TCPCONNECT(1)

💖 tcpconnect — the general TCP/IP client bestie 💖

okay so this is a page from the General Commands Manual, and it's all about tcpconnect(1) — literally the most "I just wanna talk to a server" energy you can get from a command line. no cap.

✨ NAME ✨

tcpconnect — general TCP/IP client 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

tcpconnect [-irv] [-l localaddr] host port

that's it. that's the whole vibe. four lil flags and two args and you're connected. iconic.

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically tcpconnect makes a TCP/IP connection to a server that's running on the machine host, and that server is listening on port. simple as that. 🎀

then here's the main character energy: it reads your standard input and sends all of that over to the remote server, and anything the server sends back? that gets printed to standard output. it's giving walkie-talkie. it's giving conversation. 💬

and when end-of-file is reached on both standard input and the TCP/IP connection, tcpconnect terminates. both. like, it waits for both sides to be done. no ghosting early. 💅

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

• -i — Terminate at end-of-file on standard input. like, don't wait around for the server to close the connection, bestie, we're done here. 👋
• -r — Terminate when the remote server closes the connection. this one says don't wait for end-of-file on standard input. the server hung up, so we hang up. periodt. ☎️
• -v — Verbose mode. Prints a message to standard error when the connection has been established. so you get the lil "it worked!!" confirmation. validation. we love that. ✨
• -l addr:port — Bind the local end-point of the connection to IP address addr, TCP port port. and here's the cute part: either the IP address or the port, but not both, may be left out — and that means the operating system gets to choose that part by itself. letting the OS pick your fit for you. 🎀

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

tcplisten(1), telnet(1), tcpbug(1).

go read those too, they're part of the family. 🫶

💀 BUGS 💀

okay so real talk: the names of the options are not yet finalized, and may change at a future release. so like… don't get too attached to -i, -r, -v, -l. they might glow up into different letters. 😭

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this manual page is from 1997 April 13 — the source being the General Commands Manual — so it's lowkey vintage, highkey still slaps. go open a socket. you got this. 💖✨🦋