kermit(1)

DESCRIPTION

Kermit is a family of file transfer, management, and communication software programs from Columbia University available for most computers and operating systems. The version of Kermit for Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, called C-Kermit, supports both serial connections (direct or dialed) and TCP/IP connections. C-Kermit can be thought of as a user-friendly and powerful alternative to cu, tip, uucp, ftp, and telnet; a single package for both network and serial communications, offering automation, convenience, and language features not found in the other packages, and having a great deal in common with its cousins, C-Kermit on other UNIX platforms, Kermit 95 for Windows 95 and NT and OS/2, MS-DOS Kermit for PCs with DOS and Windows 3.x, and IBM Mainframe Kermit-370 for VM/CMS, MVS/TSO, and CICS. C-Kermit itself also runs on Digital VMS, Data General AOS/VS, Stratus VOS, OS-9, QNX, the BeBox, Plan 9, the Commodore Amiga, and elsewhere. Together, C-Kermit, Kermit 95, MS-DOS Kermit, and IBM Mainframe Kermit offer a consistent and nearly universal approach to inter-computer communications.

C-Kermit 6.0.192 is Copyright (C) 1985, 1996 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. The C-Kermit software may not be, in whole or in part, licensed or sold for profit as a software product itself, nor may it be included in or distributed with commercial products or otherwise distributed by commercial concerns to their clients or customers without written permission of the Office of Kermit Development and Distribution, Columbia University. This copyright notice must not be removed, altered, or obscured.

C-Kermit 6.0.192 is included with HP-UX 10.0 and later HP-UX releases by Hewlett-Packard in partnership with the Office of Kermit Development and Distribution, Columbia University.

C-Kermit 6.0 is thoroughly documented in the book Using C-Kermit by Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, Digital Press, Second Edition, 1997; see REFERENCES at the end of this manual page. This manual page is not a substitute for the book. If you are a serious user of C-Kermit, particularly if plan to write C-Kermit script programs, you should purchase the manual. Book sales are the primary source of funding for the nonprofit Kermit Project.

Any new features added since the most recent edition of the book was published are documented in the online file ckcker.upd. Hints, tips, limitations, restrictions are listed in ckcker.bwr (general C-Kermit) and ckuker.bwr (UNIX-specific); see FILES below. Please consult all of these references before reporting problems or asking for technical support.

Kermit software is available for hundreds of different computers and operating systems from Columbia University. For best file-transfer results, please use C-Kermit in conjunction with real Columbia University Kermit software on other computers, such as Kermit 95 for Windows 95 and NT or MS-DOS Kermit for DOS 3.x or Windows. See CONTACTS below.

MODES OF OPERATION

C-Kermit can be used in two "modes": remote and local. In remote mode, you connect to the HP-UX system from a desktop computer and transfer files between your desktop computer and HP-UX C-Kermit. In that case, connection establishment (dialing, TELNET connection, etc.) is handled by the Kermit program on your desktop computer.

In local mode, C-Kermit establishes a connection to another computer by direct serial connection, by dialing a modem, or by making a network connection. When used in local mode, C-Kermit gives you a terminal connection to the remote computer, using your actual terminal, emulator, or UNIX workstation terminal window or console driver for specific terminal emulation.

C-Kermit also has two types of commands: the familiar UNIX-style command-line options, and an interactive dialog with a prompt. Command-line options give you access to a small but useful subset of C-Kermit's features for terminal connection and file transfer, plus the ability to pipe files into or out of Kermit for transfer.

Interactive commands give you access to dialing, script programming, character-set translation, and, in general, detailed control and display of all C-Kermit's features. Interactive commands can also be collected into command files or macros.

STARTING C-KERMIT

You can start C-Kermit by typing "/usr/bin/kermit", or just "kermit" if your PATH includes "/usr/bin", possibly followed by command-line options. If there are no "action options" on the command line (explained below), C-Kermit starts in interactive command mode; you will see a greeting message and then the "C-Kermit>" prompt. If you do include action options on the command line, C-Kermit takes the indicated actions and then exits directly back to UNIX. Either way, C-Kermit executes the commands in its initialization file, /usr/share/lib/kermit/ckermit.ini, before it executes any other commands, unless you have included the `-Y ' (uppercase) command-line option, which means to skip the initialization file, or you have included the `-y filename' option to specify an alternative initialization file.

FILE TRANSFER

Here is the most common scenario for Kermit file transfer. Many other methods are possible, most of them more convenient, but this basic method should work in all cases.

C-Kermit's file transfer protocol defaults are deliberately conservative, resulting in file transfer that almost always works, but might be somewhat slow. To increase file transfer performance on computers and connections that permit it, use SET RECEIVE PACKET-LENGTH to increase the packet length, SET WINDOW to increase the packet window size, and use SET PREFIXING to reduce the overhead of control-character prefixing. (Hint: try the FAST command to enable all these performance options at once.) On serial connections, use hardware flow control (SET FLOW RTS/CTS) if available, rather than software (XON/XOFF) flow control. On TCP/IP connections, SET FLOW NONE. For details, including benchmarks, read Chapter 12 of Using C-Kermit.

OTHER FEATURES

C-Kermit includes features too numerous to be explained in a man page. For further information about connection establishment, modem dialing, networks, terminal connection, key mapping, logging, file transfer options and features, troubleshooting, client/server operation, character-set translation during terminal connection and file transfer, "raw" up- and downloading of files, macro construction, script programming, convenience features, and shortcuts, plus numerous tables, examples, and illustrations, please consult Using C-Kermit.

HELP

C-Kermit has extensive built-in help. You can find out what commands exist by typing ? at the C-Kermit> prompt. You can type HELP at the C-Kermit> prompt for "getting-started" message, or HELP followed by the name of a particular command for information about that command, for example:

You can type ? anywhere within a command to get brief help about the current command field. You can also type the INTRO command to get a brief introduction to C-Kermit, and the NEWS command to find out what's new in your version. Finally, you can use the BUG command to learn how to report bugs.

ENTERING COMMANDS

You can use upper or lower case for interactive-mode commands, but remember that UNIX filenames are case-sensitive. You can abbreviate commands as long as the abbreviation matches only one possibility. While typing a command, you can use the following editing characters:

To enter the command and make it execute, press the Return or Enter key.

BACKSLASH NOTATION

Within an interactive command, the "\" character (backslash) is a prefix used to enter special quantities, including ordinary characters that would otherwise be illegal. At the end of a line, \ or - (dash) makes the next line a continuation of the current line. Other than that, the character following the \ identifies what the special quantity is:

Note that numbers turn into the character with that binary code (0-255), so you can use \7 for a bell, \13 for carriage return, \10 for linefeed. For example, to have C-Kermit send a BELL to your screen, type:

COMMAND LIST

The commands most commonly used, and important for beginners to know, are marked with "*":

BUILT-IN VARIABLES

Built-in variables are referred to by \v(name), can be used in any command, usually used in script programming. They cannot be changed. Type SHOW VARIABLES for a current list.

BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS

Builtin functions are invoked as \Fname(args), can be used in any command, and are usually used in script programs. Type SHOW FUNCTIONS for a current list.

\Feval() allows the following operators in the expression. The expression can contain variables. Only integer arithmetic is supported. Precedences are shown as numbers, 1 is highest precedence, 6 is lowest.

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

C-Kermit accepts commands (or "options") on the command line, in the time-honored UNIX style. Alphabetic case is significant. All options are optional. If one or more action options are included, Kermit exits immediately after executing the command-line options, otherwise it enters interactive command mode.

where:

FILES

To make personalized customizations, copy the file /usr/share/lib/kermit/ckermod.ini file to your home directory, make any desired changes, and rename it to .mykermrc.

You may also create a personalized dialing directory like the sample one in /usr/share/lib/kermit/ckermit.kdd. Your personalized dialing directory should be stored in your home directory as .kdd and your personal network directory as .knd. See Chapters 5 and 6 of Using C-Kermit for details.

And you may also create a personalized services directory like the sample one in /usr/share/lib/kermit/ckermit.ksd. Your personalized services directory should be stored in your home directory as .ksd. See Chapter 7 of Using C-Kermit for instructions.

The demonstration files illustrate C-Kermit's script programming constructs; they are discussed in chapters 17-19 of the book. You can run them by typing the appropriate TAKE command at the C-Kermit> prompt, for example: "take /usr/share/lib/kermit/ckedemo.ini".

AUTHORS

Frank da Cruz, Columbia University, with contributions from hundreds of other volunteer programmers all over the world. See Acknowledgements in Using C-Kermit.

REFERENCES

DIAGNOSTICS

The diagnostics produced by C-Kermit itself are intended to be self-explanatory. In addition, every command returns a SUCCESS or FAILURE status that can be tested by IF FAILURE or IF SUCCESS. In addition, the program itself returns an exit status code of 0 upon successful operation or nonzero if any of various operations failed.

BUGS

See the comp.protocols.kermit.* newsgroups on Usenet for discussion, or the files, ckcker.bwr and ckuker.bwr, for a list of bugs, hints, tips. etc. Report bugs via e-mail to kermit-support@columbia.edu.

CONTACTS

For more information about Kermit software and documentation, visit the Kermit Web site:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/

Or write to:

Or send e-mail to kermit@columbia.edu. Or call +1 212 854-3703. Or fax +1 212 663-8202.