Friday, October 26, 2007

Tera Term Setup

Acknowledgement: PANIX System


This page is intended to help you set up Tera Term, a terminal emulation/telnet application. Its focus is on using it over an existing TCP/IP connection to the Internet. It is possible to use it to dial the Shell, but configuring Tera Term for this is relatively complex, and if you are using W95 or W98 it is not necessary.

If you have not downloaded and installed the program, it is available from Panix: Tera Term. After you have installed Tera Term, return to these instructions.

1) Open the program. Find 'Setup' on the menu. This is the menu in which the most configuration will occur. Select and click. You will see seven options in the first area; each of these will be covered in the following steps.
2) Terminal
This will allow you to determine various characteristics of the terminal. The 'Terminal Size' is somewhat dependent on your monitor size; try different sizes to see which suits you. You may wish, at least initially, to leave the defaults in place. 'Terminal ID' should be set (for Panix) to VT100. 'New Line' should be set to CR.
3) Window
The settings here are optional; that is, they may be anything you wish.
4) Font
Mostly optional; certain constraints will apply, depending on the font you choose. The font will interact with the window shape and size. Try Courier New, Size 9.
5) Keyboard
Under 'Transmit DEL by', choose 'Backspace Key'.
6) Serial Port
The setup for this is relatively complex; it will be ignored in this document since, for W95 and W98 it is not necessary.
7) TCP/IP Setup
This option is the focus of this document. It will enable you to add the host name to which you will connect at Panix. The name of the host is: 'shell.panix.com' -- type it exactly as it appears, without the single quote marks, in the rectangular box labelled 'Host list'.
To the right, you will see a button labelled 'Add'; click it. You will notice that the text shell.panix.com moves into the box below.
Check marks should be placed in the two boxes below; especially the one labelled Telnet; the 'Port #' should be set to 23; VT100 should show up in the 'Term type' box since it was entered earlier.
8) General
'Default port' should be set to TCP/IP.
9) Tera Term is now configured to connect to the Shell. You should save the configuration by clicking 'Setup'; then 'Save setup'; and accept the default name.
10) Using Tera Term
You should establish a DUN connection; open Tera Term; choose 'File', 'New Connection', then the shell.panix.com host entry in the resulting dialog box. Tera Term will seek the TCP/IP port on your PC, connect to the Shell, and present you with a login screen.