#17 Automatic login to the terminal/console server

[Geoff Adams]

The Cisco 2511 I am using as a console server, as I have it configured, wants a password to connect to a console port. It would be really nice to be able to have tcpsrv provide this password when it makes the TCP connection. Without it, the 2511 disconnects within some number of seconds (perhaps a minute or two), making the exercise pointless unless there's a human nearby to connect using the console (client) program to provide the password immediately.

This will be more or less necessary for production operation; the only other option is to configure the console server not to require a password, which opens up security problems and possible race conditions.

I'm not sure how this could be done. Perhaps a simple expect-like language to recognize a password prompt and a configuration item for the connection indicating the password. Or the expect script could be specified in the config file (by reference or value). Or something else entirely... Heuristics in the CC code? Ugh.

[Chris P. Ross]

Logged In: YES
user_id=12814
Originator: NO

conserver, a similar package to this one, does this by allowing for an "initcmd" to be specified. This is an external program that is run, handed the connection on stdin/stdout, that can manage that sort of login.

I'm torn between that, which is a more general mechanism, and building in some sort of minimalistic expect-type thing so that it can be scripted internally to the consmgr processes. I can't think of a good way to specify a script in a config file, though, at the moment.