RDS Remote Application: IBM PC5250 Terminal

IBM PC5250 Terminal is a Windows-based client used to establish interactive terminal sessions with IBM i (AS/400) systems. When integrated with the 12Port Access Broker via Remote Desktop Services (RDS), IBM PC5250 enables Zero Trust access to IBM i systems through a fully monitored and credential-injected session.

Installation and Configuration

1. Download Required Files
* Executable:
https://bin.12port.com/product/remote-apps/ibm-pc5250/IBM-PC5250.exe
* Configuration File (.ini):
https://bin.12port.com/product/remote-apps/ibm-pc5250/IBM-PC5250.ini

Source file: https://bin.12port.com/product/remote-apps/ibm-pc5250/IBM-PC5250.au3

* Place both the Executable (.exe) and Configuration (.ini) files in the same directory on the RDS Server where the Remote Application will be published. For example: C:\12Port-RDSApps.
* Install and Configure the IBM PC5250 Terminal application on the RDS Host Server so it will open to the login screen for the destination server. This may need to be done manually on the RDS Host Server first, for each RDS user, before 12Port will be able to launch it properly.

2. Modify Configuration (Optional)
The .ini configuration file can be updated to define the executable path and suppress the trial dialog presented by the IBM PC5250 client. Example configuration:

[app]
exe=C:\Users\Public\IBM\ClientSolutions\Start_Programs\Windows_x86-64\acslaunch_win-64.exe /plugin=5250 
delay=5

Another example of the configuration enforces specific JRE deployment.

[app]
exe=C:\Users\Public\IBM\ClientSolutions\Start_Programs\Windows_x86-64\acslaunch_win-64.exe -vm "C:\Program Files\Semeru\jre-8.0.462.8-openj9" /plugin=5250 
delay=5

The configuration example below allows specification of JRE specific parameters

[app]
exe="C:\Program Files\Semeru\jre-8.0.462.8-openj9\bin\javaw.exe" -Djava.io.tmpdir=c:\Users\Public\Temp -cp "C:\Users\Public\IBM\ClientSolutions\acsbundle.jar" com.ibm.iaccess.launch.AcsLaunchPad /plugin=5250
delay=5

* exe: Command line to launch IBM PC5250 terminal on the RDS host.
* delay: number of seconds between sending control sequences to guide IBM terminal to perform zero trust authentication.

3. Publish the Remote Application
Use the following PowerShell command as an example to publish IBM PC5250 as a RemoteApp on the RDS server. This command must be executed from an elevated (Administrator) PowerShell session:

New-RDRemoteApp `
  -CollectionName "QuickSessionCollection" `
  -Alias "PC5250" `
  -DisplayName "PC5250" `
  -FilePath "C:\12Port-RDSApps\ibm-pc5250\IBM-PC250.exe" `
  -ShowInWebAccess $true `
  -CommandLineSetting "Allow"

Ensure the CommandLineSetting is set to "Allow" to enable the Access Broker to pass connection parameters to the application.

Note

Make sure the -FilePath value accurately reflects the location of the executable on the RDS server.

RDS Application Asset Configuration

To enable Zero Trust access to IBM PC5250 via the 12Port Access Broker:

In the RDS Remote Application asset, set the Remote App field to:
```
||PC5250
```
Set the Remote Arguments field to:
```
Host,User,Password
```
- Specify Host as configuration name for IBM PC5250 destination configuration.
- Specify User as a privileged account for zero trust access.
- Specify Password for the privileged account for zero trust access.
- Increase Input Delay for slow IBM PC5250 terminal launch.

These values allow the Access Broker to inject credentials into the terminal session without exposing them to the user.