JTA - Telnet/SSH for the JAVA(tm) platform: FAQ

© 1996-2000 Matthias L. Jugel and Marcus Meißner

Version 2.0 / Java 2 and 1.1.x
Available under GNU General Public License

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Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions
What is telnet?
The telnet protocol was developed durin the early stages of the Internet. Actually it was developed by people who set up the ARPA net. It is a protocol to allow a user to remotely log into another computer and perform tasks there as if he would be sitting on a terminal connected to that computer.
What is SSH?
SSH or Secure SHell is just like the telnet protocol, but it provided a secure way to log into that remote host. All communication is encrypted, which makes it much harder for third parties to tamper with the information you send over the network or to sniff out your password.
Will the software be ported to use Swing?
Good question. The software is ready to be ported to use Swing components instead of the AWT components. But in favor of size and portability we have decided not to use Swing. To support Swing on browsers that are using Java 1.1 only you would have to provide the swing.jar as a separate download and that would increase the download time dramatically. As soon as Swing is supported by all browsers we will make use of those components.
Network related questions
I am behind a firewall, can I use the applet?
If you try to use an applet that is located outside your firewall you will not be able to use it. This is due to the fact that the applet tries to open a normal connection from your client to the remote host and the firewall is simply in the way. The applet is not firewall enabled!
Can I tunnel a telnet connection through the http (80) port?
Even though there are proxy applications that allow such tunneling we do not actively support this. First it breaks the security a firewall establishes and second the http port is not usually thought for tunneling other connections. In contrast to http, telnet is connection oriented, means it holds the connection open for the time of you doing work. http does not!
Problem related questions
The applet will not load.
First, have a look at the Java console of your browser and try to interpret the error message that appears there. Most commen cause for problems with the loading of the applet are:
  • insufficient rights of the files (web browser can't read them)
  • missing file (make sure all files you need are there)
  • wrong path names (the CODEBASE and other tag attributes)
I can't get a connection!
It may happen that you do not see the login prompt. This may have several reasons. First of all the target host may have telnet disabled.
Secondly if you are behind a firewall you will not be able to connect to the remote host as the firewall usually prevents that. The applet is a normal telnet implementation and can't cross firewalls!
The FAQ does only answer questions directly related to the JTA. However, you might also have a look at the following related FAQ's and RFC's:
 
Java Applet Security FAQ
Read this if you have questions about the Java security model for Applets.
Copyright 1996-2000 Matthias L. Jugel, Marcus Meißner
$Id: FAQ.html 499 2005-09-29 08:24:54Z leo $