How do I launch a specific telnet-based app from a web browser?

Question

What I'd like to do is provide a link on an intranet web page that will launch a telnet session and pass context information to a shell script that will take the user to a specific "green screen."

This "pseudolink" might help show what I'm looking for:

<a href="telnet://<user>:<password>@<host>?showdetail%20123">detail for 123</a>

Part of this solution might be a suggested telnet client that could interact with browsers (perhaps through JavaScript) to accomplish this. Bonus points for obfuscating the credentials (but this is envisioned at this point to be a "read only" login).

Thanks!

Answer 1

You cannot do this with a telnet: URL in most browsers (IE, FF, afaik). The telnet URL was originally described in RFC 1738, and it provided only information for a hostname, port, username and password.

When you click on it, the browser will usually ask the OS for the default "telnet" handler, which is an external application that is run. Most modern telnet clients accept these parameters and put them to use.

This architecture varies a bit between browsers, but the application is usually external. There was the occasional request in bugzilla.mozilla.org for support for a telnet plugin or a native telnet client, but it never got much attention.

There might be inline solutions like a java applet, but I doubt they are called with a telnet: URL.

Answer 2

In my opinion, and I'd love to be proved wrong, you will have sandbox (security) problems. Check out my question here which got little interest, but I think it's basically the same thing: you cannot open external apps from the browser unless they are already associated with the mime-type, protocol, or something.

Answer 3

There are some java applets which can be used as telnet clients, you could use one of them in the browser.