How To Enable Telnet on Windows server 2019

Unlock Network Troubleshooting: How to Install the Telnet Client on Windows Server (Quick Guide)

Hi there! This is Darren O’Neill from Darren’s Tech Tutorials.

If you’ve ever had to troubleshoot a tricky network connectivity issue, test if a specific port is open, or verify application communication, you know how essential the Telnet client can be. However, Windows Server, in its commitment to security, doesn’t enable this tool by default.

The good news? Enabling the Telnet Client is a painless, fast process that takes less than two minutes using the Server Manager.

In this quick guide, we’ll walk through exactly how to install Telnet on Windows Server 2019 (or later versions) and verify that it’s working perfectly so you can get back to troubleshooting!

Why Do You Need the Telnet Client?

While Telnet is an older protocol and isn’t secure for transmitting sensitive data, the Telnet Client utility is an indispensable testing tool in a sysadmin’s toolkit.

Here’s how we use it:

• Port Testing: Quickly check if a firewall is blocking a specific port (e.g., confirming your server can reach a database server on port 1433).
• Connectivity Verification: Ensuring basic network reachability between two endpoints.
• Application Troubleshooting: Verifying that a remote service is listening and responding.

Step-by-Step: Enabling Telnet on Windows Server

The Telnet Client is installed as a feature using the standard Windows Server installation wizard. Follow these steps to get it set up:

Step 1: Open Server Manager

1. Click the Start Menu (Windows icon).
2. Select Server Manager to open the dashboard.

Step 2: Begin the Features Installation

Once Server Manager is open, we need to launch the wizard to add new features:

1. In the Server Manager console, click Manage in the top-right corner.
2. Select Add Roles and Features.
3. Click Next on the “Before You Begin” screen.
4. Ensure that “Role-based or feature-based installation” is selected, and click Next.
5. On the “Server Selection” screen, confirm your current server is highlighted, and click Next.
6. Skip the “Server Roles” screen entirely by clicking Next. We are installing a feature, not a role.

Step 3: Select the Telnet Client Feature

We are now on the core screen for selecting features:

1. On the “Features” screen, scroll down the list.
2. Locate and check the box next to Telnet Client.
3. Click Next.

Step 4: Install the Feature

1. Review the selected installation choices on the confirmation screen.
2. Click Install.

The installation process is very quick. Wait for the status bar to complete. You should see the message: “Installation succeeded on [Your Server Name]”.

3. Click Close.

Testing Your Telnet Installation

Now that the Telnet Client is installed, let’s verify that the command is available through the command line!

1. Click the Start Menu.
2. Search for cmd and open the Command Prompt.
3. At the command prompt, type the following command:

telnet

Success Verification: If the installation was successful, you will no longer receive an error message (like ‘telnet is not recognized as an internal or external command’). Instead, you will see the Telnet prompt, often displayed as a welcome message or simply a blinking cursor waiting for input.

If you see the prompt, you are good to go!

To test connectivity to a real service, you would typically use the format: telnet [IP Address or Hostname] [Port Number] (e.g., telnet 192.168.1.1 80 to check port 80).

Conclusion

That was a real quick video guide on how to install the crucial Telnet Client on Windows Server! You now have a powerful, lightweight tool ready to handle basic network checks and connectivity troubleshooting across your infrastructure.

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Happy networking! Thanks for watching.