You can set your NComputing device to Connect to your server, your Windows session or to a single program, automatically.
The best way to understand the configuration process is to do it through the firmware of your terminal.
Here are several possible configurations:
1. Basic configuration. By default, the terminal will display its own firmware menu and arrive to an Available Connections home screen.
Everything is manual, and whether you have one or many servers in your network, you will see them listed here. This is optimal for people that needs to connect to different servers through an NComputing terminal.
2. Auto-connect configuration. In this case, the terminal bypasses the Available Connections home screen and logs in to the Windows Session of a preselected server.
To do this, join your preferred server to a connection Group. (Device Setup > Connection Settings > Create New Group [button] > New host IP > Save). Once you ensure that the selected server is on the group you just created, then, go to the Connection Settings tab and enable the Autoconnect to dial button and click Save. Then, the terminal should automatically bypass the connection screen and connect to the selected server.
3. Auto-login configuration. In this scenario, the terminal will connect to a server and will login to Windows with your credentials leaving you in your desktop ready to work. To do this, perform the Auto-connect configuration above and additionally go to the Login Settings tab > Enable Automatic Login. Enable the checkbox here and enter your Windows credentials. If you are in a Domain, enter the information as well in the proper field, otherwise, leave it blank.
4. Kiosk mode. This is a feature that will allow you to only open an application on your device, versus open a Windows Desktop. To do this, perform the Auto-connect and Auto-login configurations and at the Login Settings tab, click the Enable Kiosk Mode (No Desktop) checkbox.
Enter the Program name and the address path of the executable of the application in the corresponding fields. If the configuration was done correctly, the program should open automatically and the terminal will not allow access to anything else in Windows.
Having this knowledge in context, the same configurations can be made through the vSpace server as well. If you go to the vSpace Console > Manage Devices and click on the device you want to change, you will see the same available tabs and configurations available here. Once you set up your preferences, you can push the configuration to your device, store it, or update a batch of many devices at once.
Another great benefit of using vSpace Console is to use it as an alternative access to change the terminal's configuration when it automatically bypasses firmware access and logs in to Windows, like in the case of Auto Login, or Kiosk Mode. This way, you have full access to the terminal's behavior as long as you are in the same network configuration where the console and the terminal can be detected. With that said:
A word of advice. Be careful with unintended consequences from automatic configurations. Ensure to revert the terminal to manual configurations every time you do a change on the server that may affect its detection. This will ensure that the terminal does not get trapped in a auto-connection loop of an old configuration.
Let's consider this example: A terminal is configured to auto login to a server daily. All is successful and daily routine sets for a time, and one day, the server changes IP address, or the server is replaced. If the terminal configuration is overlooked, changes will be made and the device will still attempt to connect to the old IP address or try to find the old server out used to connect to and therefore, it will be trapped on a loop, trying to connect to a configuration that no longer exists.
Therefore, before you make changes to your server, please revert the terminal configurations to manual or modify the access configurations as listed above, in order to reflect your new changes before they set in. That way, your terminal will be ready to connect to the new environment.
REV 10/2018