Thanks ssandv, looks like I am getting somewhere and my code is not giving any comp errors. I have tried the  ->waitfor (match) and it seems to be working in a way. Here is my new code:

foreach $host ( @hosts )  {   
         my $conn = Net::Telnet::Cisco->new(HOST => $host, Dump_log =>
+ 'dump2.log',Timeout=>20, ErrMode => 'return');  
     
    if ($conn -> waitfor ('/Password:.*/')){ 
        $conn->login(  Passcode => $passw);
    } else {
        $conn->login(   Name => $username,        
                          Password => $password) or die "ERROOOOR";

    }
    

print $conn->cmd("show int status");
  $conn->close;
};
[download]

The problem I am having now I know is with my regex statement. I am getting no output from my script, but when I replace $conn -> waitfor ('/Password:.*/') with $conn -> waitfor ('/Username:.*/') it will give what I request from switches where I only need to give the password. This is what my dump file gives:

< 0x00000: ff fb 01 ff  fb 03 ff fd  18 ff fd 1f  0d 0a 0d 0a  ÿû.ÿû.ÿ
+ý.ÿý.....
< 0x00010: 55 73 65 72  20 41 63 63  65 73 73 20  56 65 72 69  User Ac
+cess Veri
< 0x00020: 66 69 63 61  74 69 6f 6e  0d 0a 0d 0a  50 61 73 73  ficatio
+n....Pass
< 0x00030: 77 6f 72 64  3a 20                                  word: 

> 0x00000: ff fd 01 ff  fd 03 ff fc  18 ff fc 1f               ÿý.ÿý.ÿ
+ü.ÿü.

< 0x00000: ff fe 18 ff  fe 1f                                  ÿþ.ÿþ.

> 0x00000: 73 68 6f 77  20 69 6e 74  20 73 74 61  74 75 73 0d  show in
+t status.
> 0x00010: 0a                                                  .

< 0x00000: 0d 0a 50 61  73 73 77 6f  72 64 3a 20               ..Passw
+ord:
[download]

Please have a look at my regex statement. Any quidance will be welcome. Thanks

Well, first I think you shouldn't be using login with waitfor. You'll use print because waitfor captured the prompt and I don't think login will see it after that.

Second, you missed the whole point of using a regex there. If you read the Net::Telnet documentation on waitfor, you'll see that

my ($prematch, $match)= $obj->waitfor($matchop);
[download]

gives you the string that matched in $match. So, if you use a regex like /(Password|Username)/ and a list assignment (again, I got this straight from the documentation for the module), then $match tells you whether you need to $obj->print a password or username string. Naturally if you print a username, you should then waitfor the password prompt and print the password. login attempts to simplify this stuff, but it's extremely picky about what it expects to see.

Your code needs to do the job of login, not try to work alongside it. A direct quote from the login section of Net::Telnet: "Consider using a combination of print() and waitfor() as an alternative to this method when it doesn't do what you want, e.g. the remote host doesn't prompt for a username."