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Telnet client

A built-in Telnet terminal (RFC 854) on the Mac, for the legacy equipment that speaks nothing else. Apple removed telnet from macOS in 2017; SSHive brings it back. Telnet itself is unencrypted: keep it to trusted networks.

Console servers, PDUs, KVM switches, older managed switches, building controllers and a good deal of industrial hardware still speak Telnet and nothing else, even though macOS stopped shipping a telnet command years ago. Someone still has to administer that equipment, and a separate install on every Mac that needs it is a poor answer. SSHive has its own Telnet client, written to RFC 854. It answers the option negotiation the server starts, and a 0xFF byte in what you type is escaped so it is never read as a Telnet command. A Telnet profile holds a host, a port (23 by default) and, if you like, a user name and password, which SSHive types at the usual login: and Password: prompts. Test Connection, in the profile dialog, checks that the server answers and that option negotiation completes before you save. In the session, Quick Commands insert your saved commands as they do over SSH. A Telnet session is a tab like any other, so an old switch sits next to the servers you reach over SSH, which remains the better choice wherever the equipment offers it. Telnet is part of the Mac app only, and needs no special permission in the Mac App Store version: an outgoing TCP connection is all it uses.

Where it runs and what it costs

Runs on
Mac only
Free
Yes, the whole client.
Pro
$12.99 once, for Mac, iPhone and iPad. Session logging to a file with a timestamp on each line, and more than 5 saved profiles, a limit that counts Telnet profiles too.
Compare Free and Pro

Key capabilities

An RFC 854 client built into the app, not a call to a command macOS no longer ships

Echo, Suppress Go Ahead and window size negotiated, so resizing reaches the remote side

A 0xFF byte in your keystrokes escaped, so it is never read as a command

An optional user name and password, typed for you at the login and password prompts

Where Telnet is still the only option

Console servers and out-of-band access

Terminal servers from Lantronix, Digi, Opengear and others expose each attached serial port as a TCP port you reach over Telnet: one connection per console, addressed by port number. It is how you reach a rack full of console cables from somewhere that is not the rack.

PDUs, KVMs and older managed switches

Power distribution units and KVM switches stay in racks for many years, and plenty of installed units predate usable SSH support. The same goes for managed switches still doing their job at the edge of a network. Telnet on an administration VLAN is how they get configured.

Telnet through an SSH tunnel

An old switch behind a firewall, with a Linux machine next to it that you reach over SSH: give that machine's profile a local tunnel from port 2323 on your Mac to port 23 of the switch, then point a Telnet profile at localhost, port 2323. Open the SSH session first, then the Telnet one: across the untrusted part of the path, the Telnet traffic travels inside the encrypted SSH tunnel.

Telnet, frequently asked questions

Why is there no telnet command on my Mac any more?+
Apple removed both telnet and ftp from macOS in High Sierra, 10.13, in 2017, on the grounds that neither encrypts anything. They have not come back in any release since. You can reinstall telnet from Homebrew or MacPorts, and plenty of people do, but it is no longer part of the operating system. SSHive implements the protocol itself rather than depending on a binary that may or may not be present.
Is Telnet secure?+
No, and no client can make it so. Telnet has no encryption: the user name, the password and everything typed afterwards travel as readable text, and anyone on the path can read them. Use SSH wherever the equipment supports it. Where it does not, keep Telnet on an isolated administration network and never across the internet, or carry it inside an SSH tunnel for the stretch you do not trust.
Does window resizing work?+
Yes. When the server asks for NAWS, the Negotiate About Window Size option, SSHive sends the terminal dimensions, and sends them again whenever you resize. That is what keeps a full-screen, menu-driven configuration tool from drawing itself into the wrong corner of the window. ECHO and Suppress Go Ahead are negotiated too, which is what makes typing feel like a terminal rather than a line-at-a-time form.
Can I use Telnet on iPhone and iPad?+
No. Telnet is part of the Mac app only. If you use iCloud sync, a Pro option, a Telnet profile created on the Mac still shows up on iPhone and iPad, marked as not supported and without a Connect button, and it stays intact for the Mac.
Is Telnet free in SSHive?+
Yes. The Telnet client is part of the free tier, alongside the SSH terminal, the file browser and the network tools, and the free tier's limit of 2 sessions counts SSH sessions rather than Telnet ones. The limit of 5 saved profiles does apply to Telnet profiles.

Related SSHive features

Serial console

Console cable to router, switch or board

SSH Terminal

GPU-accelerated terminal

Quick Commands

Reusable command library

See also

Try Telnet client in SSHive

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