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Using Serial Ports

The following sections describe how to use serial ports with VMware ACE:

A VMware ACE virtual machine can use up to four virtual serial ports. The virtual serial ports can be configured in several ways.

You can connect a virtual serial port to a physical serial port on the host computer.
You can connect a virtual serial port to a file on the host computer.
You can make a direct connection between two virtual machines or between a virtual machine and an application running on the host computer.

You can also select whether to connect the virtual serial port when you power on the virtual machine.

Using a Serial Port on the Host Computer

You can set up the virtual serial port in a virtual machine to use a physical serial port on the host computer. This is useful, for example, if you want to use a modem or a hand-held device in your virtual machine.

To install a virtual serial port that connects to a physical serial port on the host computer, take the following steps:

Open the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings).
Click Add to start the Add Hardware Wizard.
Select Serial Port, then click Next.
Select Use physical serial port on the host, then click Next.
Choose the port on the host computer that you want to use for this serial connection. By default, the device status setting is Connect at power on. You may deselect this setting if you wish.
Click Advanced if you want to configure this serial port to use polled mode. This option is of interest primarily to developers who are using debugging tools that communicate over a serial connection. For more information, see Special Configuration Options for Advanced Users.
Click Finish, then click OK to close the virtual machine settings editor.
Power on the virtual machine.

Using a File on the Host Computer

You can set up the virtual serial port in a virtual machine to send its output to a file on the host computer. This is useful, for example, if you want to capture the data a program running in the virtual machine sends to the virtual serial port or if you need a quick way to transfer a file from the guest to the host.

To install a virtual serial port that connects to a file on the host computer, take the following steps:

Open the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings).
Click Add to start the Add Hardware Wizard.
Select Serial Port, then click Next.
Select Output to file, then click Next.
Browse to the file on the host computer that you want to use to store the output of the virtual serial port. By default, the device status setting is Connect at power on. You may deselect this setting if you wish.
Click Advanced if you want to configure this serial port to use polled mode. This option is of interest primarily to developers who are using debugging tools that communicate over a serial connection. For more information, see Special Configuration Options for Advanced Users.
Click Finish, then click OK to close the virtual machine settings editor.
Power on the virtual machine.

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