Guide to Installing, Configuring, and Using Telnet from Home

d e meyers CS Dept sep 05

Telnet is a terminal emulation protocol over TCP/IP. A telnet client will connect to any computer on the Internet that is running a telnet daemon. Campus machines that support the telnet protocol include:

Department         Domain Name             IP Address
Computer Science   helios.cs.csubak.edu    136.168.201.112
Computer Science   pegasus.cs.csubak.edu   136.168.201.110
Computer Science   sumatra.cs.csubak.edu   136.168.201.111
Academic Computing academic.csub.edu       136.168.1.4

Web browsers are configured to run a rather limited telnet application that is bundled with the OS. Start a telnet session from a web browser by typing the URL with the telnet protocol; e.g.

telnet://pegasus.cs.csubak.edu

You will probably want to download a more sophisticated telnet application. CSUB provides support for downloading and installing NetTerm for PC's or NCSA telnet for MAC's. You may call the Student Technology Help Desk at 661.665-6677 for help.

For UNIX/Linux Users:
If you have a PC running UNIX/Linux at home, an X11 telnet application (xterm) is already installed; you simply click on the application icon or type 'xterm hostname' from a terminal session window. In addition, if you have installed Netscape under Linux, it is already configured to run xterm. You may need to set the termtype and the erase key depending on the computer you login to (your .profile on pegasus by default sets your termtype to vt100). Read "General Information" below for instructions on doing this.

Downloading NetTerm (shareware) for Windows

Click here
Click on both the .EXE file and the .INI file and save them on your computer (remember where you put them!)
Find the NT32422.EXE file you just downloaded and double-click it.
Follow NetTerm's installation instructions.
Find the netterm.ini file you downloaded and move it into the Windows System directory (c:\winnt)

Downloading putty for Windows

Putty supports telnet and ssh. Helios is running an ssh daemon (pegasus is not). Click here to download putty. The executable is ready to run.

Downloading NCSA Telnet for Macintosh Computers

You must be at your computer, connected to the Internet, and running Netscape
Click here
Click on Mac
Click on your hardware platform (either 68k or PPC)
Click on NCSA Telnet
Click on telnet27b4.sea.bin
Select a location to save the file.
Click on the telnet27sea.bin icon.
Install the software in the folder of your choice.
Follow the instructions to "Configuring Netscape for Telnet" below

General Information

Telnet handles a remote login to another Internet computer. The host (the computer you are using) negotiates a login with the remote host). During the behind-the-scenes negotiation process, the two computers agree on the parameters governing the session. One of the first things they settle is the terminal type to be used, such as vt100 or vt220. A virtual terminal, in this context, refers to a set of terminal characteristics and sequences that both sides of a network connection agree to use to transmit data from terminals across the network, regardless of the terminal used. Applications running on the remote host, such as pico and vi under dUNIX on pegasus, require vt100 terminal emulation. If you get the message 'unable to set termcap' when you login to pegasus, it is unable to determine your terminal type. In this case, type these commands after logging in:

$ TERM=vt100
$ export TERM

To set the 'backspace key' to 'delete' use the following command:

$ stty erase "^H"

In addition, some CSUB resources such as BANNER, and the EVE editor used in VMS mail require a special keyboard mapping. The NETTERM.INI file you downloaded is configured specifically for these resources. If you do not use it, or use another telnet, certain keys will not work.

All telnet applications require you to connect or open a session. From telnet, enter the domain name (e.g. pegasus.cs.csubak.edu). If you have trouble connecting (possibly because DNS cannot resolve the domain name try using the IP address). After a successful connection you will be asked to enter your username: and password: (under Unix these are case sensitive).

You should ALWAYS logout of your session on the remote machine (on Unix machines type 'exit'). After logging out, use the DISCONNECT and/or QUIT menu option from your Telnet application to exit the program.