Installing a Secure pcAnywhere 10.5 Remote on Windows

Introduction

This is the procedure I used to set-up a secure pcAnywhere 10.5 remote on Windows 2000 Professional. It should work similarly for other versions of pcAnywhere and Windows. This information is provided as-is with NO WARRANTY expressed or implied. You agree to use it at your own risk. The author(s) cannot be held liable for the use or misuse of this information.

Assumptions

1. The host has already been set-up 2. There is a caller account already set-up on the host for this remote user 3. Certificates for the host and remote have already been generated

Procedure

Insert the pcAnywhere CD into the drive. This should automatically bring up a menu that looks like this:
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Select Install pcAnywhere 10.5. This will bring up a menu that looks like this:
Select Remote Only. This will bring up a setup wizard. Follow the instructions on the screens to install it. Once finished, it will ask you to update the pcAnywhere software. Allow it to run the update. If it asks you to register the product, you can do so, or hit the Skip button. Once the installation is finished, it will ask to restart the computer. Allow it to do so. Once the machine reboots, you should see an icon on the desktop for Symantec pcAnywhere. It should look like this:
Create a folder c:\Program Files\Symantec\pcAnywhere\Certs Copy the.p12 file for the remote user into the Certs directory. Copy the.p7b file for the host into the Certs directory. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the Certs directory. Double-click on the.p12 file for the remote user. This will start the Certificate Import Wizard.

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You should first encounter the Welcome panel for the wizard. It should look like this:
Hit the Next button. This will bring you to a panel asking for the file you want to import. It should look like this:
Confirm that the file name input is pre-filled with the full path to the.p12 file for the remote user and hit the Next button.

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This will bring you to a panel asking for the password to use for the private key. It should look like this:
Do the following: 1. Leave the password input blank 2. Ensure the Enable strong private key protection box is not checked 3. Check the box for Mark the private key as exportable The result should look like the panel pictured above. When finished, hit the Next button.

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This will bring you to a panel asking for the certificate store to use. It should look like this:
Do the following: 1. Select the radio button for Place all certificates in the following
2. Hit the Browse button 3. On the choose dialog that comes up, select the Personal store and hit the OK button to close the browse dialog The result should look like the panel pictured above. When finished, hit the Next button. This will bring you to the Completing the Certificate Import Wizard panel. It should look like this:

Hit the Finish button.

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You should get a dialog stating that the import was successful. It should look like this:
Hit the OK button to close it. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to c:\Program Files\Symantec\pcAnywhere and double-click on the MachKey.exe program. This will bring up a window that looks like this:
This shows you a listing of the certificates in your personal store and the machines store. We need to copy the remote user certificate we just imported into the machine store. To do so, select the certificate with the remote users name and hit the Copy to Machine Store button. This will add the certificate to the machine store as shown in the picture above. When finished, close the MachKey utility. Copy the certcons.exe file from c:\Program Files\Symantec\pcAnywhere into the Certs directory you created earlier. Go to a DOS prompt and do the following:

cd c:\Program Files\Symantec\pcAnywhere\Certs certcons pca.store [The name of the hosts.p7b file]

Exit the DOS prompt.

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Double-click the pcAnywhere icon on the desktop it to run the program. If it asks you to register the product, you can do so, or hit the Skip button. Once the program runs, you will get a screen that looks like this:
Double-click on the Add Remote icon.

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This will bring up a dialog to allow you to configure a new remote session. The first panel you encounter will be for setting up the connection. It should look like this:
Confirm that the TCP/IP device is checked.

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Now, click on the Settings tab. You should get a screen that looks like this:
Do the following: 1. Fill in the Network host PC to control or IP address input to the IP address or name of the host machine. 2. Under the Login information area, check the box to Automatically login to

host upon connection

3. Enter your login name in the Login name input 4. Enter your password in the Password input 5. Leave the Domain input empty When you are finished, it should look similar to the panel pictured above.

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Now, click on the Security Options tab. You should get a screen that looks like this:
Do the following: 1. For the Level selection box, choose Public key 2. Check the box for Deny lower encryption level 3. Hit the button for the Public key Encryption Wizard This will bring up the Public Key Encryption Wizard. You should get a screen that looks like this:
Hit the Next button. Copyright 2002-2007 JAMM Consulting, Inc. All trademarks are property of their respective holders. Page 10
This will bring you to a panel to select your certificate. It should look like this:
Check the box next to the certificate for the remote user and hit the Next button. This will bring you to a panel to select your certificate store. It should look like this:
Hit the Browse button. In the chooser dialog that comes up, navigate to the pca.store file in the Certs directory and hit OK to close the chooser dialog. When finished, hit the Next button.

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This will bring you to a confirmation pane that looks like this:
Hit the Finish button. This will take you back to the Security Options tab in the properties for the new remote session. It should look like this:
Note that the Private key container and Certificate common name inputs have been filled-in. When finished, hit the OK button.

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This will create an icon for the new remote connection and prompt you to fill in a name for the connection. Give it the name or IP address of the server. It should look like this:
Double-click on the remote icon you just created to connect to the host computer.

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