Using E-Mail at Channel 1

Telnet
"How To..." Documentation from Channel 1

The following information will teach you the basics of a "Telnet" program. Was Telnet does is that it allows you to connect to any UNIX computer on the internet from anywhere on the internet. That means that if you can get online from anywhere in the world, you could connect to Channel 1 using a telnet program and check you e-mail or change your web pages.

To use Telnet, you must first be connected to the Internet. (this means you need to connect using Winsock, Dial-Up Networking, or Mac/Free PPP first).
Next you need a Telnet program. There are many available to download from our Telnet Shareware page, or if you have Windows 95, you already have a telnet program. Simply go under "Start" to "Run" and type "Telnet". Or if you have a Java enabled web browser (Netscape 2.0 or later, or IE 2.0 or later), you can telnet over the Channel 1 web site by clicking here.
Once you have a Telnet program, you will need to enter the name of the computer you wish to connect to. This is normally labeled "HostName" or "Remote System". Since you are connecting to Channel 1, you should enter " user1.channel1.com " .
Some Telnet programs will ask you for a "Port Number". At Channel 1, we use the default port value which is " 23 ".
Now you should be able to Connect. You should see get a message that looks something like " FreeBSD (user1.channel1.com) (ttypj) " and then a prompt for " login: ". Enter your login name (your username) of you Channel 1 account. Make sure you enter it in all lower case letters.
Next you should see a " password " prompt. Enter your Channel 1 password for the account name you entered in the previous step. (this is the same password you use to get online or check e-mail)
You should now be logged on to the Channel 1 computer. You should see the user prompt that look something like " username@user1$ ".
Now type any UNIX commands that you want (see sections below). When you are done, type " logout ".

Now that you are logged on, you can do a number of different options. Since we are running a UNIX computer (FreeBSD), the following information can be used when you log into other UNIX computer as well.

Checking E-mail:

To check your e-mail, you will want to use a program called "Pine". To start pine simply type in "pine" and hit enter.
If this is the first time you have used Pine, it will ask you if you want an instructional FAQ e-mail sent to you. In most cases just hit "N" and it will bring you to the main menu.
From the Main Menu, hit "I" for Index Folder. This will show you an new e-mail that you have received. To read the message, simply hit "Enter".
To Compose a new message hit "C". When you are ready to send your message, press down the Control Key and hit "X" . (All command that start with "^" means the control key).
When you are ready to quit, simply hit "Q".

Changing Your Password:

At the UNIX prompt, enter the command "passwd".
You will get a prompt to enter your old passwd (your current password). Remember key stroke are not displayed while typing in your password.
If you entered you password correctly it will ask you for your new password. Type in what you want your new password to be.
You will be asked to enter your new password again, enter it the same as in the previous step.
You password is now changed, you will have to use the new password the next time you check your mail or log on to Channel 1.

Other Useful Commands:
(the command name is in bold, words in red should be replaced with the actual file, host name, etc..)

man commandname - This command can be used to access help files on a command.
finger username@channel1.com - This command can be used to see if a username exists and if they do, the last time they checked their e-mail.
chmod xxx filename - This command can be used to change the permissions on a file that you own.
showtime - This command shows the amount of online time you have used this month
traceroute hostname - This command will show you a trace route of IP hops to the specified server.
ping hostname - This command will show you the ping times to a specified server. (use Control-C to stop)
emacs filename - This command starts the emacs text editor. You can use this to create HTML files or any other text files.