Connection Manager User Interface
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 Foundation, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista
The Connection Manager user interface on the client consists of a logon dialog box and a set of property dialog boxes with which users can customize their connection settings. What users see depends largely on how you customize your service profile. Help for the Connection Manager interface can be displayed by pressing F1 while viewing each of the dialog boxes. The default Help file for this is connmgr.chm, but a custom file can be displayed instead if included by the creator of the connection profile.
Logon dialog box
The logon dialog box is often the only Connection Manager screen your users see when they access your service. In this dialog box, users specify their credentials (such as user name and user password) so they can connect to your network servers. You can customize the service name, the graphic, support information, and many other elements of this dialog box. Users can customize this logon box if they configure favorite connection settings. If two or more favorites have been configured, the user can select between them from the logon dialog box.
Properties dialog box
The ServiceProfileName Properties dialog box appears when a user clicks Properties in the logon dialog box.
Note
The title bar of this dialog box contains the service name of the connection profile in front of the word Properties, but it is referred to as simply the Properties dialog box throughout this documentation.
Properties – General tab
On the General tab, users can specify the way their system connects to an Internet service provider to access your service:
If the service profile that you provide supports virtual private network (VPN) connections, users can choose to use a direct connection that has already been established to the Internet. They can alternatively use a dial-up modem and specify phone numbers and other information needed to establish the dial-up connection.
If the service profile that you provide does not support VPN connections, users do not see the direct connections option, but they are still able to specify phone numbers and other information for their dial-up connections.
Using this tab, users can specify the following information for dial-up connections:
The phone number to be dialed to establish a connection. Users can type a number or click the Phone Book button to select a phone number from the phone book included with the profile.
When users click the Phone Book button, they can select a Point of Presence (POP) from the list in the Phone Book dialog box. Only those access numbers that are supported by the selected service type, country (or region), and state (or province) appear in the list.
Additional numbers appear in the More access numbers box only if you configure the phone book to support this second set of numbers (such as the phone numbers you specify as surcharge numbers when you use Connection Point Services to create your phone book). If the phone book has not been set up with additional access numbers for the selected geographic location, the box will be empty. If you specify in the Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK) wizard that custom text is to be displayed next to the More access numbers box, the text appears only when numbers are available for the selected geographic location.
Dialing rules for the dialing location. If users click Dialing Rules on the General tab, they can specify information about the location from which they are currently dialing, such as calling card numbers and codes for accessing outside and long-distance lines, or information about other locations for future use.
The type of device to be used to connect to your service. Only installed and available device types appear in the Connect using list.
Whether to save the settings as a favorite for later use. Users can name and save all the current settings and then select one of these favorite sets of settings from the Connection Manager logon dialog box.
Properties – Internet Logon tab
On the Internet Logon tab, users can type a user name and password to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) before establishing the VPN tunnel. This tab appears only if, in the CMAK wizard, you:
Specify support for VPN connections.
Do not select the Use the same user name and password for VPN and dial-up connections check box.
Properties – VPN tab
On the VPN tab, users can choose a VPN server for the connection. This tab appears only if, in the CMAK wizard, you do each of the following three things:
Specify support for VPN connections.
Select the Allow the user to choose a VPN server before connecting check box.
Include a VPN server list file with your service profile.
For more information, see Implementing VPN Support and Incorporating VPN Entries.
Properties – Options tab
On the Options tab, users can change the connection defaults for establishing and keeping active connections. Users can change both the number of redial attempts that occur and the amount of idle time that elapses before Connection Manager ends the connection. Users can also choose whether to enable logging for this connection. If a log file has been created, users can choose to view or clear it.
Properties - Sharing tab
On the Sharing tab, users can enable Internet Connection Sharing, Internet Connection Firewall, Windows Firewall, or any combination of these services for the connection. The option to configure the firewall appear only when you use the connection profile on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP.
Note
Internet Connection Firewall is included only in the original releases of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, and in the original release of Windows XP, and in Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (SP1).
Windows Firewall is included in Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows XP with SP2, and later versions of Windows.
Additional screens
Depending on how you customize the connection profile, other screens can appear during the installation or connection processes. For example, you can specify whether a license agreement appears when users install Connection Manager. You can also incorporate Help content and other messages into the connection profile.