VZ17 - Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with ACP ...€¦ · § FactoryTalk Services Platform v2.70 (CPR 9 SR 7) § FactoryTalk View Site Edition v8.00 (CPR 9 SR 7) § RSLinx

Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with ACP ThinManager and Relevance

Doug Coulter [email protected]

Important User Information

This documentation, whether, illustrative, printed, “online” or electronic (hereinafter “Documentation”) is intended for use only as a learning aid when using Rockwell Automation approved demonstration hardware, software and firmware. The Documentation should only be used as a learning tool by qualified professionals. The variety of uses for the hardware, software and firmware (hereinafter “Products”) described in this Documentation, mandates that those responsible for the application and use of those Products must satisfy themselves that all necessary steps have been taken to ensure that each application and actual use meets all performance and safety requirements, including any applicable laws, regulations, codes and standards in addition to any applicable technical documents. In no event will Rockwell Automation, Inc., or any of its affiliate or subsidiary companies (hereinafter “Rockwell Automation”) be responsible or liable for any indirect or consequential damages resulting from the use or application of the Products described in this Documentation. Rockwell Automation does not assume responsibility or liability for damages of any kind based on the alleged use of, or reliance on, this Documentation. No patent liability is assumed by Rockwell Automation with respect to use of information, circuits, equipment, or software described in the Documentation. Except as specifically agreed in writing as part of a maintenance or support contract, equipment users are responsible for:

• properly using, calibrating, operating, monitoring and maintaining all Products consistent with all Rockwell Automation or third-party provided instructions, warnings, recommendations and documentation;

• ensuring that only properly trained personnel use, operate and maintain the Products at all times; • staying informed of all Product updates and alerts and implementing all updates and fixes; and • all other factors affecting the Products that are outside of the direct control of Rockwell Automation.

Reproduction of the contents of the Documentation, in whole or in part, without written permission of Rockwell Automation is prohibited. Throughout this manual we use the following notes to make you aware of safety considerations:

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Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with ACP ThinManager

Contents

Before you begin .......................................................................................................................................... 5

About this lab .................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Tools & prerequisites ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Additional References ....................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Section 1: Preparation of Remote Desktop Server(s) ................................................................................. 9

Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Disable Network Level Authentication ............................................................................................................................................ 10

Allow Unlisted Remote Apps to Be Started .................................................................................................................................... 13

Section 2: Defining ThinManager Display Servers, Display Clients and Terminals .................................. 19

Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Create Display Servers ................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Create a Display Client ................................................................................................................................................................... 23

Create a Terminal ........................................................................................................................................................................... 26

Configure PXE Server .................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Assign the Terminal Configuration to a Thin Client ........................................................................................................................ 32

Shadow Thin Client from ThinManager .......................................................................................................................................... 34

Section 3: Configuring ThinManager AppLink and Failover for FactoryTalk View SE .............................. 35

Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 35

Add Thin Clients to FactoryTalk Directory ...................................................................................................................................... 36

Create a New ThinManager Display Client Using AppLink ............................................................................................................ 39

Apply New Display Client to Terminal ............................................................................................................................................. 42

Add Automatic Terminal Server Failover ........................................................................................................................................ 48

Section 4: Deploying Additional Content Using MultiSession, Tiling and MultiMonitor ............................. 54

Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 54

Create 4 New FactoryTalk View SE Display Clients ....................................................................................................................... 55

Apply Display Clients to Terminal and Enable Tiling ...................................................................................................................... 59

Split Content across Multiple Monitors ........................................................................................................................................... 64

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Disable MultiMonitor ....................................................................................................................................................................... 71

Section 5: Terminal Replacement in under 2 Minutes .............................................................................. 73

Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 73

Power Down ThinClientA ................................................................................................................................................................ 74

Replace Thin Client A with Thin Client B ........................................................................................................................................ 75

Section 6: Delivering User Based Content with TermSecure ................................................................... 79

Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 79

Create FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer Display Client ................................................................................................................... 80

Create a Maintenance TermSecure User Group ............................................................................................................................ 84

Create a Maintenance User ............................................................................................................................................................ 89

Create an Operator TermSecure User Group ................................................................................................................................ 93

Create an Operator User ................................................................................................................................................................ 94

Enable User Services for Terminal ................................................................................................................................................. 95

Login as Maintenance User ............................................................................................................................................................ 96

Section 7: Configuring Terminal to Terminal Shadowing in ThinManager .............................................. 100

Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 100

Create Terminal Shadow Display Client ....................................................................................................................................... 101

Create a Second Terminal Configuration ..................................................................................................................................... 104

Assign Second Terminal Configuration to Thin Client B ............................................................................................................... 107

Section 8: Introduction to Relevance and Location Based Mobility ........................................................ 108

Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 108

Create Terminal Configuration for Mobile Device ......................................................................................................................... 110

Create Resolvers from ThinManager ............................................................................................................................................ 115

Create Access Groups .................................................................................................................................................................. 117

Create Locations ........................................................................................................................................................................... 120

Assign the Location to a Terminal ................................................................................................................................................ 131

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Before you begin

At its core, ThinManager is a thin client management platform for the plant floor. Centralizing the applications required by the plant floor with Remote Desktop Services makes architectural sense, and offers a tremendous amount of savings over the life span of the system. Instead of maintaining potentially dozens of plant floor PCs, migrate the plant floor applications to a set of Remote Desktop Servers. ThinManager enhances Remote Desktop Services deployments by simplifying the configuration and management of the thin clients and mobile devices requiring plant floor content. As this lab will demonstrate, ThinManager is a solution that IT departments can embrace but does not require them to deploy or support, allowing Engineering and Maintenance to still own the critical plant floor content.

This lab is broken up into smaller segments and should be performed sequentially. It is expected that each section be completed before moving on to the next section or some labs steps may not be doable.

The Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab is a prerequisite for this lab, since ThinManager is most often deployed with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services. As such, this lab essentially picks up where the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab left off.

In the event of being prompted for logins, please use the following:

• If the Log On To Windows dialog is active, use the username ‘Labuser’ and ‘rockwell’ for the password.

• Use the same login information if prompted to log on to FactoryTalk Directory.

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About this lab In this lab, you will complete an example deployment utilizing FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Remote Desktop Services (RDS) like the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab, except the thin client and content delivered to it will be managed using ThinManager. Along the way, you will have an opportunity to work with some of the unique capabilities of ThinManager. The basic architecture being utilized is shown in the figure below:

HMI Server• FactoryTalk View SE Server• RSLinx Enterprise• FactoryTalk Alarms & Events• FactoryTalk Network Directory• FactoryTalk Activation Server• SoftLogix 5800

Remote Desktop Server A• ACP ThinManager• Remote Desktop Session Host• Remote Desktop Licensing Server• FactoryTalk Services Platform• FactoryTalk View SE Client• FactoryTalk Activation Client

Remote Desktop Server B• Remote Desktop Session Host• Remote Desktop Licensing Server• FactoryTalk Services Platform• FactoryTalk View SE Client• FactoryTalk Activation Client

Thin Client

This lab utilizes 5 different VMWare images running on the lab computer and will require you to perform tasks on 4 of them. The five images are:

• HMI Server – Windows Server 2008 R2 - hostname HMISERVER

• RDS Server – Windows Server 2008 R2 - hostname RDSSERVER

• RDS Server Failover – Windows Server 2008 R2 - hostname RDSSERVERF

• Thin Client A – Virtual Thin Client A

• Thin Client B – Virtual Thin Client B

The HMI server and an application for this lab are already built for your convenience and should not require any modifications. This is the same virtual machine utilized in the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab.

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RDSSERVER is the same virtual machine from the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab, with the exception that ThinManager has been installed.

RDSSERVERF is a clone of RDSSERVER, without ThinManager installed. It will be used to demonstrate the automatic terminal server failover capabilities of ThinManager for high availability environments.

Similar to the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab, the core Windows Server 2008 R2 installation for the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Server has already been completed for both RDSSERVER and RDSSERVERF.

This lab will be performed by utilizing 2 virtualized thin clients, Thin Client A and Thin Client B. A virtualized thin client can be generated quite easily with VMWare Workstation by just creating a new virtual machine without installing an Operating System (OS) on it, which is the essence of a true thin client – no OS to manage. These virtualized thin clients will then receive the ThinManager firmware and terminal configuration utilizing PXE (Pre-Boot Execution Environment). While a virtual thin client may not have much practical use in a production environment, it is ideal for demonstration purposes.

Since you will be working directly with multiple VMWare images, every time you need to change images to perform a portion of the lab, you will see the VMWare menu bar (seen in the image below) with the image name circled along with a brief description of the image to use. When you need to hide the menu bar, just click the pin in its bottom left corner, which will unpin and auto-hide it. To access it, simply drag your pointer to the top of the screen, and it will reappear. Do not minimize the menu bar.

This lab is broken up into 8 separate sections which must be completed in sequence. In this lab, you will specifically gain experience with the following topics:

• Section1: Preparation of Remote Desktop Server(s)

• Section 2: Defining ThinManager Display Servers, Display Clients and Terminals

• Section 3: Configuring ThinManager AppLink and Failover for FactoryTalk View SE

• Section 4: Deploying Additional Content Using MultiSession, Tiling and MultiMonitor

• Section 5: Terminal Replacement in Under 2 Minutes

• Section 6: Delivering User Based Content with TermSecure

• Section 7: Configuring Terminal to Terminal Shadowing in ThinManager

• Section 8: Introduction to Relevance and Location Based Mobility

This lab takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete.

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Tools & prerequisites This hands on lab utilizes virtualized thin clients; although, physical thin clients could certainly be used instead. Similarly, a ControlLogix processor may be used in place of the SoftLogix 5800, which is used to drive the InstantFizz FactoryTalk View SE demo.

Software

§ FactoryTalk Services Platform v2.70 (CPR 9 SR 7)

§ FactoryTalk View Site Edition v8.00 (CPR 9 SR 7)

§ RSLinx Enterprise v5.70 (CPR 9 SR 7)

§ FactoryTalk Alarms and Events v2.70 (CPR 9 SR 7)

§ FactoryTalk Diagnostics v2.70 (CPR 9 SR 7)

§ FactoryTalk Activation Manager v3.62.01 (CPR 9 SR 6)

§ RSLinx Classic v3.70 (CPR 9 SR 5)

§ RSLogix5000 v20.01 (CPR 9 SR 5)

§ SoftLogix v20.01 (CPR 9 SR 5)

§ Internet Explorer 11

§ Adobe Reader XI

§ ACP ThinManager v7.00 SP6

Operating Systems

• Windows Server 2008 R2

Additional References For additional information on FactoryTalk View Site Edition and Remote Desktop Services, you can review the following Rockwell Automation Knowledge Base article:

AID 554813 - Using FactoryTalk View SE with Remote Desktop Services - References TOC.

For additional information on Remote Desktop Services and its various components, you can review the following:

Microsoft TechNet Windows Server site for Remote Desktop Services

Remote Desktop Services Component Architecture Poster

For guidance on how to evaluate and size a Remote Desktop Services solution, you can review the following Microsoft whitepaper:

Capacity Planning for RD Session Host and Microsoft RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1

For ACP’s ThinManager and FactoryTalk View SE Deployment Guide:

http://www.thinmanager.com/rockwell/images/guides/FTViewSE_70_DeploymentGuide.pdf

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Section 1: Preparation of Remote Desktop Server(s)

To begin this section, please make sure to select the VMWare machine labeled RDS Server from the menu bar at the top of your screen.

Overview As previously mentioned, this lab picks up where the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab left off. So both RDSSERVER and RDSSERVERF already have the necessary Remote Desktop Services role services installed. In this section, you will ensure RSSSERVER and RDSSERVERF are properly setup for use with ThinManager. To do this, you will be performing the following tasks:

• Disable Network Level Authentication

• Allow Unlisted Remote Apps to Be Started

This lab will use the terminology Remote Desktop Server and Terminal Server interchangeably. Prior to Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft used the Terminal Server terminology, but has referred to Remote Desktop Server since then.

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Disable Network Level Authentication Network Level Authentication (NLA) must be disabled for ThinManager thin clients.

1. Launch the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration snap-in by clicking StartàAdministrative ToolsàRemote Desktop ServicesàRemote Desktop Session Host Configuration or by navigating through the control panel by clicking StartàControl PanelàAdministrative ToolsàRemote Desktop ServicesàRemote Desktop Session Host Configuration.

This snap-in is also accessible through the Server Manager utility by browsing the Role tree and selecting the specific Role Service.

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2. To edit the advanced properties for this connection, right click on the RDP-Tcp connection in the Connections list and select Properties.

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3. On the General tab, ensure that the Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication checkbox is unchecked.

4. Click the OK button.

5. Close the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration window.

6. This setting has already been modified on the RDS Server Failover virtual machine for you.

Network Level Authentication (NLA) requires the connecting user to authenticate prior to establishing a session with the server and using server resources. In an environment where using non-Windows clients, legacy Windows operating systems or using non-Microsoft credential providers, NLA is not always supported so you should select the less secure option of not requiring NLA. ThinManager’s RDP client does not support NLA, so it needs to be disabled.

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Allow Unlisted Remote Apps to Be Started ThinManager AppLink is a simple and powerful way to deliver an application to a ThinManager terminal without a desktop. AppLink will be covered in a subsequent section, but in order to prepare for its use the Remote Desktop Services RemoteApp settings will be modified to simplify the configuration required in the lab.

1. Switch to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.

2. If the RemoteApp Manager snap-in is not already open, launch it by clicking StartàAdministrative ToolsàRemote

Desktop ServicesàRemoteApp Manager or by navigating through the control panel by clicking StartàControl PanelàAdministrative ToolsàRemote Desktop ServicesàRemoteApp Manager.


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3. Click the Change link adjacent to the RD Session Host Server Settings section.

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4. From the RD Session Host Server tab, ensure the Allow users to start both listed and unlisted programs on initial connection is selected and click the OK button.

5. Close the RemoteApp Manager window.

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6. To apply the same setting to RDSSERVERF, switch to the RDS Server Failover virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server Failover tab at the top of your screen.

7. If the RemoteApp Manager snap-in is not already open, launch it by clicking StartàAdministrative ToolsàRemote

Desktop ServicesàRemoteApp Manager or by navigating through the control panel by clicking StartàControl PanelàAdministrative ToolsàRemote Desktop ServicesàRemoteApp Manager.


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8. Click the Change link adjacent to the RD Session Host Server Settings section.

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9. From the RD Session Host Server tab, ensure the Allow users to start both listed and unlisted programs on initial connection is selected and click the OK button.

10. Close the RemoteApp Manager window.

The Microsoft recommended setting is Do not allow users to start unlisted programs on initial connection. To utilize this setting along with ThinManager AppLink, each application that you intend to deliver with AppLink to a thin client must be added to the RemoteApp Programs list. This is done utilizing the RemoteApp Wizard which is available by clicking the Add RemoteApp Programs link in the Actions pane of the RemoteApp Manager. The recommended setting is changed in this lab in an effort to reduce the number of configuration steps required.

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Section 2: Defining ThinManager Display Servers, Display Clients and Terminals


Overview In this section, you will create the 3 primary building blocks of ThinManager:

• Display Servers

• Display Clients

• Terminals

In ThinManager, Display Servers are the sources of the content that you want to deliver to your thin clients. A Display Server is typically a Terminal Server, but can also be an IP Camera.

Display Clients, not to be confused with the FactoryTalk View SE executable DisplayClient.exe, represent the actual content you will be delivering to your end devices, referred to as Terminals in ThinManager.

Terminals are the thin clients, mobile devices and/or PCs that you will be managing with ThinManager. You apply the Display Clients created to the terminals to deliver the desired content to your end device.

As previously stated, ThinManager has been installed on the RDS Server virtual machine.

In this section, you will register RDS Server and RDS Server Failover as Display Servers within ThinManager. With these Display Servers created, you will create a Display Client to deliver a desktop. You will then create a Terminal to which you will assign the newly created Display Client. Lastly, you will start Thin Client A and assign the new terminal configuration to it in order to see the results. To do this, you will be performing the following tasks:

• Create Display Servers

• Create a Display Client

• Create a Terminal

• Configure PXE Server

• Assign the Terminal Configuration to a Thin Client

• Shadow Thin Client from ThinManager

ThinManager is composed of 2 components – the ThinServer service and the ThinManager user interface.

The ThinServer service is a Windows based service that is the engine of ThinManager. It delivers the terminal’s firmware and configuration, and therefore needs to be available in order for a terminal to boot. The ThinServer is also the licensed component of ThinManager.

The ThinManager user interface, on the other hand, is not licensed, and is the interface from which you manage the entire ThinManager environment. It can be installed and run as many times as needed.

While these 2 components do not have to be co-located or installed on a Terminal Server, they often are due to the benefits of the Terminal Services architecture.

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Create Display Servers Register both RDS Server and RDS Server Failover as Display Servers in ThinManager.

1. Launch the ThinManager user interface from the desktop of RDS Server.

2. Click the Display Servers icon in the ThinManager tree selector.

The tree selector can be expanded or collapsed using the bar above directly above it.

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3. From the Display Servers tree, right click the Terminal Servers branch and select Add Terminal Server. This will launch the Terminal Server Wizard.

4. From the Introduction page of the Terminal Server Wizard, click the Next button.

5. From the Terminal Server Name page of the wizard, type RDSSERVER in the Terminal Server Name text box.

6. Click the Discover button. If the name is successfully resolved, the IP address of RDSSERVER should be filled in automatically.

7. Type Labuser in the User Name text box.

8. Type rockwell in the Password and Verify Password text boxes. Please be sure to match the case of the password entries.

9. Click the Finish button.

The IP address field will be blurred out throughout the lab to avoid confusion since your IP address will be different.

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10. RDSSERVER should now be added to the Terminal Servers group. You may have to click the Display Servers branch to refresh the Terminal Servers group.

11. Repeat steps 3 through 10, but this time register RDSSERVERF. The same credentials can be used.

12. Click the Terminal Servers branch and note the status of RDSSERVER and RDSSERVERF on the right hand side. It should indicate a Value of OK for each. This indicates that the IP address and credentials provided for the Terminal Servers are in fact valid.

The credentials entered when configuring a Terminal Server must have Administrative rights on the Terminal Server. This is required for SmartSession and to populate the User, Sessions and Process tabs of the details pane, which are available when you click on the Terminal Server of interest. SmartSession is ThinManager’s load balancing solution. With SmartSession, Terminal Server sessions will be started on the least loaded Terminal Server based on CPU Utilization, RAM Utilization and Number of Sessions. Once a session is started on a Terminal Server, the session will not be moved dynamically.

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Create a Display Client

1. Click the Display Clients icon from the ThinManager tree selector.

2. From the Display Clients tree, right click the Terminal Services branch and select Add Display Client. This will

launch the Display Client Wizard.

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3. Type Desktop as the Client Name on the Client Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

4. Click the Next button on the Display Client Options page of the wizard.

5. Click the Next button on the Relevance Options page of the wizard.

6. Click the Next button on the Terminal Services Display Client Type page of the wizard.

7. Click the Next button on the Terminal Services and Workstation Options page of the wizard.

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8. Select RDSSERVER from the Available Terminal Servers list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Terminal Servers list. This is the Terminal Server on which this Display Client will run. Click the Finish button.

9. You should see the Desktop Display Client under the Terminal Services branch. You may have to click the Display

Clients node for the branch to refresh.

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Create a Terminal

1. Click the Terminals icon from the ThinManager tree selector.

2. From the Terminals tree, right click the Terminals node and select Add Terminal. This will launch the Terminal

Configuration Wizard.

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3. Type ThinClientA as the Terminal Name on the Terminal Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

4. Select Generic from the Make/OEM drop down list and PXE from the Model drop down list. Click the Next button.

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5. Click the Next button on the Terminal Options page of the wizard.

6. Click the Next button on the Terminal Mode Selection page of the wizard.

7. Select Desktop from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Display Clients list. This is the Display Client that will be delivered to this Terminal.


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9. You should see the ThinClientA terminal under the Terminals node.

You can also create Terminal Groups in ThinManager. Terminal Groups provide 2 key capabilities: (1) terminal organization and (2) property inheritance. With terminal organization, you can create Terminal Groups much like folders in Windows Explorer, and then add Terminals to the Terminal Group. The other key benefit of Terminal Groups is that you can assign Terminal properties at the Terminal Group level and choose to make these settings a Group Setting. By doing so, each Terminal member of the Terminal Group would receive that setting as defined in the Terminal Group. In both cases, nested Terminal Groups are support as well.

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Configure PXE Server ThinManager supports 2 types of thin clients:

• ThinManager Ready

• ThinManager Compatible

ThinManager Ready thin clients have ACP’s BIOS extension image embedded in the thin client. When these thin clients are powered on, they know how to look for a ThinManager Server. Once found, the ThinServer service delivers the terminal’s firmware and configuration.

ThinManager Compatible terminals do not have ACP’s BIOS extension image. In order to deliver the ThinManager firmware and terminal configuration to these devices, PXE is utilized. The Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) is a standard whereby an operating system can be delivered and booted over the network.

Functionally, there is no difference between a ThinManager Ready thin client and a ThinManager compatible thin client.

Since this lab is utilizing Virtual Thin Clients, we will need to boot them via PXE. Therefore the ThinManager PXE Server must be configured.

1. Select the Manage ribbon and click the PXE Server icon. This will launch the PXE Server Wizard.

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2. Click the Enable PXE Server checkbox. Click the Next button.

3. Accept the Using standard DHCP server radio button default selection in the PXE Server Mode frame. Click the

Finish button.

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Assign the Terminal Configuration to a Thin Client 1. Switch to the Thin Client A virtual machine by clicking the Thin Client A tab at the top of your screen.

2. Click the Green play button to start the virtual machine.

Upon starting, the Virtual Thin Client will recognize that it has no operating system installed and will therefore attempt to contact a PXE Server. The ThinManager PXE Server will respond to the PXE request and deliver the ThinManager firmware via TFTP.

Since VMWare Tools cannot be installed within the virtual thin clients, the mouse pointer will get locked within each virtual machine when one of the virtual thin clients is active. To return the mouse pointer to the host, hit the CTRL+ALT key sequence.

3. Once the firmware has been delivered and since this is the first time the thin client has been booted, the Choose the Terminal to Replace window will appear. Hit the Down arrow on the keyboard to highlight the ThinClientA terminal configuration that we created in the earlier lab section, followed by the Enter key.

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4. Once the thin client receives the ThinClientA terminal configuration, you should be presented with a Windows login screen for the new session running on RDSSERVER. Enter operator1 as the username, and operator1 as the password. You should now be presented with a Windows desktop on RDSSERVER.

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Shadow Thin Client from ThinManager 1. Switch to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.


3. Expand the Terminals node in the Terminals tree and select the ThinClientA terminal.

4. Select the Shadow tab from the Details Pane. You should see a shadow of the terminal from within ThinManager. Notice that the shadow is fully interactive. Also notice that the ThinClientA terminal icon is green indicating that it is powered up and ThinManager has connectivity to it.

Each ThinManager terminal has a shadowing setting that determines if the terminal can be shadowed or not. This setting is available by double clicking the terminal to open the Terminal Configuration Wizard and navigating to the Terminal Options page of the wizard. The available shadowing options are Yes, No, Ask, Warn, and a checkbox for enabling Interactive Shadow or not. If you choose to experiment with these settings, remember that a terminal must be restarted for configuration changes to be applied to it. To perform a terminal restart, right click the terminal and select Restart Terminal.

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Section 3: Configuring ThinManager AppLink and Failover for FactoryTalk View SE


Overview In the last lab section, you successfully delivered a Windows Desktop to ThinClientA using ThinManager. Typically, we go through great lengths to actually prevent access to the Windows Desktop from the plant floor. This section will use ThinManager AppLink to deliver the FactoryTalk View SE InstantFizz demo to the thin client without a desktop. In addition, this lab will demonstrate how easy it is to configure automatic terminal server failover for your ThinManager terminals. To do this, you will be performing the following tasks:

• Add Thin Clients to FactoryTalk Directory

• Create a New ThinManager Display Client with AppLink

• Apply New Display Client to Terminal

• Add Automatic Terminal Server Failover

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Add Thin Clients to FactoryTalk Directory 1. Ensure you are on the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.

2. By default every Computer connecting to the FactoryTalk Directory must be added as a Computer Account –

ThinManager terminals are no different. Therefore, start the FactoryTalk Administration Console by clicking StartàAll ProgramsàRockwell SoftwareàFactoryTalk Administration Console.

3. On the Select FactoryTalk Directory dialog, make sure Network is selected and click the OK button.

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4. In the Explorer view, browse to Network (HMISERVER) àSystemàComputers and GroupsàComputers, right click Computers and select New Computer… from the menu.

5. In the Computer textbox, enter ThinClientA and click the OK button.

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6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 but this time add ThinClientB. When finished, you should have THINCLIENTA and THINCLIENTB added to the Computers folder.

7. Close the FactoryTalk Administration Console and return to ThinManager.

In addition to adding the terminal name as a Computer Account to the FactoryTalk Directory, you will typically have to add the Windows user account that is assigned to the terminal to the FactoryTalk Directory as well. This step was handled for you in the Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services lab by adding a Windows linked group to the Remote Desktop Users group, of which the operator1 user was a member.

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Create a New ThinManager Display Client Using AppLink


2. From the Display Clients tree, right click the Terminal Services branch and select Add Display Client. This will launch the Display Client Wizard.

3. Type HMIClient as the Client Name on the Client Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.




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7. Check the Application Link checkbox on the Terminal Services and Workstation Options page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

8. Select RDSSERVER from the Available Terminal Servers list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the

Selected Terminal Servers list. This is the Terminal Server on which this Display Client will run. Click the Next button.

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9. For the Program Path and Filename enter the following path, noting the double quotes and the space between the paths (you can browse to the first part of the path to save time): "c:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSView Enterprise\DisplayClient.exe" "c:\Lab Files\InstantFizz.cli"


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Apply New Display Client to Terminal


2. From the Terminals tree, double click the ThinClientA terminal to launch the Terminal Configuration Wizard.

3. Click the Next button on the Terminal Name page of the wizard.

4. Click the Next button on the Terminal Hardware page of the wizard.



7. Select HMIClient from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Display Clients list.

8. Select Desktop from the Selected Display Clients list and click the Left Arrow button to move it to the Available Display Clients list. Click the Next button.

9. Click the Next button on the Terminal Interface Options page of the wizard.

10. Click the Next button on the Hotkey Configuration page of the wizard.

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11. On the Log In Information page of the wizard, enter operator1 as the Username and operator1 as the Password and Verify Password. Enter RDSSERVER as the Domain. The terminal will use these credentials to login to the terminal server(s) for those Display Clients applied to it that have the Allow Auto Login property enabled.

12. Click the Verify button to verify the credentials entered.

13. The Result field should indicated valid. Click the OK button, followed by the Next button.

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14. From the Video Resolution screen of the wizard, select 1280x1024 as the Screen Resolution, 64K Colors as the Color Depth and 60Hz as the Refresh Rate. Click the Next button.

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15. Click the Next button on the Module Selection page of the Terminal Configuration Wizard.

16. Click the Next button on the ThinManager Server Monitor List page of the Terminal Configuration Wizard.

17. From the Monitoring Configuration page of the wizard, select the Custom radio button within the Monitor Interval. Keep the defaults for Monitor Interval, Monitor Timeout and Monitor Retry. Enter a value of 1 for the Primary Up Delay Multiplier. This will speed up the terminal server fail back time in a later section. Click the Finish button.

18. Right click the ThinClientA terminal from the Terminals tree and select Restart Terminal to apply the changes. Click

Yes to restart the terminal.

If you need to apply a change to a terminal’s configuration, simply right click the terminal of interest from the Terminals tree and select Restart Terminal. Restarting a terminal simply reapplies the terminal’s configuration – unless ThinManager automatically detects a configuration change that requires a terminal reboot, in which case a reboot is performed. Reboot Terminal, available from the Tools ribbon bar, is equivalent to cycling power to the terminal, and therefore resends the firmware as well as the configuration. It is important to note that in both of these cases the sessions running on the Terminal Servers are not restarted by default. You need to perform a Reset Session in this case. To reset a session, return to the Display Servers tree segment, and select the Terminal Server on which the session of interest is running. Select the Sessions tab from the Details Pane. A list of all of the sessions running on the selected Terminal Server will be displayed. Right click the session desired and select Reset Session.

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19. With the ThinClientA terminal still selected, click on the Shadow tab in the Details Pane of ThinManager.

20. This can also be confirmed by selecting the Thin Client A virtual machine tab at the top of your screen.

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21. If you click the MORE… navigation button within the FactoryTalk View SE application, followed by the SHUTDOWN button and finally the YES/EXIT button, the FactoryTalk View SE application will close, leaving an empty blue screen without a desktop. Within approximately 40 seconds, the FactoryTalk View SE application will automatically re-launch.

Once the application closes, you will see the desktop background with no Start menu bar for about 40 seconds before you are automatically logged out. When using AppLink, the user does not have access to any other programs or the desktop when connecting and once that application terminates, the user is automatically logged off. The logoff delay is due to the FactoryTalk View Site Edition client continuing to shut down in the background after the display is closed.

If you hit the CTRL+ALT+DEL keyboard sequence while the empty blue screen is active, you will be presented with the Task Manager, from which Windows Explorer could certainly be launched. With ThinManager, this is easily rectified by adding the Key Block Module to your terminal(s), which is a simple way to block common keyboard sequences like CTRL+ALT+DEL, CTRL+ESC, etc.

A module is a small driver that can be applied to a thin client to provide additional capabilities. For example, ThinManager includes 15 unique Touch Screen Modules, a Redundant Ethernet Module for thin clients with dual Ethernet ports (provides automatic failover of network interfaces connected to the thin client) as well as a MultiSession Screen Saver Module (each Display Client applied to a thin client is automatically cycled on a configurable time basis as a screen saver) – just to name a few. Modules are added to a terminal using the Terminal Configuration Wizard.

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Add Automatic Terminal Server Failover 1. From the Terminals tree, expand the ThinClientA terminal. Double click the HMIClient Display Client under the

ThinClientA terminal to launch the Display Client Wizard.

2. Click the Next button on the Client Name page of the wizard.




6. Check the Enforce Primary checkbox on the Terminal Services and Workstation Options page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

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7. Select RDSSERVERF from the Available Terminal Servers list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Terminal Servers list.

By adding more than 1 Terminal Server to the Selected Terminal Servers list, you have added automatic terminal server failover for this Display Client. The order of the servers listed determines the order of failover. In this case, RDSSERVER would be the primary and RDSSERVERF would be the secondary. There is no limit to how many Terminal Servers you can add, the terminal will just keep failing to the next one in the list.


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9. Right click the ThinClientA terminal and select Restart Terminal to apply the changes. Click Yes on the confirmation dialog box. If you expand the ThinClientA terminal, and then expand the HMIClient Display Client, you will now see both RDSSERVER and RDSSERVERF are listed. The green lightning bolt next to RDSSERVER indicates that the session being delivered to the terminal is running on RDSSERVER. Notice that RDSSERVERF has a red lightning bolt next to it.

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10. To force a failover to occur, we can manually disable the RDSSERVER Terminal Server from ThinManager. This will disconnect all terminal server sessions to RDSSERVER. From the Terminals tree, expand the ThinClientA terminal, and then expand the HMIClient Display Client. Select the RDSSERVER Terminal Server under the HMIClient Display Client. With RDSSERVER selected, click the Tools ribbon, followed by the Disable icon. If you quickly shadow ThinClientA you will see the new FactoryTalk View SE session launching on RDSSERVERF. To shadow, simply select ThinClientA from the Terminals tree and then click the Shadow tab from the Details Pane.

11. With the RDSSERVER Terminal Server disabled, its icon has changed from a green lightning bolt to a red lightning bolt

with an X, while the RDSSERVERF Terminal Server has changed from a red lightning bolt to green.

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12. Select ThinClientA in the Terminals tree, followed by clicking the Shadow tab from the Details Pane. You will see that the FactoryTalk View SE InstantFizz demo is still running, but the session is being delivered from RDSSERVERF now.

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13. To re-enable RDSSERVER, select RDSSERVER from the Terminals tree and then click the Enable button in the Tools ribbon. Notice that the green lightning bolt returns to RDSSERVER, while RDSSERVERF returns to red. The active session on the terminal has returned to the primary, RDSSERVER. This is because we checked the Enforce Primary option of the Display Client Wizard in a previous step.

There are actually 2 types of automatic terminal server failover supported by ThinManager. The one demonstrated above is called Standard Failover. With Standard Failover, the failover session is started on-demand. The other type is called Instant Failover, which differs by keeping sessions running on each Terminal Server – the active one, and a hot standby one. Each Instant Failover session running would require a FactoryTalk View SE Client license. Instant Failover is a great option for deployments that cannot be without visualization for any length of time. Otherwise, Standard Failover is perfectly suitable. To enable Instant Failover in our example above, we would have additionally checked the Instant Failover checkbox in Step 6 above.

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Section 4: Deploying Additional Content Using MultiSession, Tiling and MultiMonitor


Overview At this point, we have only delivered a single ThinManager Display Client to ThinClientA. First, the Desktop Display Client, then the HMIClient Display Client. This lab will focus on applying multiple Display Clients as well as the options to visualize and switch between them from a thin client. When more than one Display Client is applied to a terminal, it is referred to as MultiSession. The Display Clients applied to a terminal can be run from the same Terminal Server, or from multiple Terminal Servers – even on different networks. This makes it possible to deliver a very diverse set of content to a single thin client. The Display Clients can be visualized as tiles on a display so that multiple Display Clients can be monitored at the same time and/or spread out across multiple monitors – or a combination. This lab section is composed of the following tasks:

• Create 4 New FactoryTalk View SE Display Clients

• Apply Display Clients to Terminal and Enable Tiling

• Split Content across Multiple Monitors

• Disable MultiMonitor

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Create 4 New FactoryTalk View SE Display Clients



3. Type Blending as the Client Name on the Client Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.




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9. For the Program Path and Filename enter the following path, noting the double quotes and the space between the paths (you can browse to the first part of the path to save time): "c:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSView Enterprise\DisplayClient.exe" "c:\Lab Files\Blending.cli"


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11. Repeat Steps 1 through 10 to create the following additional Display Clients (the associated Program Path and Filename for each is provided):

a. Filling "c:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSView Enterprise\DisplayClient.exe" "c:\Lab Files\Filling.cli"

b. Labeling "c:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSView Enterprise\DisplayClient.exe" "c:\Lab Files\Labeling.cli"

c. Packaging "c:\Program Files (x86)\Rockwell Software\RSView Enterprise\DisplayClient.exe" "c:\Lab Files\Packaging.cli"

Each will have an identically named CLI file in the c:\Lab Files folder. So the Packaging Display Client will utilize the Packaging.cli file, etc. When finished, you should have the following Display Client tree.

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Apply Display Clients to Terminal and Enable Tiling







7. Select Blending from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Display Clients list.

8. Repeat Step 7 for the Filling, Labeling and Packaging Display Clients.

9. Select HMIClient from the Selected Display Clients list and click the Left Arrow button to move it to the Available Display Clients list. The Display Client Selection page of the wizard should now appear as pictured below. Click the Next button.

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10. On the Terminal Interface Options page of the wizard, make sure Show Selector on Terminal is checked, and click on the Selector Options button. Uncheck Auto-hide Selector and click the OK button.

11. Still on the Terminal Interface Options page of the wizard, check the Enable Tiling checkbox, and click the Tiling

Options button. Make sure Show Grid is checked, and also check Tile Display Clients at startup and Tile on right click (mouse or touchscreen). Click the OK button.

12. Check the Screen Edge Display Client Selection checkbox as well. Click the Next button.

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13. From the Hotkey Configuration page of the wizard, make sure Enable Display Client Hotkeys is checked and check Enable Tiling Hotkey. Click the Finish button.

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14. Right click the ThinClientA terminal from the Terminals tree and select Restart Terminal to apply the changes. Click Yes to the confirmation dialog.

15. Select the Thin Client A virtual machine tab at the top of your screen.

16. Thin Client A should show the 4 Display Clients in a 2x2 grid referred to as Tile Mode. Because we are logging into

the Terminal Server with multiple sessions as the same user simultaneously, the Remote Desktop Server will indicate it is busy on 3 of the 4 tiles. Each session will attempt to automatically reconnect after a few seconds. To avoid waiting, simply click the tile to make it active and click the OK button. To return to Tile Mode to address the other tiles, simply right click.

You can work around this busy message by applying different Windows credentials to each Display Client applied to a Terminal. This can be accomplished from the Display Client Selection page of the Terminal Configuration Wizard by selecting each Display Client and clicking the Override button. The Override button provides the ability to specify unique credentials on Display Clients applied to a Terminal (as well as Override the AppLink Command Line for the Display Client and the Video Settings).

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17. In addition to using Tile Mode to switch between the Display Clients, the Screen Selector at the top the thin client can be used. To use the Screen Selector, click and hold the selector to expand the menu. While still holding the mouse button, point to the desired Display Client and release the mouse button to select it. You can also return to Tile Mode from the Screen Selector.

18. By default, the hotkeys CTRL-PAGE UP and CTRL-PAGE DOWN will also cycle through the Display Clients. We also

enabled the Screen Edge Selector which allows you to move the pointer to the edge of the screen and shift the next Display Client into view. Experiment with each of these. Similarly, the hotkey CTRL-t will return to Tile Mode.

You can deploy up to 25 (a 5x5 Grid) Display Clients using Tiling Mode to a single monitor. If you are not using Tiling Mode, there is no limit to the number of Display Clients that can be applied to a single monitor.

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Split Content across Multiple Monitors 1. Instead of applying all 4 Display Clients to a single monitor, let’s split the content across 2 monitors using

ThinManager’s MultiMonitor. Return to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.






7. From the Terminal Mode Selection page of the wizard, make sure Use Display Clients is checked and check Enable MultiMonitor. Click the Next button.

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8. From the MultiMonitor Video Settings page of the wizard, make sure the following is selected: 2 Monitors radio button, 64K Colors Color Depth, 1280x1024 Resolution for each monitor, 60Hz Refresh Rate for each monitor, Video Port 1 for Monitor 1, and Video Port 2 for Monitor 2. Click the Next button.

The Use Session Size Limits for drop down list allows you to specify either Server 2012 or Server 2008 R2 session size limits. Prior to Windows Server 2012, the maximum screen resolution for an RDP session was 4096 x 2048. Windows Server 2012 has increased this maximum to 8192 x 8192.

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9. From the Monitor Layout wizard, accept the defaults. This is where you tell ThinManager how your monitors are physically oriented via the Monitor Layout section, as well as how to treat each individual monitor via the Screen Layout section. Click the Next button.

Screens are treated individually by default, which is referred to as Screening. Or the screens can be combined logically, which is referred to as Spanning.

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10. Select Blending from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button for Screen A to move it to the Selected Display Clients list. Repeat this step to move the Filling Display Client to Screen A as well.

11. Select Labeling from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button for Screen B to move it to the Selected Display Clients list. Repeat this step to move the Packaging Display Client to Screen B as well. Click the Next button.

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12. On the Screen Options page of the wizard, click the Screen Options button for Screen A. Make sure Show Selector on Terminal is checked, and click on the Selector Options button. Uncheck Auto-hide Selector and click the OK button.

13. Still on the Screen Options popup, check the Enable Tiling checkbox, and click the Tiling Options button. Make sure Show Grid is checked, and also check Tile Display Clients at startup and Tile on right click (mouse or touchscreen). Click the OK button, and also check the Allow Display Clients to move to/from screen checkbox. Click the OK button to close the popup.

14. Repeat the previous 2 steps for the Screen B options.


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16. Right click the ThinClientA terminal from the Terminals tree and select Restart Terminal to apply the changes. Click Yes to the confirmation dialog.

17. Since the virtual thin client will only attempt to display Screen A, it is best to see the result with the setup of this lab by shadowing ThinClientA from ThinManager. To do so, simply select the ThinClientA terminal and then click the Shadow tab in the Details Pane. You will most likely receive a warning that Remote Desktop Services is busy. As in the previous task, this is because we are attempting to initiate multiple sessions on the Remote Desktop Server as the same user simultaneously. Simply click the OK button on each warning or wait for it to automatically retry.

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18. Experiment with the Screen Selector of each monitor while Shadowing. You can move Display Clients from one monitor to the other and back again. This behavior is fully configurable.

19. You can also shadow an individual monitor, as opposed to both at the same time. Expand the ThinClientA terminal and select Screen A. Now click the Shadow tab in the Details Pane to shadow just Screen A.

MultiMonitor combined with Tiling are extremely powerful tools that really elevate the user experience at the thin client. They are especially valuable in Control Room settings, or anywhere centralized monitoring is desired. Some thin clients can support up to 5 monitors. ThinManager also includes a Shared Keyboard and Mouse Module that can be applied to a thin client. The Shared Keyboard and Mouse Module allows you to control several thin clients using a single keyboard and mouse. As an example, you could have three 5 monitor thin clients in your Control Room driving a total of 15 displays all being controlled by a single keyboard and mouse.

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Disable MultiMonitor






6. From the Terminal Mode Selection page of the wizard, make sure Use Display Clients is checked and uncheck Enable MultiMonitor. Click the Next button.

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7. Select Blending from the Selected Display Clients list and click the Left Arrow button to move it to the Available Display Clients list. Repeat this step to move the Filling, Labeling and Packaging Display Clients from the Selected Display Clients to the Available Display Clients.

8. Select HMIClient from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Display Clients list. Click the Finish button.

9. Right click the ThinClientA from the Terminals tree and select Restart Terminal to apply the changes. Click Yes to

the confirmation dialog.

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Section 5: Terminal Replacement in under 2 Minutes


Overview A ThinManager thin client can be replaced in under 2 minutes. When a thin client does fail, replacement starts by disconnecting the failed thin client and connecting the new thin client in its place. The replacement thin client does not even need to be the same make or model. When the new thin client is powered up for the 1st time, ThinManager will recognize that it has not been associated with a ThinManager terminal configuration and prompt you to assign one to it. One of the available terminal configurations will be the configuration for the failed terminal. Once that terminal configuration is selected, ThinManager will create a connection between the terminal and terminal configuration based on the MAC address of the terminal, and will therefore not prompt for this assignment on subsequent reboots of the terminal. Once assigned, the new terminal will essentially assume the identity of the failed terminal and even reconnect to the failed terminal’s terminal server sessions, which typically are configured to run uninterrupted on the terminal server during this process.

This lab section is composed of the following tasks:

• Power Down ThinClientA

• Replace Thin Client A with Thin Client B

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Power Down ThinClientA 1. Return to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.


3. Under the Terminals node, select the ThinClientA terminal.

4. Select the Tools ribbon, and then click the Power Off icon. This will remotely power down the virtual thin client. To confirm, the ThinClientA terminal icon in the Terminals tree should be Red before continuing.

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Replace Thin Client A with Thin Client B 1. Switch to the Thin Client B virtual machine by clicking the Thin Client B tab at the top of your screen. Click the

Green play button to start it. Thin Client B will boot and receive its firmware from ThinManager. However, because ThinManager does not have an existing terminal configuration that matches the MAC address of Thin Client B, you will be prompted to either Create new Terminal or select an existing terminal configuration that is currently not active, ThinClientA.

2. Select ThinClientA from the list using the Down Arrow of your keyboard and hit Enter. By doing so, you will reassign

the ThinClientA terminal configuration to Thin Client B.

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3. You have now successfully replaced Thin Client A with Thin Client B. Notice when Thin Client B received the ThinClientA terminal configuration it was automatically reconnected to the terminal server sessions that Thin Client A had been running – literally, a bumpless transfer.

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4. Return to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.

5. To reassign the ThinClientA configuration back to the Thin Client A virtual thin client, click the Terminals icon from the ThinManager tree selector.

6. Under the Terminals node, select the ThinClientA terminal.

7. Select the Tools ribbon, and then click the Power Off icon. This will remotely power down the Thin Client B virtual thin client. To confirm, the ThinClientA terminal icon in the Terminals tree should be Red before continuing.

.

8. Switch to the Thin Client A virtual machine by clicking the Thin Client A tab at the top of your screen.

9. Click the Green play button to start the virtual machine.

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10. Select ThinClientA from the list using the Down Arrow of your keyboard and hit Enter. By doing so, you will reassign the ThinClientA terminal configuration back to Thin Client A.

If you were to select Create new Terminal in Step 2, the Terminal Replacement Wizard would automatically launch within the ThinManager user interface. This wizard will then launch you into the Terminal Configuration Wizard to create a new terminal configuration.

You can control whether a terminal’s configuration is available to other terminals when the owning terminal is offline. This setting can be found in the Terminal Options page of the Terminal Configuration Wizard. It is called Allow replacement at terminal if off line.

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Section 6: Delivering User Based Content with TermSecure


Overview Up to this point in the lab, you have assigned content to the thin client. In other words, the content is owned by the thin client and is the same regardless of who is actually at the thin client. You can control a user’s access within each application at the thin client by requiring them to login within the application and then customizing their experience there – but this is completely separate from ThinManager. This lab section will demonstrate how you can customize the actual content that a user receives at a terminal in addition to the default applications that are configured for the terminal. For instance, you may want to deliver additional content to a Maintenance user that logs into the thin client using ThinManager TermSecure, such as the Maintenance Work Order System, or possibly Logix 5000.


• Create a FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer Display Client

• Create a Maintenance TermSecure User Group

• Create a Maintenance User

• Enable User Services for Terminal

• Login as Maintenance User

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Create FactoryTalk Diagnostics Viewer Display Client 1. Return to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.



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4. Type DiagnosticsViewer as the Client Name on the Client Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.




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10. For the Program Path and Filename browse to the following path and surround it with double quotes: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Rockwell\FTDiagViewer.exe"


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Create a Maintenance TermSecure User Group

1. Click the Users icon in the ThinManager tree selector.

2. From the Relevance Users tree, right click the Relevance Users node and select Add User Group. This will launch

the TermSecure User Configuration Wizard.

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3. From the TermSecure User Group Information page of the wizard, enter Maintenance as the User Name in the Group Name frame. Click the Next button.

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4. From the Display Client Selection page of the wizard, click the Group Setting checkbox. Select Yes from the Add User-specific Display Clients radio button group. Click the Next button.

Clicking the Group Setting checkbox will pass the setting onto members of the group.

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5. Select DiagnosticsViewer from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Display Clients list. Click the Group Setting checkbox and then click the Next button.

6. From the Windows Log In Information page of the wizard, click the Next button.

7. From the Terminal Interface Options page of the wizard, note that you can override the default Terminal settings by making changes here. Leave the default settings in place, which will not enable tiling for members of this User Group. Click the Next button.

8. From the Terminal Hotkey Options page of the wizard, click the Next button.

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9. From the User Group Options page of the wizard, click the Activate Display Client at Log In checkbox, as well as its Group Setting checkbox. This setting will pull the user’s configured Display Clients to the foreground at the Terminal when they login. Click the Finish button.

Because you have a ThinManager Relevance license activated on RDSSERVER, the ThinManager user interface refers to “Relevance Users.” If you did not have the Relevance add-on license activated, the user interface would instead refer to “TermSecure Users.”

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Create a Maintenance User 1. Expand the Relevance Users node.

2. Right click the newly created Maintenance User Group and select Add User. This will launch the TermSecure User Configuration wizard.

3. From the TermSecure User Information page of the wizard, enter Manny as the User Name and z as the Password

and Verify Password. Click the Next button.

4. From the Card / Badge Information page of the wizard, click the Next button.

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5. From the Display Client Selection page of the wizard, notice that the selection is disabled. This is because we chose Group Setting for this setting on the User Group. Click the Next button.

6. From the Display Client Specification page of the wizard, notice that the selection is disabled here as well. Click the

Next button.

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7. From the Windows Log In Information page of the wizard, leave both checkboxes unchecked and enter operator1 as the Username and operator1 as the Password and Verify Password fields. Enter RDSSERVER as the Domain. Click the Verify button. These are the Windows credentials that will be used to login to the Terminal Server(s) for the Display Clients associated with this user. These credentials are obfuscated from the user so they will not know them (or need to know them).

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8. You should see a valid result in the Validate Users dialog box. Click the OK button followed by the Finish button.

While this lab is based on ThinManager version 7, ThinManager 8 will provide tighter integration with ActiveDirectory. The ability to create a TermSecure user that is linked to an ActiveDirectory account eliminates the need to hardcode Windows credentials for each TermSecure user. In addition, a ThinManager Access Group can be linked to an ActiveDirectory Group. ThinManager can also synchronize with an Organizational Unit or Security Group and automatically create the associated TermSecure users. Lastly, you can use ThinManager 8 to manage the passwords of ActiveDirectory linked accounts so that the passwords are automatically changed according to IT requirements.

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Create an Operator TermSecure User Group 1. From the Relevance Users tree, right click the Relevance Users node and select Add User Group. This will launch

the TermSecure User Configuration Wizard.

2. From the TermSecure User Group Information page of the wizard, enter Operator as the User Name in the Group

Name frame. Click the Finish button.

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Create an Operator User 1. Expand the Relevance Users node.

2. Right click the newly created Operator User Group and select Add User. This will launch the TermSecure User Configuration wizard.

3. From the TermSecure User Information page of the wizard, enter Olaf as the User Name and z as the Password

and Verify Password. Click the Finish button.

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Enable User Services for Terminal


2. Under the Terminals node, double click the ThinClientA terminal to launch the Terminal Configuration Wizard.




6. From the Terminal Mode Selection page of the wizard, make sure Use Display Clients is checked and check Enable Relevance User Services. Click the Finish button.

7. Right click ThinClientA and select Restart Terminal to apply the change.

When deploying TermSecure for the first time, Enabling Relevance User Services at the Terminal is a commonly missed step. Without Enabling Relevance User Services at the terminals where you want to enable TermSecure logins, the Login option will not be available from the Screen Selector menu. If you would like to Enable Relevance User Services for all of your terminals, you can create a Terminal Group, enable it there, and check the Group Setting checkbox. Each Terminal member of the Terminal Group would then have it enabled.

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Login as Maintenance User

1. From the Terminals icon in the ThinManager tree selector, select ThinClientA.

2. Click the Shadow tab from the Details Pane.

3. Click and hold the Screen Selector at the top middle of the Shadow where it lists HMIClient. While holding down the mouse button, select the Main Menu entry from the Screen Selector.

You can also use the CTRL-m hotkey sequence to access the Main Menu.

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4. From the Main Menu, click the Log In button.

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5. From the Log In popup, enter Manny as the User Name.

6. From the Password popup, enter z as the Password.

7. Once logged into TermSecure, the DiagonsticsViewer DisplayClient should be activated and brought to the foreground. Notice that there are now 2 Display Clients listed under the ThinClientA Terminal in the Terminals tree. Also notice that the ThinClientA Terminal label now indicates that (Manny) is logged in there.

8. Click the Screen Selector within the Shadow and select the HMIClient Display Client to activate it.

9. Click the Screen Selector again and select the DiagnosticsViewer Display Client to activate it. Remember, we did not enable Tile Mode for the Manny user.

10. Click the Screen Selector once more and this time select Main Menu.

11. From the Main Menu, click the Log Off button. Manny will be logged off, and the DiagnosticsViewer Display Client will be removed.

There is an Inactivity Timeout setting available either at the User Group level or at the User object itself that will automatically logoff the TermSecure user after a period of inactivity. The default is 120 seconds. It can be found on the last page of the User Configuration Wizard.

If Manny were to leave ThinClientA and log into another Terminal (either thin client, PC or tablet), his content would follow him.

If you would prefer Manny to only receive content at a specific Terminal, you can use ThinManager Access Groups to apply permissions to specific Display Clients. Access Groups can be accessed from the Manage ribbon. Once an Access Group is created, it can then be associated with a User Group. The same Access Group can then be applied as a Permission on the Display Client(s) that you want to restrict or provide access to. When you apply these restricted Display Clients to a Terminal, they will only become visible when a user assigned to that Access Group logs into the Terminal.

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ThinManager ships with the TermMon ActiveX control that can be utilized by any ActiveX container, like FactoryTalk View SE. The ActiveX extends most of the ThinManager feature set to the ActiveX container, so you can then natively interact with ThinManager right from FactoryTalk View SE, for instance. As an example, you can trigger a Touchscreen Calibration to launch from a button within FactoryTalk View SE using the ActiveX control. You can also respond to ThinManager events from within FactoryTalk View SE. So when a new user logs into TermSecure, an event is triggered in the ActiveX and FactoryTalk View SE that can be configured to programmatically log that same user into FactoryTalk View SE. More details on the ActiveX control can be found at: http://www.thinmanager.com/kb/index.php/TermMon_ActiveX_Control

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Section 7: Configuring Terminal to Terminal Shadowing in ThinManager


Overview Throughout the lab you have shadowed terminals from the ThinManager user interface. One of the more unique features of ThinManager is the ability to not just shadow terminals from ThinManager, but also from another terminal or terminals. Terminal to terminal shadowing is a very powerful feature that can be configured for interactive access or non-interactive access to the shadowed session. It is most commonly used to provide centralized monitoring of terminals from either a Control Room or Manager’s Office setting.


• Create Terminal Shadow Display Client

• Create a Second Terminal Configuration

• Assign Second Terminal Configuration to Thin Client B

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Create Terminal Shadow Display Client 1. Return to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.


3. From the Display Clients tree, right click the Terminal Shadow branch and select Add Display Client. This will launch the Display Client Wizard.

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4. Type ShadowOfThinClientA as the Client Name on the Client Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.



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7. From the Terminal Shadow Display Client page of the Display Client Wizard, uncheck the All Terminals Shadow checkbox, then click the Add button. Select ThinClientA from the Select Terminal or Group popup, followed by the OK button.


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Create a Second Terminal Configuration


2. From the Terminals tree, right click the Terminals node and select Add Terminal. This will launch the Terminal Configuration Wizard.

3. Type ThinClientB as the Terminal Name on the Terminal Name page of the wizard. Check the Copy Settings from

another Terminal checkbox and click the Copy From button.

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4. From the Select Terminal popup, select ThinClientA followed by the OK button followed by the Next button.




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8. Select HMIClient from the Selected Display Clients list and click the Left Arrow button to move it to the Available Display Clients list.

9. Select ShadowOfThinClientA from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected Display Clients list.


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Assign Second Terminal Configuration to Thin Client B 1. Switch to the Thin Client B virtual machine by clicking the Thin Client B tab at the top of your screen. Click the

Green play button to start it. Thin Client B will boot and receive its firmware from ThinManager. However, because ThinManager does not have an existing terminal configuration that matches the MAC address of Thin Client B, you will be prompted to either Create new Terminal or select an existing and inactive terminal configuration, ThinClientB. The ThinClientA terminal configuration is not available since it is assigned to the Thin Client A virtual machine and is powered on.

2. Select ThinClientB from the list using the Down Arrow of your keyboard and hit Enter. By doing so, you will assign

the ThinClientB terminal configuration to Thin Client B.

3. Once Thin Client B receives its Terminal configuration from ThinManager, an interactive shadow of Thin Client A

will be delivered. Change screens within the FactoryTalk View SE InstantFizz application from Thin Client B, then switch to the Thin Client A virtual machine to verify that the screen change occurs there as well. Change screens from Thin Client A and then switch back to the Thin Client B virtual machine to see the change in that direction.

As previously mentioned, Terminal to Terminal Shadowing is not just a one to one proposition. A single Terminal can be shadowed from several other terminals. The processing required by shadowing resides on the Terminal that is being shadowed. Therefore, if you plan on shadowing a single Terminal several times it is recommended that the thin client hardware be specified with the necessary computing resources to accommodate the additional loading provided by shadowing.

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Section 8: Introduction to Relevance and Location Based Mobility


Overview So far we have delivered content to a thin client, as well as content to a user. The next level of the ThinManager delivery paradigm is to now add Location into the equation. When talking about mobility on the plant floor, providing access anywhere to applications that control a process may cause more problems than solve. ThinManager Relevance provides the tools to safely provide access to these applications because you can define a Location and associate Display Client(s) with that Location. When a mobile device leaves a specified Location, the content associated with that Location will be no longer delivered to the mobile device. Different users may receive different content from the same Location based on their Access Groups in ThinManager.

So how does ThinManager determine a mobile device’s location? By using one of five supported Location Resolver technologies:

• Quick Response Codes (QR Codes)

• Near Field Communication (NFC)

• Bluetooth Beacons

• Wireless Access Points

• Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

With the release of ThinManager 8, Relevance supports both iOS and Android devices. For iOS devices, ThinManager offers the iTMC application which is available through the App Store, while for Android devices, ThinManager offers the AndroidTMC application which is available through the Google Play Store.

Location Resolvers can be easily registered through iTMC or AndroidTMC. For example, a QR Code can be scanned within either of these apps, or a Bluetooth Beacon can be detected and registered.

Once you have registered your Location Resolvers, you can then assign them to Locations within ThinManager, and in turn, specific Display Clients can be associated with that Location.

As an example, let’s say we would like to apply laminated QR Codes to all of our process automation instrumentation, so that our Maintenance staff could walk up to an instrument with their iPad, scan a QR Code, and instantly receive a series of documents that are assigned to that instrument. To do so, we would first need to register the QR Code using iTMC from the iPad. Within ThinManager, we would create the Display Clients necessary for the desired documentation. This might include a series of Display Clients for Adobe Reader that open specific user manuals. With the Display Clients created, we would then create a new Location in ThinManager, assign the Display Clients to it, and then associate the new QR Code Resolver to the Location.

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We can also assign a Location to a Terminal. Instead of applying Display Clients to a Terminal like we have throughout the lab so far, we would assign the Display Clients to the Location and then assign the Location to the Terminal. This extra level of abstraction creates some very interesting possibilities. For instance, we could allow a user to scan a QR Code at the thin client that would actually Transfer the content from the thin client to the mobile device. We could also confine access to this content by applying a Bluetooth Beacon to “fence” the user in. When the user walks outside of the range established for the Bluetooth Beacon, the content would automatically be removed from the device, as it would be returned to the thin client. In this example, the Transfer is considered a Resolver Action. ThinManager Relevance supports 4 Resolver Actions:

• Forced Transfer

• Manual Transfer

• Clone

• Shadow

The Forced Transfer redirects Display Client(s) from a thin client to a mobile device without requiring approval at the thin client. Manual Transfer, on the other hand, would require a user’s acknowledgement to approve the Transfer request. Clone would spin up new, independent sessions of the Display Clients assigned to the thin client, while Shadow would do just what you would expect.

Since it is not possible to use wireless devices with our lab setup, we will walk through the configuration steps, but will not be able to test out the configuration on an actual wireless device.


• Create Terminal Configuration for Mobile Device

• Assign Terminal Configuration to Mobile Device

• Create Resolvers from ThinManager

• Create Access Groups

• Create Locations

• Assign the Location to a Terminal

QR Codes are essentially more robust alphanumeric versions of barcodes. QR Codes can be generated and printed from several websites. Bluetooth Beacons offer a tunable signal strength, and hence range, from 0 to approximately 50 meters. ThinManager 8 will introduce support for the iBeacon, which utilizes Apple’s Bluetooth beacon protocol. Wireless Access Points expose a unique identifier called a BSSID which ThinManager can use to determine on which Access Point a mobile device is connected. GPS offers accurate location resolution down to 5 feet, but is only for outdoor applications.

Fencing is defined as combining resolvers to limit access to specific Display Clients based on Location. For instance, a Bluetooth Beacon can be used to fence in a QR Code so that a mobile device must be within range of the Bluetooth Beacon when they scan the QR Code to actually resolve to the associated Location. Once the mobile device is outside the range of the Bluetooth Beacon, the Display Clients associated with the Location would not be delivered to the mobile device.

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Create Terminal Configuration for Mobile Device

1. On the RDS Server virtual machine, click the Terminals icon from the ThinManager tree selector.

2. From the Terminals tree, right click the Terminals node and select Add Terminal. This will launch the Terminal Configuration Wizard.

3. Type iPad as the Terminal Name on the Terminal Name page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

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4. Select Apple from the Make/OEM drop down list and iPad from the Model drop down list. Click the Next button.

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6. Check the Use Display Clients, Enable Relevance User Services, and Enable Relevance Location Services checkboxes on the Terminal Mode Selection page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

7. Click the Next button on the Display Client Selection page of the wizard.

8. Click the Next button on the Terminal Interface Options page of the wizard.

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9. Check the Enable QR Code Location Ids and Enable Bluetooth Locations checkboxes from the Relevance Options page of the wizard. Click the Next button.

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10. Click the Next button from the Log In Information page of the wizard.

11. Click the OK button on the Video Mode is invalid for this Terminal Model message box.

12. From the Video Resolution screen of the wizard, select 1920x1080 as the Resolution, and 64K Colors as the Color Depth. Click the Finish button.

At this point, you would typically connect the iPad to your wireless network with connectivity to ThinManager, launch the iTMC application and then assign the new iPad terminal configuration to your iPad. Once done, you would start to register your location resolvers from iTMC. Since we do not have an iPad in this lab, we will instead register the location resolvers manually through ThinManager.

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Create Resolvers from ThinManager 1. Return to the RDS Server virtual machine by clicking the RDS Server tab at the top of your screen.

2. Click the Manage ribbon, followed by the Manage Resolvers icon.

3. Click the Add button from the Resolver Management popup. Typically Resolvers are registered and added through

iTMC or Android TMC on the mobile device, but will be done so manually in the lab.

4. From the Add New Resolver dialog, enter BlendingQR as the Name, Blending QR Code as the Description, select QR Code from the Type drop down list and enter Blending in the Data field. The Data field represents the actual value of the QR Code. Click the OK button.

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5. Click the Add button from the Resolver Management popup again. Enter BlendingBT as the Name, Blending Bluetooth Beacon as the Description, select Bluetooth as the Type, and enter ACP-0123456789AB as the Data. The Data field represents the unique identifier of the Bluetooth Beacon. Click the OK button twice.

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Create Access Groups 1. Click the Manage ribbon, followed by the Access Groups icon.

2. From the Access Groups popup, click the Add button.

3. Enter Maintenance as the Enter Group Name field. Click the OK button.

4. Click the Add button again.

5. Enter Operator as the Enter Group Name field. Click the OK button twice.

With ThinManager 8, these Access Groups can be linked to ActiveDirectory security groups.

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6. Click the Relevance Users icon in the ThinManager Tree Selector.

7. Double click the Maintenance users group.

8. Click the Permissions button.

9. Select the Maintenance Access Group from the Available list and click the Right Arrow to move it to the Member Of list.

10. Click the OK button, followed by the Finish button.

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11. Double click the Operator users group.


13. Select the Operator Access Group from the Available list and click the Right Arrow to move it to the Member Of list. Click the OK button followed by the Finish button.

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Create Locations

1. Click the Locations icon in the tree selector. This icon will only be present if you have a Relevance license activated.

2. From the ensuing Locations tree, right click the Locations tree node and select Add Location.

3. From the Location Name page of the Location Configuration Wizard, enter BlendingZone as the Location Name. Click the Next button.

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4. From the Location Options page of the wizard, check Activate Display Client at Log In, Enforce Location Fencing and Allow Local Access. Click the Next button.

5. From the Display Client Selection page of the wizard, click the Next button.

6. From the Windows Log In information, click the Next button.

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7. From the Relevance Resolver Location page of the wizard, click the Add button.

8. From the Choose a Relevance Resolver popup, select BlendingBT from the Resolver Name dropdown list, and No Action from the Choose Action dropdown list.

Clicking the Settings button for a Bluetooth Beacon resolver will enable you to set the signal strength at the entrance point of the Location as well as the exit point of the Location. The values displayed will show a 0 in the lab since we did not actually register the beacon from a mobile device. Registering the Bluetooth Beacon through the mobile device will automate this entry by asking you to stand at the entry point during the registration process. If you clicked the Settings button, click the Cancel button.

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10. Select Unrestricted from the Member Of list and click the Left Arrow button to movie it to the Available list. Select Maintenance from the Available list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Member Of list.

11. Select Operator from the Available list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Member Of list. Click the OK button twice, followed by the Finish button.

At this point, you have created the BlendingZone Location, which is associated with the BlendingBT Bluetooth Beacon. However, we assigned No Action to the Resolver Action. This is because this Location will serve as a Fence, which is why the Enforce Location Fencing checkbox was checked as well.

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12. Now we need to create a sub-location, so expand the Locations node, right click the BlendingZone location and select Add Location.

13. From the Location Name page of the Location Configuration Wizard, enter BlendingHMI as the Location Name.

Click the Next button.

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14. From the Location Options page of the wizard, check Activate Display Client at Log In and Allow Local Access. Click the Next button.

15. Select Blending from the Available Display Clients list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Selected

Display Clients list. Click the Next button.

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16. From the Windows Log In information page of the wizard, enter operator1 for the Username, operator1 for the Password and Verify Password fields. Enter RDSSERVER for the Domain. Click the Verify button.

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17. You should see a valid result. Click the OK button, followed by the Next button.

18. From the Relevance Resolver Selection, click the Add button.

19. From the Choose a Relevance Resolver popup, select BlendingQR from the Resolver Name dropdown list, and Force Transfer from the Choose Action dropdown list. Click the Permissions button.

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20. Select Unrestricted from the Member Of list and click the Left Arrow button to movie it to the Available list. Select Maintenance from the Available list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Member Of list. Click the OK button twice.

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21. From the Relevance Resolver Selection, click the Add button again.

22. From the Choose a Relevance Resolver popup, select BlendingQR from the Resolver Name dropdown list, and Shadow from the Choose Action dropdown list. Click the Permissions button.

23. Select Unrestricted from the Member Of list and click the Left Arrow button to move it to the Available list. Select

Operator from the Available list and click the Right Arrow button to move it to the Member Of list.

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24. Click the OK button twice, followed by the Finish button.

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Assign the Location to a Terminal


2. Under the Terminals node, double click the ThinClientA terminal to launch the Terminal Configuration Wizard.




6. From the Terminal Mode Selection page of the wizard, make sure Use Display Clients and Enable Relevance User Services are checked. Also check the Enable Relevance Location Services. This is required to use this Terminal with Relevance. Click the Next button.

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7. Select HMIClient from the Selected Display Clients list and click the Left Arrow button to move it to the Available Display Clients list. The Selected Display Clients list should be empty. Click the Next button.

8. From the Terminal Interface Options page of the wizard, click the Next button.

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9. From the Relevance Options page of the wizard, click the Change button.

10. From the Select Location popup, select LocationsàBlendingZoneàBlendingHMI. Click the OK button.


12. Right click ThinClientA and select Restart Terminal to apply the change.

After restarting the Terminal, you will notice that the InstantFizz application is still delivered to Thin Client A, but instead, we delivered the Blending Display Client which takes us right to the Blending home page. This is because we assigned the Blending Display Client to the BlendingHMI Location and then assigned this Location to the ThinClientA Terminal. The more interesting part of the configuration is how the BlendingZone and BlendingHMI Locations were configured. Using a mobile device with either iTMC for iOS or Android TMC for Android, the BlendingQR QR Code can be scanned if and only if the mobile device is within range of the BlendingBT Bluetooth Beacon AND the user logged into iTMC or Android TMC through TermSecure is a member of either the Maintenance or Operator Access Groups. If the user is a member of Maintenance, the Blending Display Client would be transferred from ThinClientA and redirected to the mobile device. If the user is a member of the Operator Access Group, ThinClientA would be shadowed from the mobile device. In both cases, the Display Client would remain on the mobile device as long as it stays within the range of the Bluetooth Beacon, which is acting as a Fence. The user can also choose to manually Leave the Location from the iTMC or Android TMC applications.

iTMC and/or Android TMC can also be used without ThinManager Relevance. Without Relevance, you can manage and configure the Display Clients that are delivered to the mobile devices, just without including Location in the delivery equation.

Documents

VZ17 - Extending FactoryTalk View Site Edition with ACP ...€¦ · § FactoryTalk Services Platform v2.70 (CPR 9 SR 7) § FactoryTalk View Site Edition v8.00 (CPR 9 SR 7) § RSLinx