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TiFFolk
Asked: 2009-06-11 22:43:12 +0800 CST

Open serial (COM1) line on Linux to manage a switch through the console

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I have connected a switch to a PC with a serial cable, and I want to manage it. What utility can I use to open a serial line and manage the switch through the console?

On Windows I used PuTTY (serial line COM1).

console serial

6 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Minicom. Look here for some tutorial.

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  2. GNU Screen will do this as well. You just provide the argument of whatever device you are using, for example:

    screen /dev/ttyUSB0
screen /dev/ttyS0

    Like any other file, you will need read write privileges for the /dev/tty* devices. See the 'Window Types' section of man screen to see how to specify the baud rate etc, but screen can usually figure this out.

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  3. I prefer picocom personally.

    Minicom has too much ncurses bloat for my liking. It always takes me ages to get where I want.

    Whereas with picocom you specify all of your options (baud/parity/stop) on the command line, no fuss.

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  4. We use Kermit with a simple configuration/script file that sets the options.

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  5. I use minicom. Relatively straightforward, and works like a charm.

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  6. I use CuteCom with a USB-to-serial device. You may have to start it with 'sudo ./cutecom' in order to have it access the ttyUSB of your computer.

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