Minicom is a free serial communications program for UNIX-like systems that provides a terminal emulator to communicate with other devices through a computer’s serial port. It can be automated through its scripting language and includes file transfer protocols. It runs via the command line and is configured by the system administrator.
Minicom is a freely available serial communications program that runs under LINUX and other variants of the UNIX operating system. It works by providing a terminal emulator to communicate with other devices through a computer’s serial port. This can be direct computer-to-computer communication or to control a modem connected to the serial port. Many of the program’s functions can be automated through the use of its own scripting language.
It was developed with the intention of providing a free, open source serial communication and modem control application for UNIX-like computer systems. Inspired by the Telix program written for MS-DOS, Minicom offers in many ways the same features available to the HyperTerminal software used in Microsoft® Windows® operating systems. Minicom, however, is not a typical application with a graphical user interface (GUI). Instead, it runs via the command line and provides a number of text-based menu options for configuration. Once up and running, its operation is managed with keyboard commands and hotkeys.
Since the serial port on the system is accessible only by the superuser account, known as root on UNIX systems, or by those belonging to a special privilege group, called the dial-out group, normal users are unable to configure Minicom. For security reasons, most users are not added to the dial-out group, so the system administrator usually configures the software for everyone using the root account. Once the serial port has been configured, the modem must also be configured to tell the software what speed it is capable of and so on. You can also configure additional settings for how the software works, such as specific locations for saving files, from which to run location scripts, and other protocol settings.
Minicom is able to use file transfer protocols (FTP) to upload and download data. During installation, the main menu provides options for establishing the protocol name, the program to run, and any additional FTP parameters. After these protocols have been set up, as well as the other primary configuration options, some of Minicom’s operations can be automated with the use of its scripting language.
Other software is included with Minicom, but runs separately and offers the ability to provide automation for frequently used tasks. The runscript command is the interpreter used for just this purpose. It offers a variety of keywords, many of which come with additional variable options. Scripts can be used for things like dialing a frequently used number with your modem and logging into a server, downloading some data and logging out of a server, and more.
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