C-Kermit for Windows - version 10.0 beta!

[davidrg]

C-Kermit for Windows v10.0 beta is now up on the Kermit Project website - the first new version of Kermit for windows in something like 20 years. And unlike the last one, this one is free!

This is based on the very latest C-Kermit release (C-Kermit 10.0 Beta.04) so brings an additional 20 years of new C-Kermit features plus some other fixes and enhancements that were originally going to be Kermit 95 v2.2. Sadly some features are no longer available as they either depended on proprietary libraries (LAT, XYZMODEM, Dialer) or depended on obsolete libraries (all of crypto stuff including SSH). So for now you're limited to telnet and serial connections.

 

[davidrg]

A new version is out! On windows Vista and newer its got a built-in SSH client, and on Windows 10 v1809 or newer its also got PTY support (though the kermit protocol doesn't work over windows PTYs due to their very non-transparent nature). A build is available without these new features for computers running something almost anything older than Windows Vista - any 32bit x86 desktop (or server) Windows except NT 3.1, NT 3.50 and win32s. A special build for NT 3.50 (and maybe NT 3.1) may appear in the next release though I can't imagine there is much demand for it. I've had a look at win32s but its lack of support for threading makes running C-Kermit there impossible. Support for Alpha, PowerPC and MIPS Windows NT will appear pretty much as soon as I manage to get my hands on a properly licensed version of Visual C++ 4.0 RISC edition or newer (unlikely any time soon).

If you want to make SSH connections from a pre-Vista PC running this you can do it pretty transparently using a Raspberry Pi or other machine on your LAN running a telnet server. Frank da Cruz has notes and a script for automating the telnet connection and running an SSH client at the other end here: https://kermitproject.org/k95relay.html (this also works for the old commercial release of CKW, Kermit 95, whose SSH client is too old now to connect to anything modern)

 

[davidrg]

Third beta is out now! This one extends SSH support down to Windows XP SP3 and adds TLS support for http, ftp and telnet protocols.

The mouse wheel also works now, the dialer is back if you want it, the screen update interval can be adjusted, Windows NT 3.50 is now supported via a special feature-reduced build, and there is a pile of other improvements all documented here.



The OS/2 version has been partially revived too but binaries aren't included in this release as network support among other things is currently broken. I don't know much about developing for OS/2 so it may take someone with more OS/2 knowledge to get C-Kermit for OS/2 back up to the level of Kermit 95 v2.1.3.

 

[davidrg]

The fourth beta is out now. Highlights are:

• X-, Y-, and Z-MODEM support is back thanks to Jyrki Salmi (online.fi) releasing the code for the library he wrote
• CTERM and LAT is supported again if you've got Pathworks32. Support for SuperLAT and TES32 is now a custom build option.
• xterm-compatible mouse reporting has been added to the terminal emulator
• Blinking cursor now blinks more reliably, and file file transfers over SSH are much faster.

Plus a bunch of other bug-fixes and enhancements. See What's new since Beta 3 for more details, or the full change-log going back to Kermit 95.

See this page on the Kermit Project Website for more information, download links, etc.

 

[davidrg]

Its been quite a while so... C-Kermit for Windows Beta 5 is out now!

Aside from the usual bug fixes and minor enhancements this release brings back Kerberos V authentication. It also has a brand new port to 64bit Windows, a number of build issues have been fixed for non-x86 platforms, and binaries for ARM, and Itanium are now provided along with a heavily feature reduced (due to using the NT 3.50 SDK) DEC Alpha build.

See What's new since Beta 4 or the full change-log going back to Kermit 95 for more information on what's changed, and this page on the Kermit Project Website for more information, download links, etc.

 

[davidrg]

Apologies for this being a year behind schedule - got distracted by other projects. But C-Kermit for Windows Beta 6 is finally out!

This release brings new versions of OpenSSL, libssh and zlib to correct security issues and adds proper support for Windows NT running on Alpha, MIPS and PowerPC hardware. Also included are a number of bug fixes, minor enhancements and a large number (>1,000) of build warnings fixed.

The Kermit Project Website hasn't been updated yet, but in the meantime you can get binaries, source and a list of whats new from github.

For the next release, its been decided to switch back to using the old Kermit 95 name so this will be the final release named "C-Kermit for Windows" - the next one will be Kermit 95 v3.0 beta 7.

 

[davidrg]

Kermit 95 3.0 beta 7 is now available! Highlights are:

• IBM OS/2 2.0+ is now supported again. This is the first Kermit release for OS/2 since 2.1.2 of November 2002 and the first free version of OS/2 Kermit since C-Kermit 5A(191) of April 1995. Note that the dialer is not currently included due to compatibility issues with Open Watcom.
• REXX scripting is now supported on Windows for the first time! For now, support is limited to x86 Windows XP or newer. Support for other CPU architectures and older Windows releases may appear in a future release.
• Big SSH improvements:
  • SSH is now supported on 32bit ARM devices for the first time
  • Port forwarding (tunneling) has been reimplemented for the new SSH backend. Dynamic (SOCKS) forwarding may appear in a future release.
  • X11 forwarding has been reimplemented for the new SSH backend
  • SSH agent support and agent forwarding has been reimplemented for the new SSH backend. See the SSH Client Reference section of the users guide for compatible SSH agents.
  • The SSH backend code has been moved into a DLL. Multiple backends are now provided allowing Kermit 95 to load the correct one for your operating system version (Windows XP or something newer) and availability of MIT Kerberos for Windows. This means no more shuffling around ssh.dll variants, and it also opens the door to supporting SSH on older windows releases (or even OS/2) some day.
• New commands to turn the menu bar, tool bar and status bar on and off have been added. When the menu bar is turned off, the most important actions are available from the Window menu (like in PuTTY):
• Implemented support for Xterms bracketed paste feature
• Reimplemented the three checkboxes in the dialers GUI settings page for the menu bar, tool bar and status bar. When these are disabled via the dialer they can't be re-enabled via the new commands for turning them on and off.
• Most of the users guide has been revised for Kermit 95 3.0. It will now be bundled with releases going forward as it was in the past. The manual command should bring it up, or you can get to it via the help menu.

Plus a selection of other bug fixes and enhancements.

Downloads for Windows NT 3.50+, Windows 9x, and OS/2 2.0+ and the full list of changes are on Github now:

Release Kermit 95 3.0.0 beta 7 · davidrg/ckwin

This is the seventh beta of Kermit 95, based on C-Kermit 10.0 beta.11. There are now fourteen(!) download options to support different versions of Windows on different CPU architectures, in additio...

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