How to use the Room Lookup list in NetSupport School

This article applies to NetSupport School version 15.00. For information relating to version 14.00 and below, click here.

NetSupport School includes support for use within Terminal Server environments. For environments using one Terminal Server to host Students within a single classroom, the assignment of the room name to the NetSupport School Student is a simple process. The room name configured locally for the Student installed on the Terminal Server will be applied to each of the Students running in the thin client sessions.

However, within an environment where you have one or more Terminal Servers managing thin client sessions from multiple classrooms, it is not possible to use the above method to assign the room names to thin client devices. This is because the sessions will not all be located in the same room, so a single room name cannot be applied. To assign the correct room to each thin client, a Room Lookup file needs to be used.

A .csv file needs to be created that contains a list of all of the thin client device names from each classroom; these device names are then linked to a room name. See an example of the contents of the .csv file below:

ThinClient1, Room1
ThinClient2, Room1
ThinClient3, Room2
ThinClient4, Room2

Each of the NetSupport School installations on the Terminal Servers will need to be configured to point to the Room Lookup file. When a user logs onto one of the thin clients, the NetSupport School Student on the Terminal Server will first look up the name of the device in the Room Lookup file and then apply the relevant room name for the NetSupport School Student that loads on the thin client.

The Tutor Console can then use Room mode as normal to allow the teacher to connect to Students with a matching room name.

Configure the Room Lookup file on the Terminal Server

1. Open the NetSupport School Student Configurator from your NetSupport School program group.
2. Select Terminal Services.

3. Select Use lookup file to set room.
4. You will need to point this to the .csv file located on the Terminal Server.

Once the Student configuration is pointed to the Room Lookup list, log on to a number of different thin client devices and when the Student loads in the session, if you mouse over the NetSupport School Student icon in the system tray, this will report the room name that has been assigned to the device.

You need to ensure the Tutor Consoles are using Room mode. To confirm this, log onto one of the Tutor devices and run the Tutor Console.

1. Click Options in the Tutor Console and select Network settings from the menu.
2. Select Student Selection.
3. Click the Connect to Students in Room(s)option and ensure that Prompt at Startup is also enabled.
4. Click OK.
5. The Tutor will be restarted and the Class wizard will appear. Here you will be prompted for your teacher name and room name. Select a room name from the Lookup list, e.g. Room1 and the Tutor will now only connect to the thin client devices located in Room 1.