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Connecting to serial port devices
There are a number of ways that Users and Administrators can access serial console devices that are attached to the Opengear console server.
- In general it is recommended that when connecting to the console server or to attached serial console devices the connection is set up using SSH, particularly if connecting over the Internet or any other public network.
- The preferred method for accessing devices through the console server is to use SDTConnector (refer FAQ 265) to set up secure SSH tunnels to the serially attached devices
- FAQ 237 covers other secure SSH tools that the User or Administrator can use to access the console server and attached serial console devices
- If console server Telnet access has been enabled (on the Serial & Network: Serial Port menu) on a particular serial port then the Administrator (and any User who has been granted access rights to that port) can access the device on that serial port. The Telnet software on a connecting computer communicates through the console server to the serial device attached to that port however these communications are unencrypted so this is recommended only for local connections.
Users on the connecting computer can run Telnet directly from their Linux/ UNIX shell or from the command prompt with Win2000/XP/ NT; or by using freeware software like PUTTY. The Telnet port address is IP Address - Port (2000 + serial Port #) i.e. 2001 - 2048 for the serial ports on an IM4248.
PUTTY also supports RAW TCP. This protocol would usually be used for a custom application. It uses IP Address - Port (4000 + serial Port #) i.e. 4001 – 4048.
- The Administrator and authorized Users can also communicate directly with devices attached to the serial ports from within the Management Console. Virtual terminal access is provided by running jcterm, a java vt100 terminal client, from the browser and connecting to the serial port using SSH. To activate this feature you simply select Manage: Terminal
The virtual terminal will be displayed with the gateway’s TCP address (e.g. 192.168.254.198), the Username (e.g. root if it the Administrator) and the TCP Port address for the serial port to be accessed. By default 3001 is selected (i.e. Port 1), so to access Port 4 for example, this must be changed to 3004, and the Password for the Username entered
- Also it is possible to use the port communications commands such as pmchat to dialog directly with serially attached devices. For example there are well documented specific escape codes for controlling popular power strips such as Dataprobe CP-815:
CP-815 allows direct computer control using simple ASCII strings. To access the CP-815 for code control enter the commands as shown below. The syntax for all commands use the following:
EsC The Escape Character (Decimal 27 Hex 1B) The Security Code (Default = PASS) The Outlet Number The Enter Key (Decimal 13 Hex D)
Turn On EsCON
Turn Off EsCOFF
Cycle Outlet EsCC
Query Status EsC?
Escape Code Responses
CP-815 will confirm receipt of switching commands. The CP-815 will reportback: n Indicating the outlet (number 'n') has been changed and will be ON, OFF, CYCLE or NONE. None indicates no outlet present (e.g. outlets 5-8 of the CP-415).
The Query command returns the status of all 8 outlets:
1 ON
2 OFF
3 CYCLE
4 ON
5 NONE
6 NONE
7 NONE
8 NONE
Escape Code Examples
Send Command CP-815 Action CP-815 Response EsCPASS1ON Turn On Outlet 1
1 ON EsCPASS3C Reset Outlet 3 3 OFF CYCLE EsCPASS? Query Status 1 ON
2 ON
3 OFF
4 ON
5 ON
6 OFF
7 ON
8 ON
For complete Dataprobe manual go to www.dataprobe.com/support/manuals/pwr/cp815.pdf
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