Telnet

  • telnet is a protocol and a program for text-communication on the internet
  • telnet applications are available for pc and mac
  • they allow you to connect in a text-based way to remote computers
  • a telnet application requires IP (internet protocol) addresses so that the application knows what machine to connect to, much as a telephone requires a number to be dialed
  • with a graphical user interface (windows/mac os), you'll have a menu item that says "Open Connection...". This is the case with "NCSA Telnet", a typical telnet application.
  • in the text field you will enter an address, such as mail.slc.edu or newmedia.slc.edu
  • this address will be "resolved" down to a four part IP number by a designated computer (domain name resolver) that is specified in the systemic configuration of your PC/Mac
  • you can't "connect" to a machine that isn't running a daemon (program that runs in perpetuity, waiting for stimuli of some sort)
  • unix and linux systems generally accept telnet connections, provided you have an account (user name and password) registered on that particular machine
  • when connecting to www.it.scps.nyu.edu, use the user and password given upon in class
  • once connected, you will have a command line interface at your disposal for interacting with the linux operating system
  • common unix commands include: ls, cp, echo, cd, man, ps, whoami, hostname, mv, chmod, chown, cat, mkdir, vi, cc, du, df, passwd, mail, telnet, ftp, csh,...
  • most important is "man" which will allow you to read about other commands. in order to read the MANual pages of these commands, use the syntax: man cd, man ls, man man, etc.