Telnet Client Command Reference

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

At the Telnet prompt, use the following Telnet commands to manage a computer running Telnet Client.

The Telnet commands allow you to communicate with a remote computer that is using the Telnet protocol. You can start Telnet without parameters in order to enter Telnet command mode, indicated by the Telnet prompt (Microsoft Telnet>). If you have already connected to a remote Telnet server, you can enter command mode by pressing the Telnet escape character. For more information, see Switch Between Session Mode and Command Mode (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=106280) in the Telnet Operations Guide.

The Telnet Client command prompt accepts the following commands.

Command Description

?/help

Displays Help information.

?/set

Displays Help information for the set command.

close

Disconnects from an existing Telnet connection.

display

Shows the current settings for Telnet Client.

open

Use openhostname to establish a Telnet connection to a host.

quit

Disconnects from the remote server (if connected) and closes Telnet Client.

send

Sends commands to the Telnet server. The following commands are supported:

ao

Abort output command.

ayt

"Are you there?" command.

esc

Sends the current escape character.

ip

Interrupt process command.

synch

Performs the Telnet synch operation.

brk

Sends a break signal.

Anything other than one of the commands listed above will be sent as a string to the Telnet server. For example, send abcd sends the string abcd to the Telnet server, which echoes the string in the Telnet session window.

set

Configures Telnet Client for the current session when used with one of the following parameters:

bsasdel

Backspace will be sent as delete

codeset option

Available only when the language is set to Japanese.

For information about how to use Japanese with Telnet, see Use Asian Languages with Telnet (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=108380) in the Telnet Operations Guide.

crlf

Sets new-line mode; causes the RETURN key to send the combination of carriage return and line feed: 0x0D, 0x0A. When turned off, it sends only the carriage return character, 0x0D.

delasbs

Delete will be sent as backspace.

escape character

Specifies the character that will switch from Telnet session mode to the Telnet command mode. While in Telnet command mode, press ENTER to return to Telnet session mode.

localecho

Turns on local echo. All characters typed will be displayed on the local console. Remote Telnet servers usually send each character typed back, so setting this option could result in duplicate characters displayed for each one typed.

logfile name

Specifies the name of the file to which the Telnet log is written for this session. If you do not specify the path of the file, it is created in your current directory. Specifying a log file also turns on logging.

logging

Turns on logging for this session.

mode {console | stream}

Changes the mode of operation from console mode to stream mode. Setting the mode to stream turns off the ANSI or other escape commands that attempt to control cursor placement or clearing the screen. Setting the mode to console causes Telnet server to include ANSI or other escape commands to control cursor positioning within a fixed window of x rows and y columns.

Stream mode is useful when you do not want the Telnet client to emulate a terminal. The output is sent as if there is no terminal window with x rows and y columns. Some applications that use Telnet for file transfer fail to work correctly when console mode is enabled.

ntlm

Turns on NTLM authentication.

term {ansi | vt100 | vt52 | vtnt}

Specifies the type of terminal you want Telnet Client to emulate.

?

Displays Help information for set.

status

Determines whether the computer running Telnet Client is connected.

unset

Turns off an option previously set by using the set command.

Additional Information

You must use a TrueType font in the Command Prompt window when using Telnet with any of the four supported Asian languages (Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese).

The codeset option parameteris available only when the language is set to Japanese. This parameter sets the current code set, which can be one of the following:

  • Shift JIS

  • Japanese EUC

  • JIS Kanji

  • JIS Kanji (78)

  • DEC Kanji

  • NEC Kanji

The same code set should be active on the remote computer. By default, Telnet Client uses a raster font. Before accessing a remote computer by using one of these code sets, you must configure Telnet Client to use a TrueType font to ensure that characters will display properly.

For information about how to set the Command Prompt window font to a TrueType font, see Use Asian Languages with Telnet (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=108380) in the Telnet Operations Guide.

See Also

Concepts

Telnet Client Startup Parameter Reference Telnet Server Admin Tool TlntAdmn.exe Command Line Reference Telnet Registry Entries Telnet Errors and Events RFCs Supported by the Microsoft Implementation of Telnet