RedHat Linux telnetd errors resulting in telnet not working 2

[s2budd]

Hello all
I have a client with a Linux RedHat problem that I would like some help with please. You will have to excuse my linux knowledge I am a Solaris bod.

The server is Linux RedHat with the version being reported from uname -a as 2.4.9-e.24smp

Every three months (yes I know !) the server has a problem whereby it is not possible to telnet (yes, telnet) to the server but it will reply to a ping.

Looking within an old copy of /var/log/messages I can see the following errors on the date of the last occurrence.
There are lots of them.

telnetd[24414]: ttloop: peer died: EOF
ualb01 ftpd[25363]: FTP session closed

Looking about the web I have found other reporting this error but I have not found a solution yet.
The other error reports say that the server is either being attacked or that there is a network card problem. I think that both are unlikely and that the reason is more likely to be a problem with the RedHat software / kernel that was fixed in further releases.

What do others think?
If you think that a good old patch update would do the trick then you can probably guess what my next question is going to be.

Cheers in advance.
Stuart

 

[thedaver]

Without lecturing on the ills of using telnet, I would guess that the telnet service is crashing... or it's port is being taken by another daemon trying to cooexist.

I don't think a kernel update fixes this one.

Have you updated the telnet daemon lately? Perhaps this is a known bug?

D.E.R. Management - IT Project Management Consulting

http://www.dermanagement.com/

 

[s2budd]

Thanks for the reply.
Nothing has been updated on this server for a good year, if ever. You mention updating the telnet daemon. How would I perform this?

I am used to Solaris patch bundles where Unix OS and included applications are all bundled together within a large jumbo patch. Is the same type of procedure available for RedHat?

I have tried looking on the RedHat web site but I can not see anything that looks relevant to downloading and installing patches.
Cheers
Stuart

 

[s2budd]

I have performed some investigation and am quite giddy with excitement after discovering my new found Linux command.
[root@ualb01 /var/log]# rpm -qa | grep telnet
telnet-0.17-20
telnet-server-0.17-20

However, RedHat Linux experts. Would I patch just the above package or packages (I am not sure if they are the same thing or not) or use a large patch cluster?

 

[thedaver]

You'll need to find the .RPM files for the "telnet-server" product via

http://rpmfind.net

I'd go ahead and update the "telnet" client package as well.

You would download the files and type:

"rpm -Ufh telnet*.rpm"

That should upgrade your existing installed packages.

I would suggest that you read up on the use of the "rpm" command and general RedHat package management.

Note: Redhat's package management is NOT the same as used by other linux' such as Debian. So, if you go to use another distribution you may find that their package management methods are quite different. They all net out to the same thing.

D.E.R. Management - IT Project Management Consulting

http://www.dermanagement.com/

 

[s2budd]

Thanks. That's Fab.