Can someone show me how to go about communicating with a server via telnet ? I want to be able to get authenticated and then issue commands and read responses, how do I do that?
I would recommend SSH over telnet if you have the ability. This is the typical means of communication when connecting to Linux servers. Essentially the usage is the same but SSH is encrypted. I assume you are a Windows user or you wouldn't be asking this question. Go download PuTTY which is a free SSH (and Telnet) client for Windows. The path goes something like this: >ssh [user@]yourserver.com You will then be prompted for a password. Once you have connected you will essentially be sitting at a command prompt of the remote server.
Yes I am a Windows user, however I want to use CF to do this rather than putty. The interface isn't good for the users thus why I want to use CF - any thoughts?