Can not run xinetd or Telnet from a client

[ksapeta]

I am new to Linux, so this might seem like a simple question to some of you. I set up a new RedHat Linux server. I have this on my home network which includes a LinkSys router connected to a cable modem to get out to the internet. When I installed the server, I just took all the defaults and don't remember setting up any firewall or security. I am able to ping the server from the Windows XP client. I can also get to the internet when I start a browser on the Linux box, and it actually remarkable fast, faster than anything I have ever used, truly amazing.
The problem is this: When I try to telnet to the Linux box from my Windows client, i get the following message: Connecting to 192.168.XXX.XXX...........Could not open connection to the host,on port 23: Connect failed

From these forums, someone had a similiar problem and thet were told to run the xinetd command, and that would allow me to turn on Port 23 if it's off. I can not execute this command, it always says, command not found. When is this command located, and will this fix my problem?
Thank YOU!

[flipjargendy]

You have to install the telnet-server package on the server. It's pretty easy to do telnet to it. But I would suggest using SSH instead of Telnet. SSH is far more secure. If you do go with SSH you need to install the ssh-server package. If you want to know more about SSH check this out: What is SSH? but if you want more in depth info on SSH do a search for it on Wikipedia or Google.

To install SSH open the terminal and enter:

up2date openssh-server openssh

And here is a link to help you set it up: Configuring an OpenSSH Server.

To install Telnet open the terminal and enter:

up2date telnet-server telnet

And here is a link to help you set up Telnet on your server: How do I turn on telnet service on for a Linux / FreeBSD system? Although there are probably better guides on how to setup telnet.

If you want to install a firewall I think Redhat has one that you can install or turn on. I don't know much about Redhat though.

[ksapeta]

I tried the "up2date telnet-server telnet" and a window opened that didn't seem to say anything about starting telnet.
Then I tried the "chkconfig telnet on" command and I got a "can not find file" message.
I don't know what to do next, can you suggest something?
Thank you!

[PhilKarras]

I had a similar problem with my Ubuntu Linux Server, I could ping but not Telnet to it from a client XP PC.

After editing the file: sudo vi /etc/inetd.conf I got "command not found" so I had to install it using:

sudo apt-get install openbsd-inetd

then restart it using:

sudo /etc/init.d/openbsd-inetd restart

then I tried to telnet to the Linux box but the screen went blank for awhile & eventually returned to the DOS prompt line.

After much research, including this thread which helped, I tried to install the telnet-server mentioned here but my system did not have it. However, it did find a number of "telnet" services available for installation. Since I had used "in.telnetd" in my inetd.conf file I selected to first try installing telnetd:

sudo apt-get install telnetd

During the installation a window popped up that said it found the "telnet stream..." entry that I had entered in the conf file & showed that it is trying to write the line:

telnet stream tcp nowait telnetd /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/in.telnetd

I told it to leave the existing line & that did it! Once it was done installing I was able to telnet into the server from the XP PC just fine.

My method of installing may not be what you need to use but if you use your method & look in your conf file for how you set up your telnet service it may work for you as well.

Sorry, but this may be the blind leading the blind since I too am a Linux beginner.

I hope this helps you, good-luck.

[ChongAik]

Dear all,

Since everyone talking about xinetd here then i also post my question here instead open a new thread.

I'm using a linux Suse and daily i will upload files to the machine. But my problem is whenever i restart the machine(Suse server), the xinetd is not running.

Then i have to manually start by running /etc/init.d/xinetd restart. How i automate this process so xinetd will auto-start when i reboot my machine.

[Hal343]

You should find startup scripts in /etc/rc.d. I haven't run SUSE for 3 years, so I don't remember if the startup script is rc5.d or rc6.d but you should be able to add it in the proper script.

[Hal343]

I just noticed that this question was asked about 2 years ago. You can add it to /etc/init.d/boot.local
I guess searching the forum should be our first attempt.