Using the Windows Command Shell

When performing remote administration of a Windows system, it is normal to think of using a graphical user interface. However, trying to force a bandwidth-intensive interface over a LAN, WAN or other network connection A data path or circuit between two computers over a phone line, network cable, or other means. can lead to extremely slow or unreliable behavior of the interface.

Fortunately, the Windows command line allows you to perform almost all of the Windows tasks that you need to administer the system. The syntax in most cases is straightforward and easy to learn, and command-line administration is much more efficient remotely, because only a few characters are transmitted over the connection. The Windows command shell, which resembles MS-DOS, is a powerful environment and contains a strong complement of Win32 console utilities to support it including net config and net start/stop.

Many of the Windows integrated administrative facilities are grouped under the net command. Typing net at the command line will print out a list of these commands. Details about the use of any net command are available by typing:

net <command> /?

For example, to get a list of the commands and options available with the net config command, type:

net config /?

You can find additional information on command-line administration in the Windows Resource Guide available from Microsoft Press.

To help in the administration of your VShell server A computer program that provides services to other computer programs (called clients). Often the computer on which a server program runs is also called a server. The term host is often used as a synonym for server., VanDyke Software also ships two utilities with VShell. These utilities, Who.exe and Whoami.exe, provide you with information about who is connected to your system.

The Who.exe utility displays the following information about VShell connections:

    User names

    Connection IDs

    Date and time the connection was made

    IP Address from which the connection was made (using the -h option with the Who command will display the hostname instead of the IP address)

Below is an example of Who.exe output.

Bob 00093 Nov 13 20:55 192.168.0.54

Alice 00130 Nov 14 13:26 192.168.0.112

Dave 00099 Nov 14 08:08 192.168.0.32

Carol 00100 Nov 14 08:14 192.168.0.28

The Whoami.exe utility displays the username with which you are currently connected.

Silently install VShell from the command shell

The VShell installer supports two command-line options that allow administrators to perform a silent installation of VShell from the command line, and prevent Windows from performing a reboot operation after the installation is complete.  In the case of large VShell installations, administrators may be interested in lowering deployment costs and automating as many things as possible in order to reduce rollout time.  These command-line options provide one way administrators can deploy VShell to a number of machines as part of a script or some other automated process.  The following is a description of the two options available with the VShell installer:

The first command-line option is /S.  When you add this option to your installation command string, VShell will perform a “silent” install and accept all default settings.  If the installer is a custom installer, then the custom installer defaults are used as agreed upon by the customer during the custom installer creation process.

When the /S flag is passed, VShell installer will:

1.   Silently accept all defaults.

2.   Stop any of the following programs that are running:

   VSH

   VCP

   VSFTP

   Vkeygen

   The VShell Control Panel

   The VShell service

3.   Reboot if the LSA auth module needs to be installed.

The other option is /NOREBOOT.  This will instruct the installer not to reboot the server after a silent installation.

Terminal size issues

If VShell is using Cmd.exe as its command shell, the server's actual screen resolution will affect the size of the VShell terminal window.  The VShell terminal size cannot be larger than that specified in the client's Window size setting on the Layout tab for Cmd.exe.