BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO TELNET AND ANZIO by Bob Rasmussen, Rasmussen Software Updated Oct. 17, 1996 ------------------------------------ WHAT IS TELNET? Telnet is a protocol for one computer to talk to another computer over a network. In most situations today, that means that the PC on your desk is talking to another computer, and acting like a terminal. Thus 'telnet' is sometimes used interchangeably with 'terminal emulation'. DO I NEED A TELNET PROGRAM? The easy answer is that if you need it, you'll know it. But I'll try to be more helpful. If you know you want to access a service, and their information states that you access it via telnet, you need one. If you're browsing the web, and you point your browser to a cross-link that starts out 'telnet://' instead of 'http://', you need one. You may have one, however. Both Windows for Workgroups' and Windows 95's TCP/IP components include a telnet program, although these are very rudimentary. If you need more features, that's where Anzio comes in. WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO TELNET ACROSS THE INTERNET? For Anzio to communicate via TCP/IP (the protocol of the Internet), it needs to have available some TCP/IP software. This is visible to Anzio in the form of a module named 'WINSOCK.DLL' (often called simply 'a WINSOCK'). In order to be 'visible' to Anzio, this WINSOCK.DLL must be in a) the same directory as Anzio, b) in your WINDOWS directory, c) in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, or d) in one of the directories in your PATH. If you are connecting to a company network, then WINSOCK will communicate with the network interface card. If, instead, you are dialing out to the Internet, your WINSOCK will use the serial port. In this case, you will need to establish the connection to the Internet BEFORE running Anzio. WHERE DO I GET A WINSOCK? There are three possibilities: 1) as part of Windows 95 (or Windows for Workgroups); generally located in the Windows directory; 2) as part of an access package such as Netscape or Compuserve's WinCim (generally located in the same directory as that package); or 3) a freestanding WINSOCK such as Trumpet Winsock. CAN ONE PC HAVE MULTIPLE WINSOCKS? If it does, you're asking for trouble. Anzio will use the first one that Windows finds for it, using Windows' prescribed search sequence. Note that if ANOTHER Windows program is already running, and using WINSOCK, Windows will generally give Anzio access to the same WINSOCK. You may be able to determine which WINSOCK Anzio is using by doing Anzio's Help|About Winsock menu item. If you have two or more WINSOCK.DLLs on your system, we suggest two options: 1) Rename all except the one you want to use; or 2) Place the Anzio program in the same directory as the one you want to use. In other words, if you are connecting directly with Netscape (using Netscape's WINSOCK, in Netscape's directory), put Anzio in the Netscape directory and run it from there. WHAT'S A HOST NAME? The computer that your PC connects to is referred to as 'the host'. It may be within your company, or it may be somewhere out on the Internet, such as a library system or a medical reference service. IS THE HOST THE SAME AS MY INTERNET PROVIDER? No, in most cases. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is the company that gives you access to the Internet. It may be a local company. It may be a nationwide service such as ATT's WorldNet that gives you only a point of connection. It may be a large Internet service that also provides content, such as MSN or Netcom. Or it could be one of the older online services that now allows Internet connection, such as CompuServe or AOL. The important thing to remember is that who you're connected THROUGH is not necessarily who you're connected TO (but it could be). Let's look at a typical scenario. Assume that you connect to the Internet through 'any.net'. This is your Internet Service Provider (ISP). It has a particular host name (any.net) and an IP address (something like 104.223.111.5). But you want to access a library named 'biglib.edu'. This is your intended host. It also has an IP address, but you shouldn't have to worry about that. HOW DO I CONNECT TO THE INTERNET? Your connection to the Internet is made through your ISP. This is done before Anzio (or Netscape, or Internet Explorer, etc.) is loaded. The means of doing this varies, depending on what 'stack' (TCP/IP, WINSOCK) you are using. We'll assume this connection has been made, as evidenced by the fact that you can run your web browser. HOW DO I USE ANZIO? As a first step, use Windows to start Anzio. Anzio will ask for a terminal type - if in doubt, choose 'VT220'. Anzio will then ask for a host name. This is the name of the system you want to connect TO, not THROUGH. In our example, it is 'biglib.edu', not 'any.net'. Type in the name. Case doesn't matter ('BIGLIB.EDU' works fine). If you're lucky, you'll get a login prompt from the host system. From then on, you're on your own. If Anzio can't connect using the name, there could be a problem with your PC's 'name resolution' setup (but if your browser works, Anzio should work). In this case, if you know the host's IP address, try it. WHAT IS THE 'PORT' Telnet connections ordinarily use port 23. This is part of the TCP/IP protocol and has nothing to do with serial (comm) ports. The host system you're connecting to may for various reasons be set up at a different port number. If so, then when you specify the host name, add on the end a colon and the port number, such as 'biglib.edu:92'. You can do the same after an IP number. CAN I LAUNCH ANZIO AUTOMATICALLY FROM MY WEB BROWSER? Yes. When your web browser is pointed to a web page, and you click on a cross-link that starts with 'telnet://', your web browser will want to start an external telnet program. You can configure your web browser to use Anzio as its designated telnet program. How you do so varies from browser to browser. See Anzio's online help for more information. SO DO I EVER TELNET TO MY ISP? For most people, only if your ISP provides you with a 'shell account' or a 'UNIX account'.