Unable to see any hardware that is using a direct connection to a serial port when using OnGuard in a virtual machine

Symptom

Unable to see any hardware that is using a direct connection to a serial port when using OnGuard in a virtual machine.

Resolution

1) First, check to see that the COM port is being controlled by the virtual machine. This can be done by verifying the COM port is listed in the devices and has been selected.
 
2) If the COM port does not show as available to the virtual machine, reconfigure the virtual machine to include the COM port.

Important: Before making any changes to the .vmx file, be certain that the virtual machine is shut down and that a backup of the .vmx file has been made. The .vmx file is located wherever the virtual machine was created. (This is the file opened by VMware.)

To reconfigure the virtual machine to include the COM port in VMware, add the following lines to the .vmx file:
 
serial0.present = "TRUE"
serial0.autodetect = "TRUE"

Applies To

OnGuard (All versions)

Additional Information

The serial port should be added when the virtual machine is being created if there is any chance that it will be used by OnGuard. During creation of the virtual machine is the best time to make this modification as it does not require manual editing of the .vmx file.