How to Develop a Thin Client (Windows CE 5.0)

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The Windows Thin Client design template provides a starting point for remote-desktop terminals that can be accessed through support for Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). To create a Windows Thin Client on a CEPC, you can use either the New Platform Wizard that includes a pre-configured option or you can build an OS design by manually selecting the necessary Catalog item from the catalog.

For a list of Catalog items included by default using the Thin Client design template, see Thin Client Design Template.

Hardware and Software Assumptions

  • Your Platform Builder installation includes the CEPC x86 board support package (BSP).
  • You have a CEPC already configured. For more information, see How To Set up a CEPC and How to Create an SDK for an OS Design.
  • You have a Terminal Server already running Microsoft® Windows NT® Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition or later. For more information about Terminal Server, see Terminal Server.

To track your progress in the following table, select the check box next to each step.

  Step Topic
1. To understand the functionality that the Windows CE Thin Client contains, its hardware and software requirements, and how it operates, review the Thin Client architecture. Thin Client Architecture
2. Create a Windows Thin Client OS design for a CEPC. The following list shows the choices to make:
  • For BSP, choose CEPC x86.
  • For the design template, choose Windows Thin Client.

For more information about BSPs, see BSP Drivers.

For more information about the Windows Thin Client design template, see Thin Client Design Template.

 Creating an OS Design
3. (Optional) Customize the Windows Thin Client OS design. Customizing a Thin Client
4. Prepare to build the Windows Thin Client.
  • Choose the debug build.
 Building and Downloading a Run-time Image
5. If you expect the size of your run-time image to exceed 32 megabytes (MB), enable support for a large run-time image in the settings for the platform.

The status bar in the Platform Builder integrated development environment (IDE) shows the estimated size of the run-time image.

Note   Debug run-time images are typically larger than release run-time images. If you chose a debug configuration and your OS design contains many features, it is likely that the size of your run-time image will exceed 32 MB.
Enabling a Run-Time Image Size Larger Than 32 MB
3. Build the OS design into a run-time image.

  1. From the Build OS menu, ensure that the following are selected:

    Clean Before Building

    Copy Files to Release Directory after Build

    Make Run-Time Image After Build

  2. From the Build OS menu, choose Build and Sysgen.
 Not Applicable.
7. If you will debug your run-time image, configure the Microsoft HyperTerminal accessory application to display the serial debug output from the CEPC. Configuring HyperTerminal for BSPs
8. Configure the remote Ethernet connection. Configuring an Ethernet Remote Connection
9. Download the Windows Thin Client run-time image. Downloading a Run-Time Image to a CEPC
10. Test the Windows Thin Client. Testing a Thin Client
11. (Optional) Create a Quick Start Guide for the Device. Creating a Quick Start Guide for a Device

RDP allows a thin client to execute Windows applications within a Windows graphical user interface (GUI) environment, even though they are actually being executed on the server. For information about the RDP modules and components, see RDP OS Design Development.

To build a Windows Thin Client on hardware other than a CEPC, make certain your hardware meets the requirements described in Thin Client Hardware Requirements.

See Also

Developing a Windows Thin Client | Thin Client Security | How to Create an SDK for an OS Design

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