serial-console

A small terminal picker for serial consoles on Fortinet gear (FortiGate, FortiSwitch, FortiAP) on Windows. Type serial, pick the device type (that sets the baud rate), pick the COM port, and you are connected.

It is a PowerShell front-end for SerialTerm by Adam Keher, which does the actual serial work.

  Serial console – device type
  ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  > FortiGate          9600 baud
    FortiSwitch      115200 baud
    FortiAP            9600 baud
    Other (115200)   115200 baud
    Other (9600)       9600 baud

  Up/Down or 1-9 · Enter select · Esc cancel

Install

Paste this into PowerShell (7 or Windows PowerShell 5.1, no admin needed):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jensopt/serial-console/main/install.ps1 | iex

Run the same line again to update: it fetches the latest SerialTerm release and the latest module.

What the installer changes

Everything is per user. Nothing needs admin rights, and your PowerShell profile ($PROFILE) is not touched. PowerShell loads the module automatically the first time you type serial.

What	Where	Notes
SerialTerm.exe	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SerialTerm\	Latest release from AdamKeher/SerialTerm, x64 or arm64, checked against the release's SHA256 digest. Overwritten on update.
User PATH	HKCU\Environment → Path	Adds the folder above (once), so SerialTerm and SerialTerm @fortigate work directly. Takes effect in new terminals.
PowerShell module SerialConsole	Documents\PowerShell\Modules\SerialConsole\ (PowerShell 7) Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\SerialConsole\ (5.1)	Provides the serial command. Overwritten on update.
SerialTerm profiles	%APPDATA%\SerialTerm\profiles\	fortigate.rsp, fortiswitch.rsp, fortiap.rsp. Existing files with these names are never overwritten, so your own tweaks survive updates.

Profiles

There are two kinds of "profile". They do the same job (preset baud rate) from two different entry points.

1. Device types in the serial picker. These are built into the module:

Device type	Baud	Typical use
FortiGate	9600	FortiGate console port (RJ45 or USB-C)
FortiSwitch	115200	FortiSwitch console port
FortiAP	9600	FortiAP console port
Other (115200)	115200	Anything else at 115200
Other (9600)	9600	Anything else at 9600

The serial line is always 8N1 with no flow control (SerialTerm defaults). If you get garbage on screen, the baud rate is wrong. Press Ctrl+A # in the session to change it without reconnecting.

2. SerialTerm argument profiles (.rsp). Use these when you skip the picker and call SerialTerm directly:

Command	Contents
SerialTerm @fortigate	--baud 9600 --status-line
SerialTerm @fortiswitch	--baud 115200 --status-line
SerialTerm @fortiap	--baud 9600 --status-line

A .rsp file is a plain text file with one argument per line. # comments are allowed. Add your own in %APPDATA%\SerialTerm\profiles\, and list them with SerialTerm profiles. Command-line arguments override the profile: SerialTerm @fortigate --port COM5.

Usage

serial                       device type -> COM port -> connect
serial --help                help, baud rates and all keys
serial --log boot.log        extra arguments are passed to SerialTerm
serial --timestamp abs
SerialTerm list              list COM ports

In the picker: Up/Down or 1-9 to choose, Enter to select, R to refresh the ports after plugging in a cable, Esc to go back or cancel. USB/real ports are listed first and Bluetooth serial links last.

In the session, press Ctrl+A, then:

Key	Action	Key	Action	Key	Action
q	quit	l	log on/off	s	send text file
b	send break	#	change baud	d	disconnect/reconnect
i	port settings	f	freeze screen	v	hex view
o	local echo	c	clear screen	t	DTR/RTS lines
1-9	send macro	?	key help	Ctrl+A	literal Ctrl+A

Tips

• Use Windows Terminal. The legacy console host renders the picker poorly.
• Is the console cable not listed? Install its USB-serial driver (Prolific, FTDI, CH340, Silicon Labs CP210x), then press R.
• SerialTerm.exe is in use during an update means a session is still open. Close it and run the installer again.

Uninstall

Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\SerialTerm" -Recurse -Force
$docs = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('MyDocuments')
'PowerShell', 'WindowsPowerShell' | ForEach-Object { Remove-Item "$docs\$_\Modules\SerialConsole" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }
Remove-Item "$env:APPDATA\SerialTerm\profiles\forti*.rsp"

Then remove %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SerialTerm from your user PATH: Start → Edit environment variables for your account → Path.

Credits

Serial engine: SerialTerm by Adam Keher. This repository does not contain or redistribute SerialTerm. The installer downloads it from the official GitHub releases.