Telnet

Need a telnet package? check here.

Want to see what the weather's like in Vermont? Check on crop conditions in Azerbaijan? Get more information about somebody whose name you've seen online? You can do this and more. You can Telnet to any publicly accessible computer or any one on which you have an account.

Telnet is a program that lets you login to one computer on the Internet from another. You can connect interactively to databases, library catalogs, and other information resources around the world. Telnet was one of the earliest tools used to access information on the Internet. This general purpose tool allows you to connect to many stand-alone systems that cannot be tapped by other client software (e.g. Gopher or FTP). Like FTP software, telnet requires manual navigation. That is, you must know an address to telnet to.

Your NCSA/BYU Telnet client supports VT100 terminal emulation which works with most systems. Another Telnet client, tn3270, is used to emulate the IBM 3270; you'd use tn3270 to connect to the Virginia Tech mainframe or VTLS. All you have to know to telnet is the machine name or IP address of the computer to which you want to connect. For example, many people in Blacksburg want to telnet to the mainframe, which has a hostname of vtvm1.cc.vt.edu.

At your Telnet program's command line, type

Trying 128.233.3.1 ... Connected to access.usask.ca. Escape character is '^]'. Ultrix UNIX (access.usask.ca) login:

Every telnet site has two addresses -- one composed of words that are easier for people to remember; the other a numerical address better suited for computers. The "escape character" is good to remember. When all else fails, hitting your control key and the ] key at the same time will disconnect you and return you to your host system. At the login prompt, type:

                                                                               
What is HYTELNET?              -  Up/Down arrows MOVE 
Library catalogs               -  Left/Right arrows 
SELECT
Other resources                -  ? for HELP anytime
Help files for catalogs        -                
Catalog interfaces             -  m returns here
Internet Glossary              -  q quits
Telnet tips                    - 
Telnet/TN3270 escape key       -   
Key-stroke commands            - 

The first choice, "WHATIS" will be highlighted. Use your down and up arrows to move the cursor among the choices. Hit enter when you decide on one. You'll get another menu, which in turn will bring up text files telling you how to connect to sites and giving any special commands or instructions you might need. Hytelnet does have one quirk. To move back to where you started (for example, from a sub-menu to a main menu), hit the left-arrow key on your computer.

Play with the system. You might want to turn on your computer's screen-capture, or at the very least, get out a pen and paper. You're bound to run across some interesting telnet services that you'll want to try -- and you'll need their telnet "addresses."

As you move around Hytelnet, it may seem as if you haven't left your own computer -- telnet can work that quickly. Occasionally, when network loads are heavy, however, you will notice a delay between the time you type a command or enter a request and the time the remote service responds.

To disconnect from Hytelnet and return to your system, hit your q key and enter. Some telnet computers are set up so that you can only access them through a specific "port". In those cases, you'll always see a number after their name, for example: india.colorado.edu 13. It's important to include that number, because otherwise, you may not get in.

In fact, try the above address. Type:

What we want is the middle line, which tells you the exact Mountain Standard Time, as determined by a government-run atomic clock in Boulder, CO.