I am using the MinGW compiler to build this project under windows. I was not able to find a MinGW quick-start guide on their web site and their download page appears instead to provide a lesson in history. Therefore, I have written up the exact steps that I used to get a working build environment here:
I also use the Wine environment under linux to perform build tests - these binaries can behave significantly differently to a pure windows binary, so I need to do final builds on a Windows system. I have also been meaning to install MinGW on linux and start building like that, but since I need a real windows system to test the serial port access routines, I will probably continue building on the windows system for some time.
Starting wconsd with the '-h' option will show a help screen:
C:\>wconsd -h
wconsd: Serial Console server (version 0.2.5)
(see http://wob.zot.org/2/wiki/wconsd for more info)
Usage: wconsd [-i pathname | -r | -d | -p port ]
Just start with no options to start server
-i pathname install service 'wconsd'; pathname
must be the full path to the binary
-r remove service 'wconsd'
-d run wconsd in foreground mode
-p port listen on the given port in foreground mode
The following are some known non-features, some of which may be addressed in future versions.
If wconsd cannot successfully contact the Service Control Manager, or if the '-d' Commandline option is supplied, then it will startup as a console application in Foreground mode. This means that it will not go into the background and all messages will be sent to the CMD.exe window that started it.
Note that it is currently planned to completely replace the menu system for the next version of wconsd, so these commands will be changing.
binaryThis command toggles the state of the binary mode. Binary mode is required for correct use of file transfer protocols, such as xmodem. This mode will be automatically turned on by some telnet clients (if they send the telnet option DO BINARY TRANSMISSION) in which case it may need to be manually turned off using this command.
closeIf the serial port is current open, this command will close it and stop any serial communications.
copyrightPrint the copyright notice
data 5|6|7|8Sets the number of data bits. This command will not have any affect until the port is closed and re-opened.
Show some quick help for the menu commands
keepaliveToggles the state of Telnet keepalives. If keepalives are turned on, then a Telnet Keepalive option is sent approximately once every two seconds. This will create significantly more network traffic than normal, but will help to avoid sessions being terminated unexpectedly
kill_conn Connection IDStop a given connection's serial communications. This will close the serial port being used by the given connection ID and thus allow someone else to open that port. This command can be used when an existing session has crashed, or if someone else has logged in and is blocking your work. Since there is no authentication, this command is obviously open to abuse.
open [port number]Connect or resume communications with a serial port. If no port number is specified then the current default port number is used. If an serial port is already open, this will just resume communication with that port.
parity no|even|odd|mark|spaceSet the serial parity. This command will not have any affect until the port is closed and re-opened.
port port numberSet serial port number. This command will not have any affect until the port is closed and re-opened.
quitExit from this session
show_conn_tableShow the connections table. This table is mostly used for internal debugging information, however it contains the connection ID for all the current connections, which can be used with the kill_conn command
w000c2989d2df> show_conn_table
Flags: A - Active Slot, N - Network active, S - Serial active,
M - Run Menu, B - Binary transmission, E - Echo enabled,
K - Telnet Keepalives, * - This connection
s flags id mThr net netTh serial serialTh netrx nettx peer address
- ------- -- ---- ---- ----- ------ -------- ----- ----- ------------
0 ME 1 1884 55 1598 192.168.1.1:43686
1 ANSMBEK 2 1888 1880 0 1844 1836 68 4264 192.168.1.1:57184
2*AN ME 3 1856 1868 0 109 4657 127.0.0.1:4629
3 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0
speed bits per secondSet serial port speed. This command will not have any affect until the port is closed and re-opened.
statusShow current serial port status
w000c2989d2df> status status: port=1 speed=9600 data=8 parity=0 stop=0 state=open connectionid=1 hostname=w000c2989d2df echo=1 binary=0 keepalive=0
stop 1|1.5|2Set number of stop bits. This command will not have any affect until the port is closed and re-opened.
When starting wconsd from a cmd window, you should see something like the following
C:\>wconsd.exe
wconsd: Serial Console server (version 0.2.4)
(see http://wob.zot.org/2/wiki/wconsd for more info)
wconsd: Foreground mode
wconsd: Hostname is w000c2989d2df
wconsd: IP Address is 192.168.1.2
wconsd: listening on port 23
When you first connect to the server, a menu is shown
wconsd serial port server (version 0.2.6) NOTE: the commands will be changing in the next version available commands: binary - toggle the binary comms mode close - Stop serial communications copyright - Print the copyright notice data - Set number of data bits help - This guff kill_conn - Stop a given connection's serial communications keepalive - toggle the generation of keepalive packets open - Connect or resume communications with a serial port parity - Set the serial parity port - Set serial port number quit - exit from this session show_conn_table - Show the connections table speed - Set serial port speed status - Show current serial port status stop - Set number of stop bits w000c2989d2df>
w000c2989d2df> open Opening default port Router> Router> Router>
wconsd is a small application that will turn any windows PC into a simple serial port server. You can just telnet to the workstation and use the serial ports remotely. You can download wconsd by going to the Files tab above and downloading the most recent version.
To start using wconsd, just run the executable. For long term usage, there is also a Windows Service mode that will automatically start wconsd when the windows system starts up.