People use WND Terminal on a phone or tablet through WND Terminal in a browser, the gateway your IT team runs on its own server. They open its address in Safari or Chrome and sign in as on a computer. On a device without a mouse, WND Terminal switches to its touch layout by itself.
Install the gateway on your server
Phones and tablets use WND Terminal in a browser. IT runs wnd-gateway on an x64 Linux or Windows server or virtual machine, either as a native service or in a Docker container on Linux. The gateway contains the web app, HTTPS server, sign-in and terminal engine. The server must be reachable from users’ browsers and able to reach your IBM mainframe, IBM i or UNIX hosts.
On a small screen, swipe the table to read all columns.
| Deployment | What to install |
|---|---|
| Linux service | Download WND-Gateway-Linux-x64.tar.gz from the customer portal. Install the gateway and supplied systemd service, then configure gateway.toml. |
| Windows service | Download WND-Gateway-Windows-x64.zip. Unzip it on your server, configure gateway.toml, then register and start the WND Terminal Gateway service. |
| Docker | Build an image from the released Linux x64 gateway binary with the Docker deployment example. Mount the configuration, certificate, policy and license read-only, and keep a persistent data volume for logs and recordings. The container listens on port 8443; map your HTTPS port to it. |
- Choose an internal name such as
terminal.example.comand install a TLS certificate for it. - Configure your OpenID Connect provider, such as Entra ID or Okta, or the gateway’s local user file.
- Add your approved host connections, policy and Enterprise license. Give the data folder persistent storage and size the server for your expected concurrent sessions and recording use.
- Run
wnd-gateway check-config --config gateway.toml, start the service, then open its HTTPS address from Safari or Chrome on the phone.
The gateway release includes the installation guide, example configuration and service files. Follow the gateway setup steps and the full configuration reference. You host it in your own infrastructure; your users reach the same address from computers, phones and tablets.
The key bar
The key bar sits at the bottom of the screen, above the phone’s keyboard when that’s open. Enter is always at the right, and the other keys scroll sideways. Pressing a key on the bar never closes the keyboard.
On a small screen, swipe the table to read all columns.
| Group | Mainframe (3270) | IBM i (5250) |
|---|---|---|
| Fields | Tab, Back tab, Field Exit, Reset, Clear, Erase EOF | Tab, Back tab, Field Exit, Reset, Field+, Field− |
| Function keys | PF1 to PF24 | F1 to F24 |
| Host keys | PA1, PA2, PA3, Attn, Erase input | Roll Up, Roll Down, Help, Attn, SysReq, Dup, Field Mark, Erase input, Print |
| Cursor | Arrows, Home, New line, Insert, Delete | The same |
| Screen | Scan (where the camera can scan), Fit width or Whole screen | The same |
Typing and zooming
- Tap a field to put the cursor there. In a field you can type in, the phone’s keyboard opens. Words it suggests or corrects go into the field as they change.
- Tap “F3=Exit” and similar text to press that key.
- Long press to open the menu, with copy the screen, copy as a table and paste.
- Pinch to zoom in or out, and drag with one finger to move around. On a phone the screen starts filling the width. A tablet starts with the whole screen.
- The keyboard never covers the cursor. WND Terminal fits itself above the keyboard and keeps the cursor’s line in view.
- A keyboard attached, such as an iPad keyboard or a rugged device’s keypad, works as on a computer, with F1 to F24 and your keyboard maps.
Barcode scanning
Scanners that type, such as Zebra’s built-in scanner with DataWedge, Honeywell scanners and Bluetooth or USB scanners, need nothing set up. To WND Terminal they are a keyboard. Put the cursor in the field and scan. Set the scanner to send Enter or Tab after each barcode if the screen expects it. With DataWedge, use Keystroke output.
The camera. Tap Scan on the key bar, aim at the barcode, and it’s typed where the cursor is. This works where the browser can read barcodes, which today means Chrome and Edge on Android. On iPhone and iPad, use a scanner that types. Under Display, After a scan chooses whether Tab, Enter or Field Exit is pressed after the barcode, or nothing. The camera’s picture never leaves the device, and the status line says a barcode was scanned and how long it was, never what it was.
Settings
These are under Display, in “Phones and tablets”.
- Touch layout is Auto (on when there’s no mouse), On or Off.
- Large touch targets makes keys, buttons and tabs bigger, for gloves or a rugged device’s screen.
- After a scan sets the key pressed after a barcode scanned with the camera.
Add it to the home screen
The gateway’s web app can be installed. In Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. In Chrome, open the menu and tap Install app. It then opens in its own window with WND Terminal’s icon.
It keeps only the web app’s own files on the device, such as the page, scripts, styles and icons, so it opens quickly and says so when the gateway can’t be reached. It never keeps screens, typing or anything about who is signed in.
For IT
Phones and tablets use the gateway’s policy, license and audit log, like any browser. Seats count per person, not per device. AllowBarcodeScanning = false (in Group Policy, Turn off barcode scanning with the camera) removes Scan from the key bar, and the gateway’s pages then can’t use the camera at all. Scanners that type still work, because they are a keyboard.
Printing, Fill from Excel and file transfer work in a phone’s browser as in any browser, with the browser’s own print and file pickers.