TeraTerm Web 3.1 Notes

10/8/2002

First off, please forgive our shabby documentation with this release of TeraTerm Web 3.1.3. We know it stinks. A complete rewrite of the help file and documentation are currently in the works.

We have included the original TeraTerm 2.3 documentation in the zip file, and this web page is our attempt to list what changes and improvements we have made. We are currently rewriting the user and developer's manuals from scratch. Please check our web site regularly for an update.

Installation
Unzip the ZIP file into a subdirectory of your choice. That was hard, wasn't it?

Configuration
The teraterm.ini file contains all the configuration settings and parameters used by the application. You may modify the file directly or through the executable (teraterm.exe) by changing settings then saving the configuration via the Setup --> Save Setup... menu.

What has been added to TeraTerm 3.1?
We have added a variety of features. Two of the most predominant changes are:

(1) Adding the ability to connect to SSH2 based hosts. To connect to a SSH host, simply choose the SSH service radio button when connecting via the new connection dialog box.
(2) Adding a built in web server to allow a remote web browser or web application server (such as PHP, ColdFusion, WebSphere, ASP, etc) to send one or more commands to the telnet or SSH host that TeraTerm is currently connected to. The resulting text stream is captured and sent back to the calling web client where it can then be parsed and processed.

Here's how to make it work:

Modify the result.htm template to your taste. The text "%result%" will be replaced with the captured text stream and the entire result template will be passed back to the calling web client
Modify the error.htm template if desired. The text "%error%" will be replaced with and error message (if an error is encountered) and that template will be returned back to the calling web client.
Go into the Web menu and choose "Accept HTTP Connections...". Make sure that the result and error templates point to the correct files.
Select the desired IP address and port you want to listen on.
Check the "Activate HTTP Listening" checkbox. Once you do this, TeraTerm will begin listening for incoming web requests.

The web client can pass commands in one of two ways:

Via HTTP GET

http://127.0.0.1:8080/get.htm?command1=xxx\n&termstring1=aaa|bbb|ccc&timeout1=5&command2=yyy\n&&termstring2=ddd|eee|fff&timeout2=10

In this web call, TeraTerm will send the command "xxx" (with a newline "\n") to the connected host. It will then wait and watch the host's text stream for one of the following termination strings, "aaa", "bbb", "ccc", OR 5 seconds to elapse (whichever comes first). (Please note that the delimiter for termstring's to watch for it the pipe character by default but can be changed in the configuration settings). Next, TeraTerm will pass the command "yyy" (with a newline) to the host and wait for termstrings "ddd", "eee", "fff", or 10 seconds to elapse (whichever comes first). It will then stop it's text stream capture and pass the entire captured block of text back to the calling web client. Please note that carriage returns will be escaped with a "\r", linefeeds with a "\n", tabs with a "\t" etc.

You may pass as many commands as you wish as long as an accompying termstring and timeout parameter is passed as well.

Via HTTP POST

You may issue the same parameters via an HTTP POST instead of a GET if desired. The following HTML code demonstrates an example of passing the same data as the GET example above:

Obtaining the connection status of Tera Term

You may issue a status request to Tera Term to request the current connection status, which can optionally include the hostname and port it is connected to and the duration it has been connected. This is very useful since a web application may want to make sure Tera Term is connected before passing a GET or POST sequence of commands. Here is an example of how to call the status request:

http://127.0.0.1:8080/status.htm

You may modify the status template returned by specifying it in the configuration settings. Be sure that the variables %hostname%, %port% and %time% are included, as these will be replaced by the actual data when returned back to the calling HTTP client. If Tera Term is currently disconnected, the error template will be returned with the %error% variable set to "Not Connected"

Making Tera Term connect to a remote host

You, of course, can manually connect Tera Term to a remote Telnet or SSH host before issuing HTTP GET or POST command sequences to it. You can also have Tera Term connect to a remote host by calling a connect template, which is very useful for a web application to programmatic cause Tera Term to connect to a remote host. Example:

http://127.0.0.1:8080/connect.htm?hostname=www.foo.com&port=23

This will cause Tera Term to connect to the remote host. If unable to connect, the error template will be returned with the appropriate error message swapped with the %error% variable. Please note that at this time you are unable to use this template to connect to a SSH host. Connecting to a SSH host will still have to be done manually.

Making Tera Term disconnect from a remote host

You can cause Tera Term to disconnect from it's currently connected host by issuing a call to the disconnect template as follows:

http://127.0.0.1:8080/disconnect.htm

Please note that the ability to call this can be disabled in the configuration settings, if desired.

Authentication

Authentication can be set in the configuration file as required to prevent unauthorized passing of commands to a remote telnet host via Tera Term. Unfortunately, documentation regarding forms and methods of authenticating these requests will not be available until the full documentation set is released. Please check the Ayera website (http://www.ayera.com) frequently for an update.

Any questions or concerns can be emailed to support@ayera.com