DRH Internet Inc.
Website hosting technical support library
What Telnet and SSH are

Telnet is a way for you to connect to our UNIX machine and receive a connection to a "command shell". A "command shell" -- a command prompt at which you can control the system by entering simple commands like "delete", "rename", etc much like a DOS prompt.

However, comparing the UNIX command shell to a DOS prompt does not do it justice. The UNIX command shell is amazingly powerful if one has spent the time to master it.

Here are some examples of things that can be done at a shell prompt:

  • Delete and rename files.
  • Create, rename, and delete subdirectories.
  • Edit files.
  • Write CGI programs and non-CGI programs.
  • Debug programs.
  • Read e-mail using pine and elm.
  • Schedule programs to be run at a later date.
  • Connect to other machines.
  • Probe network connections.
  • Get manual pages on UNIX commands.
  • Change your password.
SSH is just an encrypted form of Telnet with a few other features such as port forwarding added in which we will not talk about right now.

How to connect with Telnet

To connect to our machines with Telnet, you need a Telnet client program on your local machine. If you do not already have one, see the section below on "recomended Telnet client programs."

You will need to enter the following configuration into your Telnet program:

  1. Hostname, IP address, or servername -- enter your domain name
Then click "connect" or "okay" to open a connection.

Once the connection from your machine to ours, you should be prompted for your username and password with something looking like the following text:

    Red Hat Linux release 6.0 (Hedwig)
    Kernel 2.2.9-27mdk on an i686
    login:
Enter your username. You will now be promted for your password, and the screen will look something like this:

    Red Hat Linux release 6.0 (Hedwig)
    Kernel 2.2.9-27mdk on an i686
    login: davideous
    Password:
If you entered the correct username and passwod, you will now be logged in and at a shell prompt. The screen will look something like this:
    Red Hat Linux release 6.0 (Hedwig)
    Kernel 2.2.9-27mdk on an i686
    login: davideous
    Password:
    You have mail.
    [davideous@w1 home]$
You are now connected. To exit use the "exit" command.

If you are connecting with a SSH client, your authentication procedure may be different. In fact, you may enter your username and password into the SSH application before a connection is made to our server -- instead of being prompted by our server in the above example.

Recomended Telnet client programs

To use Telnet you need a Telnet client program. Here are some client programs available to use:

  • Included windows telnet program
    There is an included telnet program in Windows. It is lacking a number of very usable features (such as a scrollback buffer), but it is still usable. Inside of windows, go to the Start menu, click on "run", and then enter "telnet" as the command to run.

  • CRT - commercial software, $35.00, 30 day trial
    Another great peice of software from VanDyke.com, who makes the highly recomended AbsoluteFTP program. Very highly recomended.

  • Tucows listing of shareware telnet programs
    This is a listing of many shareware/freeware telnet programs as reviewed by the tucows network.
See also

You may also be interested in reading the following tech support documents:

Tutorial to using Telnet