[SLL] telnet localhost

[Chuck Wolber]

On Wed, 13 Feb 2008, Bill Boulton wrote:

> Has anyone got any bright ideas about a computer's ability to telnet or 
> ftp localhost. I have two boxes, each with Slackware, connected as an 
> intranet.  Box A can successfully ping Box B but cannot telnet or ftp 
> Box B. Box B can ping, telnet or ftp Box A, but cannot telnet or ftp 
> itself (localhost). The /etc/hosts file in Box B contains the IP address 
> of localhost (127.0.0.1)  as well as the IP addresses of Box A and Box 
> B. I believe that if Box B could telnet localhost, Box A could telnet 
> Box B.  I'm stuck, can anyone help? Bill Boulton

Hmmm, well first of all, stop using telnet. Really. Stop using it. For 
that matter, stop using FTP as well. SSH handles all of that (I'd be glad 
to give a mini tutorial on how to stop using telnet and ftp and start 
using SSH if anyone's interested).

Now, to solve your immediate problem. Do a few things:

1. Make sure packet filter (iptables) rules aren't blocking connections 
between the boxes.

2. Make sure telnetd and ftpd are running on each box. Traditionally they 
are run out of xinetd or inetd.

3. Make sure each machine is on the same network subnet.

4. Make sure each machine has physical connectivity (look for link lights 
on your network switch/hub).

..Chuck..

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