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- How to Use Telnet
- Updated 4/94 by OARnet
-
-
- Telnet allows remote login to computers that are fully connected to the
- Internet. Your computer becomes a "virtual terminal", which appears as if
- you have logged into the remote computer from one of its attached
- terminals. Telnet is different from some other Internet programs, which
- send your computer a menu (as Gopher does) or a document (such as Gopher or
- WorldWide Web does) that you use on your local computer. With Telnet, you
- are directly using the resources on the remote computer as if it were
- local. Your local computer simply passes through everything you send or
- receive. Very little translation of what you type or what the remote
- computer sends occurs on your local computer.
-
- You use Telnet by typing the command telnet followed by the full host name
- of the computer or by pulling down a menu choice inside a telnet program
- included in your communications software. Usually, you must know the login
- name (the userid or user name) you will use and, sometimes, a corresponding
- password. For example, to use Telnet to connect to the machine with the
- name info.umd.edu (or, in the vernacular common on the Internet, to "telnet
- to info.umd.edu"), you would use the command:
-
- telnet info.umd.edu
-
- You will be greeted by a few lines of information and the prompt:
-
- login:
-
- Type the login name (user name) you have been given and press Return.
- Sometimes you will see the following prompt:
-
- Password:
-
- Type the password you have been given.
-
- You will see exactly what someone on the remote system would see. Usually,
- computers that give public access by Telnet, such as libraries and bulletin
- board systems, will print instructions for using the system or for
- accessing online help immediately after you log in.
-
-
- Information Resources via Telnet
-
- On the Internet, Telnet provides access to information systems for
- libraries, government agencies, companies, universities, and many other
- types of organizations. Information about these systems is disseminated
- through resource guides and word-of-mouth. An interface called Hytelnet
- provides menu-driven access to hundreds of the public access sites that can
- be reached through Telnet. For more information, contact someone on
- OARnet's technical support staff.
-
-
- Telnet for PC and Macintosh
-
- Telnet user interfaces for IBM PC and compatibles and Macintosh computers
- are available at the anonymous ftp site ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu in the
- subdirectories Telnet/mac, Telnet/msdos, and Telnet/windows. Macintosh
- users may use fetch to access these Telnet client programs.
-
- .
-