DNLOGIN(1)

📦 version 2.65build2, in ubuntu jammy

💻 DNLOGIN(1) — the manual page, but make it a group chat 💖

okay bestie so you know how there's a whole manual page situation? yeah. it's dnlogin, it lives in the General Commands Manual, section 1, and it is literally your ticket to hopping onto a DECnet system like it's nothing. let's get into it 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

dnlogin — connect as a terminal to a DECnet system. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🌸

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

dnlogin [options] nodename

and the options, laid out exactly like the original because we do NOT play with syntax around here:

Options:
[-Vh] [-d level] [-e char]

like yes, nodename is required, and yes, those brackets mean the options are optional. main character behavior only. 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so. dnlogin connects to a remote DECnet system. periodt.

this app implements the CTERM protocol over DECnet for connecting to a remote DECnet host. and here's the tea — it expects to be run from a VT100-compatible terminal. so if your terminal is out here being weird and not VT100-compatible, that's on you, not on dnlogin. 🙈

also, big news: dnlogin is a replacement for the old sethost program. so if you were still out here clinging to sethost, bestie, it's time to move on. glow up era. ✨

✨ OPTIONS ✨

okay this is the part where I need you to pay attention, because every single one of these matters and I'm not skipping a single one:

  • -e <char> — sets the exit character. by default this is ^]. now, the way you specify it is cute and flexible: you can give it as a control character by putting a circumflex in front of it, e.g. ^A means control-A. OR you can give it as a number — in decimal (which is the default), in octal (starting with a zero), or in hexadecimal (preceded by 0x or 0X). pick your fighter. 🎀
  • -T connect timeout — specifies the maximum amount of time the command will wait to establish a connection with the remote node. a 0 here will cause it to wait forever. the default is 60 seconds. so yeah, 0 is giving "I have all the time in the world" energy. 😭
  • -h, -? — displays help for using the command. your little rescue blanket when you forget everything. 🫶
  • -V — shows the version of the package that dnlogin was built with. iykyk. ⭐
also don't come for me about -d level — it shows up in the synopsis and that's exactly where I'm leaving it, because that's exactly what the original does. no cap. 💀

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

connect to a remote VAX host named "mv3100". look at this beauty:

dnlogin mv3100

one line. one command. iconic. 👑

✨ HELPFUL HINTS ✨

okay so here's the lowkey annoying part, and I need you to hear me out. 🍓

the CTERM specifications available from Digital do not include how to setup VMS terminal characteristics. which means… the host cannot identify the capabilities of the session we are creating. it's basically showing up to the party with no name tag. 😭

the simplest workaround is to set the terminal capabilities manually upon login, or to include the following command in the login.com DCL procedure:

$ SET TERM/DEC_CRT

do that and you're golden. you're welcome. 💜

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

the whole friend group, go say hi:

and that's the page!! this whole thing came out of the DECnet utilities situation, dated October 21 2005 — vintage but still slaying, fr fr. stay connected, bestie, and remember: ^] is your exit character unless you say otherwise. mwah 💖✨🎀🦋🌸

📦 where this page comes from