Best Method to Execute a Telnet Session in a Perl Application?

gridlock has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Off late, I've had to write a lot of applications that require me to use Telnet sessions into different network elements, usually through different gateway access points. I've used the Net::Telnet module from CPAN which works really well for directly Telnetting into devices. However, there have been a lot of times where I've run into buffering issues especially when hopping through gateways which change terminal types. Unfortunately - I've found no dynamic way to change terminal types with them and stay in sync and have ended up having to write filters for any data retrieved back on more than one occassion....

From your expereinces, what other methods other than Net::Telnet are around to establish Telnet sessions from within a Perl application?

Suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance!

/Gridlock a.k.a. Debashis "Codito Ergo Sum"

Comment on Best Method to Execute a Telnet Session in a Perl Application?

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Re: Best Method to Execute a Telnet Session in a Perl Application? by flyingmoose (Priest) on Mar 26, 2004 at 17:21 UTC
My apologies if you already know this (I'm saying this mostly for community benefit), but telnet is a horribly unsecure plaintext protocol. Everything you do (including sending passwords) is publically visible and interceptable. Not to dodge your question, but is it possible to use Net::SSH or Net::SSH::Perl against sshd instead? It is easier to use, much safer, and more spiffy. I understand there are embedded devices that only support telnet, but in general I would be extremely paranoid about firewall rules and limitating access to them in those cases. A few times the word 'telnet' is overhead within my organization, and I am usually yelling over the cube walls "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" within 3 seconds. It makes me very popular with the locals :)	[reply]
Re: Re: Best Method to Execute a Telnet Session in a Perl Application? by gridlock (Novice) on Mar 26, 2004 at 19:34 UTC
Is it possible to use? Absolutely - - - - I've actually never tried using either of these two modules - - - thanks for pointing them out! /Gridlock a.k.a. Debashis "Codito Ergo Sum"	[reply]
Re: Best Method to Execute a Telnet Session in a Perl Application? by TilRMan (Friar) on Mar 26, 2004 at 17:50 UTC
You could try using the Expect module to drive a telnet executable. (I've never used them together.) Or you could see how far you can get with a plain IO::Socket::INET. (Guilty!)	[reply]