17.7. Dialing In to the Server

Problem

Your server is all set up for remote serial administration over dial-up, so how do you dial in to it and get to work?

Solution

Use your good friend Minicom, your all-in-one serial communications program.

To dial out from your remote serial console machine, enter the phone number in Minicom's dialing directory, then hit the Dial command:

	$ minicom
	Initializing modem
	
	Welcome to minicom 2.1
	
	OPTIONS: History Buffer, F-key Macros, Search History Buffer, I18n
	Compiled on Jan 1 2005, 19:46:57.
	
	Press CTRL-A Z for help on special keys
	
	AT S7=45 S0=0 L3 V1 X4 &c1 E1 Q0
	OK
	Ctrl-A, D

	____________________[Dialing Directory]___________________
	|  Name            Number         Last on   Times Script |
	|1  fileserver1     9322744                    0         |
	|                                                        |
	|                                                        |
	|                                                        |
	|                                                        |
	|                                                        |
	|           ( Escape to exit, Space to tag )             |
	|________________________________________________________|
	   Dial    Find   Add     Edit   Remove   moVe   Manual

	________________[Autodial]________________ 
	|                                         | 
	| Dialing : fileserver1                   |
	|      At : 9322744                       |
	|                                         |
	|                                         |
	|    Time : 39      Attempt #1            |
	|                                         |
	|                                         |
	| Escape to cancel, space to retry        |
	|________________________________________ |
	Connected. Press any key to continue
	<Enter>
	CONNECT 115200/V34/LAPM/V42BIS/33600:TX/33600:RX
	fileserver1.carla.com ttyS0 login: carla
	Password: ********
	[carla@fileserver1:~]$

And there you are. To exit your remote session:

	[carla@fileserver1:~]$ logout

Discussion

This makes a nice backup if your Internet service goes down, or your Ethernet fails, or if you need to reboot your server.

Don't worry too much about Bps settings, because modern modems auto-negotiate line speeds by themselves. You might try lower speeds if you have problems establishing a reliable connection. Use the Edit command in the dialing menu to try different line speeds.

See Also