technical solutions and commentary

Windows Server 2003 allows for COM port redirection for Terminal Services clients. The actual command to enable this are difficult to find in documentation. You can use these in a logon script, a GPO or a batch file. This does not work for Windows 2000 servers.
For Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services clients use this command:

net use COMx: \\tsclient\COMy

Where x = an available server COM port such as 4,5,6,7
Where y = an availabe client COM port such as 2,3,4,5
* Use the actual word “tsclient” in the command

For Windows Server 2003 using Citrix Presentaiton Server use this command:

net use COMx: \\client\COMy

Where x = an available server COM port such as 4,5,6,7
Where y = an availabe client COM port such as 2,3,4,5
* Use the actual word “client” in the command

With Citrix you can also enable COM port redirection using other methods, such as Citrix Policies. However, for the command line the above will work as well.