[Info-vax] Reverse telnet to a terminal emulator?

[Jan-Erik Soderholm]

Snowshoe wrote 2011-07-19 03:02:
> Is there any such thing as VTxxx-compatible terminal server software that
> runs on a PC that, instead of actively connecting to a host via telnet, is
> "passive", it waits until something connects to it? Once a host connects to
> it, it acts like a regular VTxxx terminal. My idea is for VMS to
> reverse-telnet to it. (TELNET> CREATE_SESSION 10.9.8.7 23 100 creates
> TNA100: on host at IP address 10.9.8.7 port 23) This is to replace a
> hardwired terminal that doesn't log in, but an application currently
> allocates it and uses it for part of its operator interface.
>
> If the answer is "no", an alternative is for someone to use ordinary
> terminal server SW to telnet into the VMS host and run a do-nothing program
> that goes into a permanent LEF state, and VMS finds its TNAx device and
> writes to it, but this is one step I'd rather not have the operators do.


How many of these "operator panels" do you have ?

I guess you could have s simple start-script in a terminal emulator
(such has Reflection or similar) that logs into the VMS system and runs
a simple DCL file that creates a known logical name pointing to the
actual (dynamic) TNA device used in the session. Your application
would then use this fixed logical to write to.

Yes, you need a user on the VMS system to do this.

Or you could setup a spare terminal server in your server room
with two ports interconnected. One port is setup using exactly the
same routines on the VMS system as today, the other port is
connected to by the Reflection session using IP address and port
number 1000x, 300x or whatever the specific terminal server uses.

Or to connect the (current) terminal server to a COMx port of
the PC and let your emulator run against the COMx port. That
would be a solution transparent to your current VMS setup.

Another solution is of course to simply keep the VT-terminals. :-)

There are many solutions not involvning any special programming
of fancy programs on either side.

Jan-Erik.