Re: Can a PM2E selectively connect one port to another?
Allen J. Newton (anewton@basis.com)
Tue, 12 Sep 1995 10:49:42 -0600 (MDT)
Michael C. Nerone wrote:
> Subject: Re: Can a PM2E selectively connect one port to another?
> On Fri, 8 Sep 1995, David Kovar wrote:
> > Our manufacturing group would like to do the following:
> >
> > * Connect the serial port of 15 PCs to ports on a PM2E.
> > * Connect two modems to two other ports on the PM2E.
> >
> > They would then dial in to the PM2E using the modems and
> > be prompted for a port to connect to, which would allow them to
> > monitor any of the 15 PCs remotely.
> >
> > Is this possible?
> >
> > It seems to me the best way is to give them a prompt and let them
> > telnet to a port on the Portmaster. Is there any other way they could
> > connect to a port selectively, without having to telnet out of the
> > Portmaster and then back in?
> >
> > -David
>
> At the pm command prompt, enter this for use John Doe:
>
> add user jdoe password blah1
> set user jdoe host prompt
> set user jdoe telnet
>
> Ta-da... jdoe can now log in with password "blah1" and will be prompted
> for a host to connect to (ip address or name, if DNS is used). Of course,
> this assumes that the PC has TCP/IP and an IP address. If you need a
> strictly raw connection to the serial port (for a remote control
> Windows-type program or something), this won't work unless that program
> supports IP.
With all due respect, Michael, you failed to address his concerns (which
were pretty expressly stated).
David: The closest thing to what you want to do would be to login as !root
(which I'm sure you don't want just anybody to be able to do), and then to
use the admittedly buggy "attach" command to attach to a specific PC's
serial port.
As cheap as NE2000 cards are (I've seen them advertised for $20-30 apiece),
I'd recommend getting one for your machines and using telnet instead, and
using Michael's suggestion.
OTOH, if doing it serially is what you want, a DigiBoard PortServer 16
would be a better way to go for what you want -- we had one of those for
awhile, but _it_ was deficient for our needs (has a limit of 16 users in
its user table, and no RADIUS authentication, for instance -- although they
say their PortServer-II will have remote authentication. Call DigiBoard
for more info).
Personally, I prefer our PortMaster! :-)
--
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Allen J. Newton BASIS International Ltd, (505)-345-5232
5901 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109
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