How to Configure Telnet in Client Mode
Although the graphic user interface (GUI) replaced text based network connections, there are times when you need to connect to another computer over the network via text. The telnet client program, which is included on most operating systems, connects your computer to another running a telnet server via text. Although the following steps use Microsoft's telnet client, the commands are similar for other operating systems.
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Instructions
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Run the telnet client program by clicking the "Start" button and choosing "Run..." In the dialog box that pops up, type "telnet." A telnet prompt pops up that lets you enter commands that configure the telnet client.
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Configure the terminal type by typing "set term vt100" where "vt100" is the terminal type. The terminal type tells the telnet client where to draw the text on the screen. This setting is important when running a text editor on the machine you're connecting to with telnet. An incorrect terminal type sometimes leads to garbled characters, blank screens, or text in the wrong position. If you do not know which terminal type to use, ask the administrator of the remote system. Otherwise leave it at its default, which works on many systems.
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Save a transcript of the terminal session by typing "set logfile c:\myfile.txt" where "c:\myfile.txt" is the file that stores your transcript. If you don't need a transcript of your telnet session, you can skip this step.
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Connect to the remote system by typing "open hostname port" where "hostname" is the hostname or numeric IP address of the system you want to connect to. Replace "port" with the port number used on the remote telnet server. Telnet uses port 23 by default, so you don't need to specify a port unless the remote server uses something other than port 23.
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Hold down the control key and press the "]" key when you're ready to disconnect. The telnet client's configuration prompt will show up again. Type "close" to disconnect from the remote server.
If you need to connect to another server, use the "open" command to establish a new connection.
If you are done using the telnet client, type "quit" to exit the program.
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Tips & Warnings
If you need to change the telnet client configuration after you're connected, hold the control key and press the "]" key to go back to the telnet client prompt and make changes to the telnet client configuration. After you're done, press the enter key without typing anything else at the telnet prompt to resume communication with the remote host again.
