Running xfServerPlus on Windows

By default, xfServerPlus runs on port 2356.

This topic includes the following:

Creating a user account for xfServerPlus

Starting xfServerPlus from the Synergy Configuration Program

Starting xfServerPlus from the command line

Creating additional xfServerPlus sessions

Importing and exporting xfServerPlus settings

Stopping xfServerPlus

Creating a user account for xfServerPlus

We recommend that you set up an account with limited privileges specifically for running xfServerPlus sessions. This account can be a local account on the xfServerPlus machine or it can be a domain account. The account must have read/write permissions for any directories containing files that xfServerPlus or your Synergy methods will create or update, including the xfServerPlus log file.

The xfServerPlus service (rsynd) will be registered and run under this account; consequently, the account should not be a member of the administrators group. However, the user who registers and starts the xfServerPlus service must be a member of the administrators group.

Note

The xfServerPlus account must be assigned the user right “Log on as a service.” If it is not assigned, when you try to register rsynd you will see the error “Invalid username or password (1385:Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer.)” (This user right can be assigned in the Windows Local Security Policy app, accessed through Control Panel > Administrative Tools.)

You can register and start xfServerPlus either from the Synergy Configuration Program (see below) or from the command line (see Starting xfServerPlus from the command line).

Note

You can use the system accounts “NT Authority\LocalService” and “NT Authority\NetworkService” if desired. These accounts do not have a password. In SynConfig, just leave the Password field blank. On the command you will need to enclose the username in double quotation marks (because is includes a space) and include the slash (but not a password). For example:

rsynd -w -u "NT Authority\LocalService/" -r 

Starting xfServerPlus from the Synergy Configuration Program

Important

Do not attempt to issue rsynd commands from the command line while the Synergy Configuration Program is running.

To register and start xfServerPlus, you must be logged on using an account that is a member of the administrators group.

1. Start the Synergy Configuration Program (from the Windows Control Panel, select Synergy Control Panel > Synergy Configuration Program) and go to the xfServer/xfServerPlus tab.
2. Click the Add xfServerPlus Service button.
3. Complete the fields in the xfServerPlus Information dialog box.

Service name

Enter the service name (registry key) for this service. The default is “xfspl”. This is the name that displays in the list of services on the xfServer/xfServerPlus tab.

Port number

Enter the port number for this service. Valid ports are in the range 1024 through 65534. The default is 2356.

Display name

Enter a display name for this service. This is the name that displays in the Windows Services console. If you leave this field blank, it defaults to “Synergy/DE xfServerPlus ####”, where #### is the port number.

Description

(optional) Enter a descriptive string that will be added to the end of the command line when xfServerPlus is started. This string is then displayed at the end of the command line for the dbs process in the Command Line column of the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager. (You may need to add the Command Line column to the Processes display.) If you have several xfServerPlus processes running at once, this enables you to distinguish among them. If the string contains %s, it is replaced with the IP address of the xfNetLink client. (Do not use other %letter variables, and do not include quotation marks within the string.)

Username

Enter the username for the account that you created to run xfServerPlus sessions. This account can be either a local account or a domain account; it cannot be a member of the administrators group. It must have the user right “Log on as a service.” If there is an account with the same username on both the local machine and on a Windows domain, or on multiple domains, and you want to use a specific domain account, explicitly specify the domain in the format user_name@domain_name or domain_name\user_name.

Password

Enter the password for the account that you created to run xfServerPlus sessions.

Enable remote debugging

Check this box to enable remote debugging of this xfServerPlus service via a Telnet client. See Debugging your remote Synergy routines for details.

Debug port number

Enter the port number that the debug server should listen on for the Telnet client. This port number must be different than the port that the xfServerPlus service listens on. Valid ports are in the range 1024 through 65534.

Timeout in seconds

Enter the number of seconds the server should wait for a connection from the Telnet client after the xfNetLinkxfServerPlus connection has been made. The default is 100 seconds; this value should be less than the connect time-out set on the client. (The connect time-out defaults to 120 seconds.) If the Telnet client fails to connect within the specified time, the application will continue running normally, without debugging enabled.

Enable encryption

Select this option to enable encryption of data between xfNetLink and xfServerPlus. See Using xfServerPlus encryption for details on this feature.

Note

The encryption settings for the <Default> entry are used by both xfServer and xfServerPlus. For more information, see Using the < Default > entry.

Certificate file

Specify the certificate file (.pem file) or the Windows Certificate Store specification. For a .pem file, use either the full path or a logical. The default filename is DBLDIR:rsynd.pem, but you may choose another name and place the file anywhere you like. (Note that the resolved path displays rather than “DBLDIR”.) For a Windows Certificate Store specification, paste the formatted string into this field. For details on this string, see the -cert=filename argument in the rsynd syntax topic.

Security level

Displays the currently selected protocols. To change this setting, click the Change button to display the Security Compliance Level dialog. The default is “Always use current default”, which means that the available protocols may change with the version of Synergy. If you don’t want the available protocols to change when you upgrade xfServerPlus, clear the check box and explicitly select the minimum protocol you’d like to be available. Level 1 is no longer available.

See Understanding cipher suites and protocols for more information. (Although this section is about xfServer, the server-level information applies to xfServerPlus as well.)

4. If you want to modify environment variables for this service (or for all services), click the Environment Setup button. From here, you can set or modify XFPL_INIPATH and XFPL_SMCPATH, as well as any other environment variables that you want xfServerPlus to use. For instructions, see Setting XFPL_INIPATH on Windows or Setting XFPL_SMCPATH on Windows.
Note

Environment variables set using the <Default> entry in the list of services apply to all xfServerPlus (and xfServer) services, but they can be overridden for individual services if desired. For more information on the <Default> entry, see Using the < Default > entry.

5. Click OK in the xfServerPlus Information dialog box. The new service will display in the list of services.
6. Click Apply to register the service.
7. (optional) Click the Start Service button. See the table in Starting xfServer for error and status codes that may display when starting or stopping xfServerPlus. If you don’t want to start the service now, you can start it later from the Synergy Configuration Program, the Windows Services console, or the command line; see step 2.

Starting xfServerPlus from the command line

Important

Do not attempt to issue rsynd commands from the command line while the Synergy Configuration Program is running.

Note

For the complete list of rsynd options, see rsynd program.

You must be logged on using an account that is a member of the administrators group to register and start xfServerPlus. When you start xfServerPlus from the command line, the following defaults are used:

Port = 2356

Service name = xfspl

Display name = Synergy/DE xfServerPlus

You can override these defaults. See the syntax under Creating additional xfServerPlus sessions for the options.

1. You must register the xfServerPlus service before starting it. At the command line, enter
rsynd -w -u xfspAcct/password [-p port] -r

You must supply a username and password with the -u option when you register xfServerPlus. If the password is in clear text, it will be encoded in the registry. Optionally, you can run setruser -n and pass the encoded output as the username/password. (See setruser utility.)

If there is an account with the same username on both the local machine and on a Windows domain, or on multiple domains, and you want to use a specific domain account, you must explicitly specify the domain name using the format user_name@domain_name /password or domain_name \ user_name /password.

If xfspAcct is a member of the administrators group, xfServerPlus will return an error message and will not start.

2. Once xfServerPlus is registered, enter the following at the command line to start it:
net start serviceName

where serviceName is the name of the xfServerPlus service. The default is “xfspl”. If xfServerPlus starts successfully, you’ll see a message to that effect.

You can also start the service from the Windows Services console (the default display name is “Synergy/DE xfServerPlus”) or from the Synergy Configuration Program.

See the table in Starting xfServer for error and status codes that may display when starting or stopping xfServerPlus.

Creating additional xfServerPlus sessions

You can create more than one instance of xfServerPlus by doing one of the following:

rsynd -w -u xfspAcct/password -p 4567 -r -c xfspl_4567 -d "xfServerPlus_4567" -text "Session two: %s"   

Importing and exporting xfServerPlus settings

You can import and export xfServerPlus (and xfServer) settings from the Synergy Configuration Program or the command line. See Importing and exporting settings (Windows) for instructions.

Stopping xfServerPlus

To stop xfServerPlus you must be logged on using an account that is a member of the administrators group. When you stop xfServerPlus, existing connections are lost.

See the table in Starting xfServer for error and status codes that may display when starting or stopping xfServerPlus.

To stop and unregister xfServerPlus

Use one of these methods:

To stop xfServerPlus without unregistering it

Use one of these methods:

net stop serviceName

where serviceName is the name of the xfServerPlus service. The default service name is “xfspl”.