Linux Telnet

The networking functions of Linux, as we’ve said, are unsurpassed. This is a result of its origins in Unix, in which every computer is either a client or a server. The clients were intenteded to be “dumb “, serving only as terminals on the server. This system required a robust set of networking tools, many of which install by default in current Linux systems.

Telnet is one of those tools. Much like FTP, using telnet in Linux doesn’t vary much from Windows. Unlike FTP, the command set used once a connection is made is dependent upon the host operating system.

Telnet allows you to control and carry out instructions on a remote machine. You’ll need a user account on the remote machine, consisting of a username/password combination. Once you have these, the commands for connecting are quite simple:

    telnet [host name or IP address]
    [user name]
    [password]

Once connected, the remote machine will act as if you’re a local user in command line mode. You’ll be able to carry out any operation for which the user you’ve logged in as has permissions. In effect, you are “on” the remote machine.

Telnet, for all its simplicity, is not secure. There are much more secure ways to carry out work on a remote machine. Tomorrow, we’ll talk a bit about one of those, ssh (secure shell), as well as how it protects the remote machine from unauthorized access.