Enable the Allow All Users Access From Remote Machines option on the Remote Execution tab of the Station Options dialog box to minimize the configuration of security permissions.

(Windows 10/8.1/7) Windows launches a User Account Control elevation prompt for you to manually resolve when you enable this option.

Note When you enable the Allow All Users Access From Remote Machines option, a user must be logged in at the physical computer console during remote sequence execution. In addition, the user account must be an administrator account. You can automatically log on a user each time a computer reboots by setting registry keys. Refer to Microsoft support article 315231 for more information about activating automatic logon.

When you enable the Allow All Users Access From Remote Machines option, TestStand configures the DCOM security permissions for you in the following ways:

  • TestStand grants the Remote Launch and Remote Activation privileges to the Everyone and ANONYMOUS LOGON user names.
  • TestStand changes the computer Component Object Model (COM) security limits to grant the Remote Launch, Remote Activation, and Remote Access privileges to the Everyone and ANONYMOUS LOGON user names.

In addition, when you enable the Allow All Users Access From Remote Machines option, the remote engine application overrides the application DCOM authentication level setting and does not authenticate connections. When you disable this option, TestStand revokes all the privileges listed previously, even if they were granted before the option was enabled.

When you do not enable the Allow All Users Access From Remote Machines option, complete the following steps to configure the DCOM security permissions for the server on a remote computer.

  1. Log in as a user with administrator privileges.
  2. Navigate to the standard Windows Control Panel facility for administrative tools and select Component Services or run dcomcnfg from the command line to launch the Component Services window.
  3. On the left pane of the Component Services window, select Component Services»Computers»My Computer.
  4. Right-click My Computer and select Properties to launch the My Computer Properties dialog box.
  5. On the Default Properties tab of the My Computer Properties dialog box, enable the Enable Distributed COM on this computer option.
    Note You must restart the computer for changes to the value of the Enable Distributed COM on this computer option to take effect.
  6. Click the COM Security tab of the My Computer Properties dialog box and complete the following steps to set permissions.
    1. Click the Edit Limits button in the Access Permissions section to launch the Access Permission dialog box.
    2. Click Add to add the users for whom you want to grant remote access. If the computer is not on a domain or the user is not a domain account, add the ANONYMOUS LOGON user.
    3. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click OK to close the Select Users or Groups dialog box.
    4. Select the user you added and enable Remote Access in the Permissions section.
    5. Click OK to close the Access Permission dialog box.
    6. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click the Edit Limits button in the Launch and Activation Permissions section to launch the Launch and Activation Permission dialog box.
    7. Click Add to add the users you want to give remote access to. If the computer is not on a domain or the user is not a domain account, add the ANONYMOUS LOGON user.
    8. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click OK to close the Select Users or Groups dialog box.
    9. Select the user you added and enable Remote Launch and Remote Activation in the Permissions section.
    10. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click OK to close the Launch and Activation Permission dialog box.
      Note You can grant access permission to the remote computer to everyone but grant launch permissions only to appropriate users because launch permissions allow access to the TestStand server on the remote computer.
  7. Click OK to close the My Computer Properties dialog box.
  8. On the left pane of the Component Services window, select My Computer»DCOM Config to display a list of applications on the right pane.
  9. Right-click NI TestStand Remote Engine and select Properties from the context menu to launch the NI TestStand Remote Engine Properties dialog box.
  10. On the General tab of the NI TestStand Remote Engine Properties dialog box, set the Authentication Level to None if the user is not a domain account.
  11. On the Identity tab of the NI TestStand Remote Engine Properties dialog box, select the This user option and enter a username and password or select the The interactive user option.
    • If you select the This user option, you must disable the Show the System Tray Icon While the TestStand Remote System is Active on this Machine option on the Remote Execution tab of the Station Options dialog box.
    • If you select the The interactive user option, a user must be logged in at the physical computer console during remote sequence execution. You can automatically log on a user each time a computer reboots by setting registry keys. Refer to Microsoft support article 315231 for more information about activating automatic logon.
      Note Regardless of whether you select the This user option or The interactive user option, the user account used on the remote computer must be an administrator account.
  12. Click the Security tab of the NI TestStand Remote Engine Properties dialog box and complete the following steps to set permissions.
    1. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Select the Customize option and click the Edit button in the Launch and Activation Permissions section to launch the Launch and Activation Permission dialog box.
    2. Click Add to add the users for whom you want to grant remote access. If the computer is not on a domain or the user is not a domain account, add the ANONYMOUS LOGON user.
    3. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click OK to close the Select Users or Groups dialog box.
    4. Select the user you added and enable Remote Launch and Remote Activation in the Permissions section.
    5. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click OK to close the Launch and Activation Permission dialog box.
    6. Select the Customize option and click the Edit button in the Access Permissions section to launch the Access Permission dialog box.
    7. Click Add to add the users for whom you want to grant remote access. If the computer is not on a domain or the user is not a domain account, add the ANONYMOUS LOGON user.
    8. (Windows 10/8.1/7) Click OK to close the Select Users or Groups dialog box.
    9. Select the user you added and enable Remote Access in the Permissions section.
    10. Click OK to close the Access Permission dialog box.
  13. Click OK to close the NI TestStand Remote Engine Properties dialog box.