New York City USA
•
kermit@kermitproject.org
…since
1981
|
|
The Kermit Project
|
Now hosted by
Panix.com
New York City USA
•
kermit@kermitproject.org
…since
1981
|
Download Install Run Export Coexist Documentation Problems Screenshots
Also see:
CKW How-To
(Ini files, SSH setup, ...)
See daily progress notes
This page assumes a degree of familiarity with Kermit software;
if you need an introduction, look HERE.
The new Open Source release of the Program Formerly Known as
Kermit 95 — K95 for short — and which is now
called C-Kermit for Windows — CKW for short — is closer
to final release, thanks (once again) to
David Goodwin in New Zealand, who has
been working on it nonstop since July. His third Beta test version is
available as of 15 September 2022. CKW Beta test numbers are slightly out
of tune with C-Kermit's, which is still (as of the same date) Beta.04,
so this one is called C-Kermit for Windows 10b4 Beta 3; it is built
using C-Kermit Beta.04 sources plus a couple fixes described
HERE
in the 14 September 2022 section. If we have one more CKW Beta before
the C-Kermit beta, we'll be back in sync!
By the way, it would also be appropriate to call C-Kermit for Windows
"W-Kermit", which looks better than "CKW" in menus like the one at the top
of this page, where "C-Kermit for Windows" is too long and "CKW" too short.
Also W-Kermit follows the pattern of E-Kermit and G-Kermit, not to mention
C-Kermit itself.
Links::
David adds, "The SSH and SSL enabled build of CKW (ckw-b3.zip) requires the
Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable - if it's not already installed you'll get
an error of some kind probably complaining about a missing DLL. The latest
version for Vista and newer is
https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x86.exe, while Windows XP Service
Pack 3 is stuck at an older version (16.7) which is available from MSDN but
as that requires a subscription I've put a copy of it here:
https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/dev/redist/vcpp/2019_16.7/VC_redist.x86.exe."
Also the ex-K95 Dialer is included for the first time in this Beta:
Binaries:
Source code:
The dialer is packaged separately since the same version should run on all
supported Windows platforms except for NT 3.50. Anyone wanting to use it
can just put the dialer files into the same directory with the CKW
Beta 3 files and the dialer button on the CKW toolbar should be
enabled and everything should pretty much work as it did in Kermit 95.
I hope that CKB's revived support for secure Telnet, FTP, and HTTP
connections will encourage the redeployment of secure Telnet and FTP servers
around the Internet, since Kermit's client implementations are vastly
superior to the SSH regime in power, flexibility, features, customizability,
automatability, and user-friendliness.
Solution: Moving k95custom.ini to
https://ftp2.zx.net.nz/pub/CKW/test_builds/2022-09-15/
The configurations are:
You will need to install the
Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable if you don't already have it. You can
grab the latest version of this for Windows Vista and newer from
https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x86.exe.
On Windows XP, the last version of the redistributable is 16.7. You can
get it from here:
https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/dev/redist/vcpp/2019_16.7/VC_redist.x86.exe.
Here's the procedure:
The new built-in SSH client is ready to use for password authentication.
To set up passwordless key exchange authentication, read
these instructions.
CKW *presently* uses the same initialization and customization files. If
these files contain any commands not supported by CKW
or by K95, you can protect them with:
In Betas 1 and 2 CKW uses K95's initialization and customization files
(Table 2) if they exist. Future Betas will have
their own set, e.g. ckwcustom.ini instead of k95custom.ini. The same
directories as for K95 are used for the k95.ini, k95site.ini, and
k95custom.ini files. These are plain-text files that contain C-Kermit/CKW
commands. The k95custom.ini is where you would set up your preferences.
For making connections to other computers, you can define a
macro for each host includes the access details, the connection and
login procedure, and the fonts, font-sizes, screen dimensions, colors,
position, resize behavior, and so on, for each host you connect to. You can
use different attributes (e.g. color) for each host so when you have
many connections going at once, you can tell the difference by their
distinct appearances. The K95 Relay page
includes an example of such a script.
New scripts and ini files for CKW will be posted here shortly.
In brief (paraphrasing from item 5): Publicly available ready-to-use
software whose primary function is other than information security, that
includes an openly available encryption component without modifications, and
that is of interest to a wide range of individuals and businesses, is exempt
from the BIS Export Administration Regulations. That's why LibSSH and
numerous SSH clients are downloadable on the Internet by anybody at all, no
matter what country they are in. CKW will be no different.
Similar considerations apply to Kermit's built-in OpenSSL and
Kerberos 5 features, such as its Telnet, FTP, and HTTP clients.
David Goodwin's notes:
Frank da Cruz
fdc@kermitproject.org
ckw@kermitproject.org
← questions, problems, reports
Created: 16 July 2022
CKW Beta date:
16 September 2022
This page last update:
Wed Dec 14 06:29:21 2022
New York time
If you are experiencing problems with the screen cursor in Beta 03
(lagging behind, disappearing, etc) see Problem #3
below.
David's
notes •
What's new in Beta 3 •
SSH support in Beta 3 •
David's
changelog •
Previous Beta
The big news in CKW10b3 is that OpenSSL support has been
resuscitated. This means that:
CLICK HERE for a complete list of new features in CKWb3, which also include
SSH improvements, some screen and mouse improvements, etc.
https://fremont.zx.net.nz/~david/k95/dialer/dialer-b3.zip
https://fremont.zx.net.nz/~david/k95/dialer/dialer-src.zip
About C-Kermit for Windows
As noted in the table above, the source code is available from David's
archive. It will be incorporated into the C-Kermit 10.0 Beta.05 sources
(along many other contributions and fixes) and then everybody should be sync.
The third CKW Beta announces itself as:
The copyright remains with Columbia U, in accordance with the separation
agreement of 2011. CKW uses the C-Kermit version number, not the old K95 one,
which was different (the last K95 release was 2.1.3, which was contemporary
with C-Kermit 8.0.207). The LICENSE command shows the new Open Source
license.
C-Kermit 10.0 OPEN SOURCE: Beta.04/Windows-03, Sep 15 2022, for Windows
Copyright (C) 1985, 2022,
Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
Type ? or HELP for help.
Known Problems with C-Kermit for Windows Third Beta
Send bug reports, questions, and comments
to ckw@kermitproject.org.
Disabled DSA support at build time by default (will be removed in the
next release)
Perhaps beta 2 was only able to connect because libssh 0.9.6 still supported
DSA. I might have a go at doing a build of libssh 0.10 with it re-enabled
as David Hittner got back to me saying he'd hit the problem connecting to
an OpenVMS box. In the meantime grabbing ssh.dll from beta2 seems to work."
CKW users can
work around the problem by using an SSH relay.
-" (hyphen), "_" (underscore),
and of course "." (period). Almost anything else can
cause confusion or conflict. And avoid including spaces in filenames even
if it's legal. And for that matter don't assume that capital and small
letters are equivalent in filenames; they are in some operating systems but
not others.
\v(inidir)k95custom.ini*
or \v(inidir)k95site.ini, CKW will not see your
edits . This turns out to be for
two good reasons:
Diagnosis: All these directories were writable by the user in early
Windows versions. Beginning with (I think) Windows Vista,
k95custom.ini (your personal customization file)
file should be in \v(appdata), not \v(inidir).
\v(k95site.ini) is not for personal use, it's for the
network manager on PC networks to make site-wide customizations, e.g. for
all the PCs on a corporate PC LAN.
\v(inidir) became read-only except for Administrator.
The reason the problem became evident only in CKW B2 is that it's
the first version to be built with modern compilers and runtimes.
\v(appdata) —
where you can edit it — fixes the problem.
Example: lowercase dotless i: 'ı' (as in Turkish):
Alt-n 0131 should work but typing the final '1' kills CKW.
*
\v(inidir) is normally
"C:\ProgramData\Kermit 95\" but might be something else
on older Windows versions.
Download
The third Beta-test version is available as of 15 September 2022,
downloadable in various configurations from here:
Configuration package link
Description
ckw-b3.zip
Full-featured version for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, and XP
Service Pack 3. Includes SSL, SSH, and Pseudoterminal code
ckw-b3-vintage.zip
Feature-reduced version for Windows NT 3.51, 4.0, 2000, Windows XP
pre-SP3 OR Windows 95, 98, ME. Does NOT include SSH, SSL, or PTY support
and is intended only for vintage Windows systems which have known security
issues.
ckw-b3-nt350.zip
Special feature-reduced version of C-Kermit for Windows NT 3.50
only. The use of this one on newer systems is not recommended.
ckw-b3-src.zip
CKW C-language source code.
Installing
There is (as yet) no "one-click" installer for CKW. Here is the procedure
for the second and third Beta. A distinct advantage of the current
do-it-yourself method is that, not only can you have CKW and K95 installed
at athe same time, you can also have multiple versions of CKW on your PC.
Case in point: there is a host that I use on a daily basis that has an
antiquated SSH server. The second Beta worked with it, but the third did
not because it is built with a newer version of LibSSH, which has dropped
support for old SSH servers. Anway, here is the installation process for
the current Beta:
Leave the folder as it is,
don't move, rename, or delete it.
The DLL's are required for Kermit to run, so
don't delete them.
Running
Start (run) the new C-Kermit for Windows program by double-clicking the icon
you just made in the previous step. The first time you start it you'll
get warnings from Windows and/or your antivirus software because this is
a new program and it's free and open-source. Examples of warnings:
These warnings appear only the first time you start the new CKW.
But they come back when you download a new release (and then they
go away again).
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from
starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.
More info ← click this
[ Run anyway ] ← click this
App:
k95g.exe
Publisher:
Unknown publisher
(see screenshot)
Our information on this file is inconclusive.
We recommend not using this file unless you know it is safe.
k95g.exe
[ Remove this file from my computer ]
[ Allow this file ] ←
click this
Unproven: There is not enough information about this file to recommend it.
Very few users: This file has been seen by fewer than 5 Symantec users.
Very new: Symantec has known abou this file approximately 2 days.
Permission: If you press OK, an application exemption will be created
for this file. You should allow only files you are sure are safe.
Are you sure you want to allow this file?
[ Cancel ]
[ OK ] ← click this
Coexistence with K95 2.1
If you already have Kermit 95 2.1.3 (or earlier) installed on your PC, CKW
won't interfere with it and you can use both versions, and you can still use
the K95 Dialer. At present CKW is installed in a folder on your desktop,
whereas K95 2.1 was installed in the normal Windows way:
Note: the actual directory names can vary according Windows version.
File
Filename
Directory
Kermit variable
Executable (GUI)
k95g.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Kermit 95 2.1\
\v(exedir)
Executable (console)
k95.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Kermit 95 2.1\
\v(exedir)
Root startup file
k95.ini
C:\ProgramData\Kermit 95\
\v(inidir)
Sitewide initialization file
k95site.ini
C:\ProgramData\Kermit 95\
\v(inidir)
Customization file
k95custom.ini
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Kermit 95\
\v(appdata)
\v(version) is the all-numeric
version number of the C-Kermit code used for the Windows build. 1000000 is
C-Kermit 10.0 and 800207 is C-Kermit 8.0.207. When CKW is finally released
it will still peacefully coexist with K95, although the exact mechanisms
have yet to be worked out, but most likely all of its file names will start
with "ckw" rather than "k95" (as in the table), and it will have its own
separate
if < \v(version) 1000000 {
commands for K95
}
if >= \v(version) 1000000 {
commands for CKW
}
\v(exedir),
\v(inidir), and
\v(appdata) directories.
The CKW Initialization File
More about "Ini files"
Exportability of SSH client
The US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export
Administration Regulations (EAR) govern the export of software that includes
encryption features. These rules have changed since Kermit 95 was last
released in 2003, at which time certain countries were barred from obtaining
such software from the USA by mail order, download, or other means. As of
2021, however, Kermit software is no longer subject to export
restrictions, and C-Kermit for Windows can include a built-in SSH client
based on LibSSH that is, indeed, exportable to all countries.
See these references:
Documention
Specific to C-Kermit for Windows:
A "How To" document for getting started with CKW:
Since
C-Kermit for Windows is C-Kermit, you can refer to the C-Kermit
documentation for most everything else:
https://www.kermitproject.org/ckwhowto.html
http://www.ext.zx.net.nz/software/notes/kermit95/
https://www.kermitproject.org/ckbindex.html
For an introduction to the Kermit script language (which lets you
write procedures to automate common tasks), see this page:
https://www.kermitproject.org/ck90.html#doc
https://www.kermitproject.org/ckscripts.html
For CKW's Windows-specific aspects, see:
The New Open-Source Kermit Project hosted by
Panix.com