Telnet Basic Manual

The purpose of this document is to explain Telnet and how it is used.

What is Telnet and What Is It For?

Telnet is a system for logging onto a remote computer through the Internet. There are lots of reasons to do this. Telnet allows you to access computers all over the world and use the resources you find on those computers. You could use telnet to access Brand X while on vacation to check your mail. You can use it to play games, to join chat lines, or you can use it to access and modify web pages if you have a web site. Telnet does this by simulating a Unix terminal connected to the other computer via the Internet. So what you see in Telnet is the same thing as what you would see if you were at a terminal hooked directly to the other computer.

Telnet began as one of the basic features of Unix, and at Brand X we use telnet from a central console to access and configure the various Brand X computers. We use the basic text version of Telnet, which is built into Berkely Unix. There are Mac and Windows versions of Telnet, which you can run from home, and which give you all of the features of Unix Telnet, but with a nifty graphical window. Once you've got a connection started, all of the various forms of Telnet are the same because what you really see is whatever the other computer is sending you, and telnet is always going to be text no matter which version of telnet you use. Telnet is easy and it is popular. It is well worth learning. If you enjoy the Internet, Telnet will become one of your most useful and frequently used tools.

Getting Started With Telnet

We will explain here how to obtain and set up each of the versions of Telnet, and how to start a connection. The following chapters will tel you waht to do once you have Telnet set up.

Macintosh
- Software
  Mac folks use NCSA Telnet. It's a great program; very reliable, easy to use, and free. There is no reason to consider using any other Telnet program on a Mac.
  Software and information about NCSA Telnet for Mac can be obtained from http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Brochure/Overview/MacTelnet.overview.html
- Installing NCSA Telnet
  Installation is easy. Once you have got NCSA Telnet onto your computer you can simply start using it. If it's compressed you may need to decompress it. If you have a copy of software from the "Internet Starter Kit" it may install Telnet for you. The only important thing to do is to make sure that the folder you put Telnetis somewhere where it's easy for you to find.
- Starting a Connection With NCSA Telnet
  Make sure that your Internet connection is going. Now double click on the Telnet icon to start the program. To make a connection, select file->open connection from the menu. A window will pop up and ask you where you want to connect. "Host/Connection" is the computer you want to log into. You can type in either the name of the computer or the numerical IP address. For example, you might enter LOGIN.ITD.UMICH.EDU in order to connect to the University of Michigan ITD Login Service.
  Some computers may also request a "port number". Put this after the name. Enter the host address in the Host/Session Name box. Click OK.
  Example: if you want to connect to the Realms game, you need to connect to port 1501 at realms.dorsai.org :
```
Name: Realms Dungeon Game
Host Address: realms.dorsai.org 1501
```
  Once you have got the host typed in, click on "connect". NCSA Telnet will try to set up a connection for you. If it is successful, it will bring up a terminal window and you can log in to the remote computer and start your Telnet Session.
- Saving Your Connection
  There are a couple of ways of saving the connection information so you don't have to type it in every time you log in (useful if you keep going back to the same places.)
  Once you have established a connection with a particular host, you may choose to save the configuration information. From the File menu, choose Save Set, and the characteristics of that session will be saved to a file. You may have several different saved session files, so be sure to give them a name that will indicate their purpose. For example, you might name the above sessions "Realms Dungeon Game."
  Or, you can create a "session" which will be saved, sort of like a bookmark. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences/Sessions. Choose New. A dialog box will open that lets you specify the connection characteristics for a ew session. Enter the host name for the service you want to connect to as well as an alias (a short descriptive title for the session you are creating). For example, you could open a session to www.brandx.net with an alias of "Brand X Web Server."
- Problems
  NCSA is generally pretty reliable. The most frequent problem is that your telephone connection may be interrupted, and Telnet will stall. This usually means that you were never logged in, or you had an incoming call which caused your Internet connection to die, or it may mean that you didn't do anything for a very long time (more than ten minutes) and the server disconnected you (this is called a "time-out".) Sometimes you will find that the server you are logging into is down. This happens even to the largest of servers. This week (Aug 1 1996) both Yahoo and USC have been down. It is unfortunate but it happens.
Windows
There are several choices for Windows Telnet programs. If you got your software from the Internet Starter Kit or Brand X, you probably already have one of these programs. We will describe some of the more popular windows telnet programs.
Unix
Telnet is built into BSD Unix. Using it is extremely easy. To start a telnet session just type "telnet hostname" where "hostname" is the name of the server you want to connect to. If there is a port number you can put it after the hostname.
Here is a sample of how to start a telnet session at Brand X internet. (You will see pretty much the same thing if you had connected with a program such as NCSA Telnet.)
```
login: jimp
Password:
Last login: Sat Nov 11 17:40:28 from 204.137.205.102
Copyright 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Berkeley Software Design, Inc.
Copyright (c) 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994
The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.

You have new mail.
California, n.:
From Latin "calor", meaning "heat" (as in English "calorie" or
Spanish "caliente"); and "fornia'" for "sexual intercourse" or
"fornication."  Hence: Tierra de California, "the land of hot sex."
                -- Ed Moran
cellini %
```
Note the parts of the session: login, I type my username, then password, I answer with my (secret) password, then the computer comes back with the date, the copyright of the operating system, a note that I have some mail and a cute quote before brining up the system prompt (in this case it's "cellini" but this varies from comptuer to computer even at Brand X Internet.)
- Obtaining Software
  There are many places to find Windows Telnet software. One of the best ways is to point your web browser at www.shareware.com, search for the program you want, and find out where to download copies. Because this is so easy, and because the sites often move, we aren't going to list any specific download sites for the Windows software.
- QVT Telnet for Windows
  This is a great telnet client. After downloading you will probably have to unzip and install the software. No configuration is necessary.
  To telnet to brandx.net, open QVT Telnet and click on the icon that looks like a computer with a blue screen. It's a little bit abstract, they don't win big points for art on this one. A box will come up with the title "Start Terminal Session". Enter for the host:
```
Name: Reals Dungeon Game
Network Address: reals.dorsai.org
Port: 1501
```
  If you are connected to the system, then QVT will connect and you will soon see the login prompt for the remote machine.
- Ewan Telnet for Windows
  This is another good Telnet program for windows. The main site to download this software wi www.lysator.liu.se/~zander/ewan.html, but you may be able to find a closer place to download it if you check at shareware.com. After downloading you will probably have to unzip and install the software. No configuration is necessary.
  Starting a Telnet sesssion with Ewan is easy. From the File menu select "New". This will bring up the address window. "Name" is what you would like to call the connection you are going to create. Network address or host name is the computer you want to connect to. Port is the port number, if the computer you are connecting to requires one. You could put for example:
```
Name: Reals Dungeon Game
Network Address: realms.dorsai.org
Port (Custom): 1501
```
- Problems
  Both Windows Telnet programs are generally pretty reliable. The most frequent problem is that your telephone connection may be interrupted, and Telnet will stall. This usually means that you were never logged in, or you had an incoming call which caused your Internet connection to die, or it may mean that you didn't do anything for a very long time (more than ten minutes) and the server disconnected you (this is called a "time-out".) Sometimes you will find that the server you are logging into is down. This happens even to the largest of servers. This week (Aug 1 1996) both Yahoo and USC have been down. It is unfortunate but it happens.
Unix
Telnet is built into Unix. It's extremely easy to use. Rather than describe it, we will simply show an example of using Telnet from Brand X. We're going to connect to a game server, but the procedure would be the same if we were connecting to any other server.
That's pretty much all there is; from this point you would have to try and figure out how to log in to the remote server and play the game.

Some Things to Try With Telnet

IRC Chat lines
IRC Chat Lines are places where you can "chat" to other Internet folks, by typing on your computer.
MUD Multi User Dungeon Games
These are highly addictive text based adventure games. Most of them run around the clock and have players from around the world.
Checking Mail with Unix Mail
This is one fairly simple way to check your mail via telnet. You can do this from anywhere in the world if you have an Internet connection.
Checking Mail with Pine This is a slightly more complicated but more flexible way to check your email via telnet.
Editing Documents (Web Pages)
You can use telnet to access the web server so that you can edit web pages. Sometimes this can be a real time saver, particularly if you just want to make some quick small changes. We recommned the pico editor, which is covered elsewhere. Building Web Pages is dealt with in detail in our instructions on How to Build Your Own Web Site.
Set Up Mail Forwarding
This is another useful way to use the pico editor.