Re: Non-hidden password in VTxxx emulation

Hi Dave,

On my system, F6 does not blank out the screen. What I do is hit F6 prior to typing the password so that characters do not echo.

The underlying problem is that a 5250 emulation is not really capable of emulating VT100. VT100 is a character-at-a-time device, whereas 5250 is a screen at a time device. How can you do a 5250 session, then use it to act as a VT100 terminal? Think about it... there's no way for each keypress to be sent individually with 5250, so it can never do correct vt100 emulation.

Really, your best option is to telnet from the PC directly to the RS/6000 device -- preferably via a tool like Putty.

If that's not an option (usually due to security) another method that's VASTLY more secure than going through 5250 is to run an SSH server on your AS/400, and use it to create an SSH tunnel, then route the telnet from the PC through the SSH tunnel. The result will be an encrypted channel that still goes through your AS/400, and still must pass it's password validation, but is encrypted and allows proper VT100 (or better, xterm) emulation through the channel.

The TELNET tool on OS/400 is about the best it can be, considering that it has to go through 5250 -- but it'll never work quite right.


Dave Kahn wrote:

We have a customer at a remote location who is able to sign on to our
AS/400 using iSeries Access for Windows. From this 5250 session the
customer then Telnets into his own RS/6000. We have just discovered
that when he does so the password field is completely visible as he
types it. This seems to be a feature of VTxxx support. According to
the iSeries Information Center, V5R3,
there is a *HIDE function that by default is set to the F6 key. "Use
this function when typing a password," says the book. This appears to
work inasmuch as it makes the entire screen go blank. However, we
cannot rely on them bothering to blank their screen every time they
log into their RS/6000 from our AS/400. Has anyone met this issue
before?