you will have to open the router firewall for the ts if there is one.

[411tech]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

The reason why I use products like TeamViewer and Specifically RADMIN for all my desktops and especially my servers is as follows:

When you Remote Desktop into a Terminal Server you start a new session, somewhat like a Virtual Machine.

By using the RADMIN software I am able to log into the server and see the ADMINISTRATOR DESKTOP of the server without starting a new session. This way I can see all the logs and possible error messages that appear in this session.

[webmaster]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

The reason why I use products like TeamViewer and Specifically RADMIN for all my desktops and especially my servers is as follows:

When you Remote Desktop into a Terminal Server you start a new session, somewhat like a Virtual Machine.

By using the RADMIN software I am able to log into the server and see the ADMINISTRATOR DESKTOP of the server without starting a new session. This way I can see all the logs and possible error messages that appear in this session.

Barry, you can still use Remote Desktop for that. What you want to do is connect to the console session, which is the session that you would get if you were physically at the server's keyboard and the session that RADMIN connects to.

You have two ways available to do this:

1 - With the standard Remote Desktop client by using a command line switch. Instead of using the start menu Remote Desktop Connection, go to Start, Run and execute "mstsc /console"

2 - Download and install the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools. Among the goodies in there is Remote Desktops, an MMC snap-in that lets you manage multiple remote desktop connections in a single window. If you have more than one system that you connect to frequently, this is a great tool to have.

[webmaster]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

I seem to have a solution to my problem with Report.Send() not working in a TS environment whereas it does work elsewhere. While I still can't get this to work in a TS environment when using the Windows default email client e.g., Outlook, Eudora, etc., I can get it to work using A5's built-in e-mail client [set the "A5" flag in Report.Send()]. This was going to be a problem in my case because my client uses IMAP e-mail which A5 does not support. However, it turns out that I can set up a POP account on the e-mail server just for this purpose. So what I am thinking about doing is setting up just one such account for everyone on the TS to use with the A5 built-in client and use it for sending only. I might even be able to set up the account to bounce back any message sent to this account. TS users could presumably still use Outlook on the TS for regular e-mail.

Now, presumably on a TS the reason Report.Send() [and other similar functions] works only when using the A5 built-in email client is that unlike Outlook and others the A5 built-in email client does not use MAPI. Still, it sure would be nice to know why MAPI is a problem only in a TS environment because in a non-TS environment using Outlook and other programs that use MAPI is no problem. There must be a solution to that issue but I can't find it.

Ray

Ray, POP and IMAP are for checking email only. For sending email using the internal client, Alpha uses SMTP. Outlook also uses SMTP to send email, but if you don't use the built in Alpha email, Alpha uses MAPI to communicate with Outlook. So it sounds like you have a MAPI configuration problem on your server.

MAPI can be problematic, particulalry on newer MS server OSes. It seems they have locked it down tightly, and in some cases removed it, apparently because of security problems. I think your best solution is probably to use the built in Alpha email as you are now doing.

[411tech]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

I have been using Remote Desktop for since NT4. Back then Terminal Server was an add on you had to pay for.

I never knew Remote Desktop had command line switches. Now I have to go check the docs.

Thanks Alot!!!

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Raymond I am a little confused.

When you run the email part on a TS it will not work, I understand that. When you have your application running on say a XP computer still accessing the same files on the file server does the email work or does it not work?....

It works fine--has for years.

Have you tried sending the emails via email_smtp_send() & email_smtp_close() The way I read this is A5 is sending straight to a mail server (not using a pop account). If mail server is set up for this it should work perfect. ...

No I have not, but given that using the A5 built-in email client works I would guess that email_smtp_send() would work also.

Ray

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Ray, POP and IMAP are for checking email only. For sending email using the internal client, Alpha uses SMTP. Outlook also uses SMTP to send email, but if you don't use the built in Alpha email, Alpha uses MAPI to communicate with Outlook. So it sounds like you have a MAPI configuration problem on your server.

Re: POP vs IMAP, yes, but I am pretty sure (meaning I could be wrong!) that unless the mail server supports POP for checking, setting up that account in the A5 built-in client will fail.

Re: a MAPI configuration problem on the TS, possibly so, but if so how come Outlook works on the TS for regular email? And whatever MAPI configuration problem there may be, I have no idea how one might go about fixing it--or even looking at the configuration.

MAPI can be problematic, particularly on newer MS server OSes. It seems they have locked it down tightly, and in some cases removed it, apparently because of security problems. I think your best solution is probably to use the built in Alpha email as you are now doing.

Yes, I am going to use the built-in system. I think I might even be able to use the email accounts of those logged onto the TS but doing so would be a whole lot more complex (numerous email profiles and a way to determine which to use) than just setting up one account that everyone will use for this purpose, so I am going with one commonly used account.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Ray

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Joe and Barry:

On the assumption that using Start, Run and:

mstsc.exe /v:servername.com /console

is the correct syntax to connect in console mode, how can I confirm that this is any different from what I get when I just use a standard .rdp file to connect as the administrator? I do not seem to notice any difference in the result. Would I not notice anything unless there was an error message displayed when I connect? Is there something else I can look for to confirm a difference?

Thanks.

Ray

[webmaster]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Re: a MAPI configuration problem on the TS, possibly so, but if so how come Outlook works on the TS for regular email? And whatever MAPI configuration problem there may be, I have no idea how one might go about fixing it--or even looking at the configuration.

Outlook sending directly doesn't use MAPI, just SMTP.

I don't know if it will solve your problem or not, but you can download a MAPI installer from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

[webmaster]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

Joe and Barry:

On the assumption that using Start, Run and:

mstsc.exe /v:servername.com /console

is the correct syntax to connect in console mode, how can I confirm that this is any different from what I get when I just use a standard .rdp file to connect as the administrator? I do not seem to notice any difference in the result. Would I not notice anything unless there was an error message displayed when I connect? Is there something else I can look for to confirm a difference?

Thanks.

Ray

That is the correct syntax.

To confirm that you are connected to the console session, open Task Manager, switch to the Users tab and you should see that you are ID #0.

If you want a more manual test, and you have physical access to the machine, you can also walk over to the console and log in and see that it is in fact the same desktop.

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Installing on Termial Server 2003

That is the correct syntax.

To confirm that you are connected to the console session, open Task Manager, switch to the Users tab and you should see that you are ID #0.

If you want a more manual test, and you have physical access to the machine, you can also walk over to the console and log in and see that it is in fact the same desktop.

Well, I get ID=0 both with and without the console flag, so I guess I will have to have someone put up something on the physical desktop and see what I get remotely.

Interestingly, I found an MS page that says the syntax is:

mstsc -v:servername /F -console

Both work, so I am not sure it makes any difference. Also I found something that says you can add this line to an .rdp file (they are really just a text file, so you can edit them with notepad):

connect to console:i:1

Seems to work and avoids messing with a command line.

Finally, I see that with server 2008 "console" is no longer relevant--something about "admin" replacing it (not sure about this, but then again I am not sure about much of anything!).

Ray