Assign a profile to a serial port

To assign a profile to a serial port:

  1. Select Configuration > Serial Ports.

  2. Click a port number from the Port column.

  3. Click Change Profile.
  4. On the Select Port Profile page, select a port profile option and then click Apply.
  5. Complete the steps based on the selected profile option:

    • Console Management: Most network devices such as routers, switches, and servers offer one or more serial ports for management. Instead of connecting a terminal to the console port, cable the console port to the serial port of your Digi device server. Then using TCP/IP utilities like reverse telnet, network administrators can access these consoled serial ports from the LAN.

      1. Record the TCP (or SSH) port number listed under TCP Server Settings. You will need the TCP port number when configuring an application or device that accesses the serial port from the network.

      2. To log inbound serial data, click Advanced Serial Settings, select Enable port logging, and then click Apply.
      3. Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device, and then click Apply.

      Note Configure the application or device that initiates communication to the serial port from the network with the following information:

      • IP address of this Digi device server.
      • TCP or (SSH) port number for the serial port recorded above in Step a.
    • Local Configuration (Console Port): Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device or terminal, and then click Apply.
    • Custom: Complete the fields under Serial Port Configuration and then click Apply.

    • Modem Emulation: Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device and then click Apply.

      Modem emulation enables a system administrator to configure the serial port to act as a modem. The Digi device server emulates modem responses to a serial device and seamlessly sends and receives data over an Ethernet network instead of a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). The advantage for a user is the ability to retain legacy software applications without modification and use a less expensive Ethernet network in place of public telephone lines.

    • RealPort: COM port redirection is provided with the RealPort software installed on your network-based computer. RealPort creates a virtual COM port on your computer. When your computer applications send data to this virtual COM or TTY port, RealPort sends the data across the network to the Digi device server. The Digi device server routes the data to the serial device connected to its serial port. The network is transparent to both the application and the serial device.

      Prerequisite RealPort software must be installed on each computer that you want to connect to. See Install RealPort software for more information.

      RealPort will set the serial port settings as directed by the computer application, so there is no need to modify the Basic Serial Port Settings.

    • Serial Bridge: A bridge connects two serial devices over the network as if they were connected with a serial cable. This is also referred to as serial tunneling. Each serial device is connected to the serial port of a Digi device server. Configure one Digi device as the TCP server and the other Digi device as the TCP client. Once you establish a connection between the two Digi devices the communication is bi-directional.

      To assign a Serial Bridge (Serial Tunneling) to a serial port on a Digi device acting as the TCP client (which initiates the connection to the TCP server):

      1. Select Initiate serial bridge to the following device and provide the following information:

        • Type the IP Address of the other Digi device server.

        • In the TCP Port field, type the Raw TCP port number for the destination serial port. If the serial port is the first or only port on the device server, the value is 2101.

      2. Click Apply to save the configuration.
      3. Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device and then click Apply.

      Follow the same steps to configure the Digi device server on the other side of the bridge, with the following exceptions:

      • Select Allow other devices to initiate serial bridge. The default TCP Port rarely needs to be changed.
      • Clear the Initiate serial bridge to the following device check box.

    • TCP Sockets for TCP client (Automatic Connection): In a TCP client configuration, the Digi device server automatically establishes a TCP connection to an application or network device. See Automatic TCP connections (Automatic Connection) for more information.

      To assign a TCP Client (Automatic Connection) profile to a serial port:

      1. Under TCP Client Settings, select the Automatically establish TCP connections check box.
      2. Select the Connect option that describes when the TCP connection will be initiated.
      3. Type the IP address or DNS name of the destination server in the Server (name or IP) field.

      4. Select one of the following options from the Service drop-down list:

        • Raw TCP
        • Rlogin
        • Secure Sockets
        • Telnet
        • SSH

      5. Specify the destination TCP port number in the TCP Port field. The port number depends on the conventions used on the remote server or device. The following table provides the common TCP port number conventions.

        Connection ServiceCommon TCP Port Number
        Telnet23
        Rlogin513

        Reverse Telnet to the port of the Digi device server

        The format for this port number is as follows:

        20<serial port number>

        Replace <serial port number> with the Digi serial port number. For example, 2001 applies to serial port 1, 2010 applies to serial port 10, and 2016 applies to serial port 16.

        		2001

        Raw connection to the port of the Digi device server

        The format for this port number is as follows:

        21<serial port number>

        Replace <serial port number> with the Digi serial port number. For example, 2101 applies to serial port 1, 2110 applies to serial port 10, and 2116 applies to serial port 16.

        		2101
      6. Click Apply to save the configuration.
      7. Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device or terminal, and then click Apply.

    • TCP Sockets for TCP server: A TCP Server configuration allows other network devices to initiate a TCP connection to the serial device attached to a serial port of the Digi device server. This is also referred to as reverse telnet, console management or device management.

      1. Record the TCP (or SSH) port number listed under TCP Server Settings. You will need the TCP port number when configuring an application or device that accesses the serial port from the network.

      2. Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device or terminal, and then click Apply.

      Note Configure the application or device that initiates communication to the serial port from the network with the following information:

      • IP address of this Digi device server.
      • TCP or (SSH) port number for the serial port recorded above in Step a.

    • UDP Sockets for UDP client (data distribution): UDP client configuration allows the automatic distribution of serial data from one host to many devices at the same time using UDP sockets. This is also referred to this as UDP Multicast.

      1. Under UDP Client Settings, provide the following information for each UDP destination:

        • A description of the destination.
        • The destination IP Address or DNS name.
        • The destination UDP port.

        When finished, click Add.

      2. Select the options that define when to send data and click Apply.
      3. Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device or terminal, and then click Apply.

    • UDP Sockets for a UDP server:

      1. Record the UDP port number listed under UDP Server Settings. You will need the UDP port number when configuring an application or device that accesses the serial port from the network.
      2. Click Basic Serial Settings, complete the fields to match the settings of the attached serial device, and then click Apply.

      Note Configure the application or device that initiates communication to the serial port from the network with the following information:

      • IP address of this Digi device server.
      • UDP port number for the serial port recorded previously in Step a.