How do I turn on telnet service on for a Linux / FreeBSD system?
Q. Can you example how can I install telnet service or server under Linux or FreeBSD operating system?
A. TELNET (TELetype NETwork) is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area network LAN connections.
The telnetd program (telnet server) is a server which supports the DARPA telnet interactive communication protocol. Telnetd is normally invoked by the internet server inetd or xinetd for requests to connect to the telnet port as indicated by the /etc/services file. Usaually telnet listen on port TCP port 23.
Telnet in is insecure protocol and it is recommended that you use ssh server. But some time you really need telnet then first install telnet server as according to version of Linux distribution.
Telnet server installation
WARNING! Installing telnet open your computer to unencrypted network communication, which is a bad idea. If possible avoid telnet; and use secure shell called ssh.Debain/Ubuntu Linux user type the following command:
# apt-get install telnetd
OR
$ sudo apt-get install telnetdFedora Linux user the following command:
# yum install telnet-server telnetRed Hat enterprise Linux user type the following command:
up2date telnet-server telnetFreeBSD user type the following command:
No need to install new (telnet server) package, it is installed by default (/usr/libexec/telnetd)
Configure telnet server (turn on telnet server)
Again each distribution has its own method to turn on or off telnet service; same applies to telnet UNIX/Linux server.
If you are using Red Hat / Fedora Linux
The configuration file for telnet is /etc/xinetd.d/telnet. To enable telnet server you need to open this file and make sure disable = no read as disable = yes.
Alternately,
# chkconfig telnet onTo start telnet server type command:
# /etc/init.d/xinetd restartIf you are using Debian Linux
The configuration file for telnet is /etc/inetd.conf. By default it is enabled when you install telnet server. To start telnet server type command:
# /etc/init.d/inetd restartIf you are using FreeBSD
The configuration file for telnet is /etc/inetd.conf. Open file using vi text editor and uncomment line:
# vi /etc/inetd.conf
Make sure commented line:
#telnet stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/telnetd telnetdRead as follows:
telnet stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/telnetd telnetdSave and close the file. Start telnet service:
Enable inetd service so that telnet get loaded:
# vi /etc/rc.confAppend/add following line to configuration file:
inetd_enable="YES"Save and close the file, Rsstart telnet via inetd service:
# /etc/rc.d/inetd restart
Telnet to server (How do I use telnet client?)
You should now be able to telnet to the server from Windows or Linux desktop system. Type the following command to connect to Telnet server:telnet server-ip-address
telnet 192.168.1.5
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Related Other Helpful FAQs:
- Ubuntu Linux enable telnet service
- Turn on telnet server on Debian Linux
- Limit the number of Telnet sessions coming from the same remote system
- Fedora Core Linux chkconfig does not display service name
- How do I telnet as the root user?
Discussion on This FAQ
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Tags: communication_protocol, internet_server, linux_distribution, network_protocol, port_23, program_telnet, server_installation, tcp_port, telnet_port, telnet_server
June 19th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Thanks, man! That was really helpful! I have been looking for a telnet manual like this a long time.
June 19th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
thank you very much ….that is help full
June 26th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Thanks alot
November 21st, 2006 at 9:05 am
dear sir,
i am asghar jan from pakistan.sir i am the bigenner of linux. i need ur help with supporting docoment and speacially linux commond.
thanking you
December 13th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Thanks!
July 9th, 2007 at 8:26 am
what should we do if there is no telnet file in redhat linux 9… and how to install the same if its not there..
August 10th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
so simple… so necessary. Thanks
August 25th, 2007 at 7:38 am
# chkconfig telnet on
# service xinetd reload
these both commands are useful on RHEL 4
September 5th, 2007 at 4:45 am
thanks alot , this document is very helpful & i am able to find solution for my prlm, thanks
September 13th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Thanks a lot! I used it for Fedora 6.0.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:37 am
Thanks a lot!
December 26th, 2007 at 3:43 am
Most people should be aware using telnet is *VERY* bad practice for remote administration. It’s transmission is unencrypted and is therefore very insecure. SSH is by far a more robust, offers additional features, and is by design more secure. It would be available in redhat distros via yum install sshd or debian based distro via aptitude install sshd
December 31st, 2007 at 5:24 pm
This is the single-most irresponsible piece of documentation I have ever seen. Without a long explanation, NEVER do this. If you are new enough to administrating a *nix (Linux, UNIX, BSD) machine that you aren’t familiar with your system’s package management system in almost all circumstances you are not qualified to start or maintain a service that publishes system credentials in plain text. Your system probably already has SSH and starts it by default.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
FYI even the sshd is not installed as default.
Yes telnet is unsecure, but boy is it handy.
For an internal LAN in a small office, I use it.
You can use it from any PC with having to install any package.
this worked for me ubuntu 7.10
sudo apt-get install telnetd
sudo /etc/init.d/openbsd-initd restart
FYI to enagle sshd I used
sudo apt-get install openssh-server
June 10th, 2008 (5 weeks ago) at 5:33 pm
john fraize proves my point entirely, I suppose he has reason to believe that his LAN traffic has never been analyzed, and that the Windows machine he had to re-image last week because of a virus couldn’t have possibly given anyone interested in his traffic system credentials on his Linux box, but in real-life these aren’t valid assumptions …