Remote Monitoring of Clients with Microsoft and Citrix

Remote control of Thin Clients can be a tremendous help for troubleshooting and remote administration of a Terminal Server system. This article discusses two methods of remote control available using standard Microsoft and Citrix utilities.

Note: The phrase shadowing in Windows NT 4.0 and Citrix MetaFrame is replaced with remote control in Windows 2000. Terminal Server Administration from Windows NT 4.0 is replaced with Terminal Services Manager in Windows 2000. These terms and phrases are used interchangeably in this article.

Using Microsoft Terminal Services Manager (for ACP Enabled Clients Running Without Citrix MetaFrame)

Microsoft includes remote control software in Terminal Services that can be run from the Terminal Services Manager. This software allows an administrative session to connect to any another session. The graphics are sent to both sessions, allowing the administrator to monitor what the user is viewing, and the mouse and keyboard input of the administrator can even be fed to the user's session to allow control of the session.

While this is a good way to monitor a session from another Thin Client, it should only be used as needed and not for full-time monitoring. If you do not have administrative privileges you will be denied access. Also, when using this method, you must be on a client to shadow a client - you cannot shadow from the console. Here is how to the process works:

Launch the Terminal Services Manager/Administrator by selecting:

Start > Program Files > Administrative Tools > Terminal Services Manager/Administration

or by typing tsadmin at a command prompt. Your session will be shown with a green icon. To control another user, right-click on that user in the Detail pane. Select the Remote Control option to initiate the shadowing.

A window will appear that allows you to set what hotkeys will end the session. The default key sequence is and the asterisk on the number pad (CTRL + *). "Num Lock" must be on for this to work. Also, before you can control another user, his account properties have to be set correctly. Check the "Remote Control" tab in the User Properties window. If the user account has the "Require user's permission" parameter selected, the user will have to accept the remote control from a message box on his screen before the shadowing can begin - not good for unmanned stations. Remote control will not work at all if the user has unchecked the "Enable Remote Control" box.

Citrix MetaFrame Shadowing

Citrix MetaFrame extends the functionality of remote control by allowing an administrator to shadow a client from the server console. Select

Start > Programs > MetaFrame Tools > Shadow Taskbar

or select the "Shadow" icon on the MetaFrame toolbar. A Contact Information window will launch that asks for the password of the current console user. When this information is entered, the Shadow Taskbar will be launched. Selecting the "Shadow" button on the taskbar will launch the new session window.

Expand the Users folder in the tree to see the available users. Highlight the desired user and select the Add button to add it to the list of shadowed users. The name of the ACP Enabled Thin Client will be displayed in the Client column.

Select the desired user from the shadowed user list and select OK to initiate the shadowing. This Remote Control follows the same process as described in the Microsoft Terminal Services Manager section. As is the case above when not using MetaFrame, the user account must have its properties configured to allow shadowing.

These are the two most common forms of shadowing and remote control. Future articles will explore other methods of achieving the same result.

For more information on ACP Industrial Thin Client computers, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com

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