Winflector Client command-line options

In this post, we’ll walk you through the command-line options of the Winflector Client.  The Winflector Client is command-line friendly and almost everything that can be done through the GUI can be passed by the arguments.

The Winflector Client executable is named wfc.exe under Windows or wfc under Linux.

The general usage syntax is:

wfc [options] WorkingDirectory TargetApplication [application parameters]

The simplest command line that launches an application looks like this:

wfc -USER=username -PASSWD=password -ADDR=10.1.1.4 C:\windows\system32 C:\windows\system32\calc.exe

Without further ado, let’s see the options.

Command-line arguments

General:

• -HELP – shows a summarized command-line argument list
• -SHOWGUI – even if all necessary parameters are given through the command line, start the parameter editing window before connecting to the server
• -SHOWAPPS – connect to server and open the Applications tab
• -NOEMSG – don’t display errors in message boxes, just log them

Session/connection:

• -USER=username – sets the username for a given session
• -PASSWD=password – sets the password for a given session
• -DOMAIN=domain – sets the domain for a given session (absolute necessity for Local Windows/Active Directory authentication)
• -ADDR=serveraddress – sets the server to connect to, can be an IP address (80.82.23.243) or a symbolic name (winflector.com)
• -PORT=port – sets the port on the server to connect to (by defualt it uses port 6601)

Network/transmission:

• -PKTn – limits TCP packets to 1024 bytes (-PKT1), 512 bytes (-PKT2) or 256 bytes (-PKT3)
• -CPRn – uses compression level n, ranging from 0, which is uncompressed (saves CPU at the cost of bandwidth), to 9, which is highly compressed (saves bandwidth at the cost of CPU), the default at 6 is a good compromise, and unless you’re very strapped for bandwidth or very strapped for processing power, you can leave it at that
• -COLOR16 – runs the application in 16-bit color depth on server, saves bandwidth
• -RCNTM=time – enables automatic reconnect in case of connectivity issues, the client will try to reconnect for time seconds
• -CROPTn – enables (CROPT1) or disables (CROPT0) cursor optimization, which causes the cursor position to be transmitted after around 150ms of inactivity, this option can save a lot of bandwidth on modern apps while worsening the user experience slightly
• -DGOPT – enables mouse dragging optimization, again, reducing bandwidth

Compatibility:

• -MWMAPn – enables (-MWMAP1) or disables (-MWMAP0) the translation of mouse scrolls to scrolling messages for applications that don’t support mouse scrolling, on by default

Diagnostics:

• -NETSTAT – turns on a network usage statistics window
• -LINK=kbps – enables traffic throughput limitation to kbps uplink and kbps downlink, useful for testing
• -UPLINK=kbps – enables traffic throughput limitation to kbps uplink, useful for testing
• -DOWNLINK=kbps – enables traffic throughput limitation to kbps downlink, useful for testing
• -DELAY=ms – enables added delay of ms milliseconds at transmission, both receiving and sending, useful for testing

Usability:

• -RMARK – marks Winflector windows on the client, which can be helpful if one is using an application both locally and through Winflector
• -NSLP – prevents the client from going into standby mode, useful for mobile clients
• -SVBWS – use server browser to open URLs, by default the URL is opened on the client
• -SMOOTH – force high update frequencies, useful for watching videos and other dynamic content, increases bandwidth usage
• -SVMNU – force server side menu rendering, useful if there are issues with client side rendering, increases bandwidth usage and impacts responsivity
• -ACT – allows Clear Type fonts, makes the application a bit prettier, increases bandwidth usage

Printers:

• -NOPRN – disable printer mapping
• -SVPRN – show server printers, by default only client side printers will show, useful for printing something on the server side
• -NODEFPRN – disables transferring the default printer settings from the client to the application
• -BINPRNn – enables bitmap printing – this is a compatibility mode in case the default printing options fail with the application. It is possible to use a 2-color (-BINPRN1), 16-color (-BINPRN2) or 256 (-BINPRN3), increases memory usage

For more information on printers, check out the article on printing remotely through Winflector.

COM ports:

• -CMAP=name – configures the COM ports mapping. By default, all server serial ports are mapped onto COM1 on the client. This can be changed to another port (-CMAP=COM2), turned off (-CMAP=off), or a one-to-one mapping can be forced, in which server COM1 is mapped to client COM1, server COM2 to client COM2, and so on (-CMAP=all)
• -NOCRA – turns off the read-ahead and parameter caching optimization for COM ports, to be used if an application has issues with COM ports/devices