News Archive: Token2Shell/MD

Are you using "Internal Network" or "Host-only Networking" for your virtual machine and getting connection timeout errors? Try the following workaround.

The following summarizes new features and changes in version 10.11.0:

• You can now save and restore the layout of floating terminal windows using the new "Layout Freezer" under [ Window ] menu. Connections are also re-established if they were active when the layout was saved.

  You can create multiple saved layouts and also have an option to automatically save the layout when you close Token2Shell/MD.

  

  When you make a selection from Layout Freezer, Token2Shell/MD restores the server address, position and size of terminals. Connections are also re-established if they were active when the layout was saved.

• Main window title bar can now be translucent and show the background image. The bottom app bar can also be completely hidden even in normal window mode. In order to open the bottom app bar while it's hidden, you can right-click (or use the tap-and-hold touch gesture) on the background image. You can also use the app bar button on the window title bar.
• The background of currently selected session tab on the bottom app bar is now fully filled with its associated accent color; the current session tab should now be more distinguishable.
• Token2Shell/MD can now automatically remove heading and trailing whitespace characters when pasting from the clipboard. This option should prevent accidently executing a command while pasting.

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is becoming popular as it can achieve equivalent or higher level of security using less computing power than traditional methods (ex. RSA). OpenSSH and other poplar SSH servers support ECC based key exchange methods and host key types such as ECDH, ECDSA and Ed25519.

Token2Shell/MD now also supports ECC based methods that are fully compatible with OpenSSH. The following summarizes new features and changes in version 10.9.0:

• Now supports more host key types and key exchange methods
  NEW HOST KEY TYPES

  ecdsa-sha2-nistp256, ecdsa-sha2-nistp384, ecdsa-sha2-nistp521, ssh-ed25519

  Please note that Token2Shell/MD uses the same private/public key file format as OpenSSH. Thus if you already have private keys generated with ssh-keygen, you can simply copy them to Token2Shell/MD Home Folder (...\Token2Shell\ssh\keys) or import them via "Import" menu. You can also generate new private keys within Token2Shell/MD.

  NEW KEY EXCHANGE METHODS

  curve25519-sha256@libssh.org, ecdh-sha2-nistp256, ecdh-sha2-nistp384, ecdh-sha2-nistp521, diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256

  Please note that Address Book entries have their own SSH related settings. Thus you need to update existing entries individually if you want to use the newly added key types and methods for the stored server settings.

  Address Book entries in Token2Shell/MD correspond to plain XML text files under its Home Folder (...\Token2Shell\address.book). So if you're familiar with using a scripting language such as PowerShell, or have a text editor capable of opening multiple files and replacing a certain text on all of them, you should be able to update your Address Book entries more easily.

• Now supports customizing the 16 colors assigned for terminal codes
• Using "bold" font style can now be turned off

  If your terminal output is not vertically aligned correctly even if you've selected a mono-spaced font, try setting this option off. After changing this option, you need to re-connect to the server as this option is applied only when a new session is started.

• Now supports printing from the built-in Tek4014 window (ex. gnuplot)
• Direct printing mode (ESC[2016i) now supports JPG, PNG and BMP graphic format
• Keyboard mapping now supports sending terminal sequences assigned for "application mode" for arrow keys by pressing them with CTRL key. This can be handy, for example, when configuring CTRL+LEFT and CTRL+RIGHT for moving the cursor by word (in Bash shell, you can do this by editing ~/.inputrc file).
• Pressing ALT+Q on a disconnected session window now actually closes that window (ALT+Q only disconnects the session if it's active)

ZModem/XModem can be handy as files are sent or received over the current connection without depending on additional daemons or background service software. You just need ZModem/XModem executables (ex. lrzsz) that are readily available for almost all Unix and Unix-like servers. They are also still widely used for embedded devices for updating firmware or retrieving log files.

All in all, Token2Shell/MD now got you covered! The following summarizes new features and changes in version 10.8.0:

• ZModem (with resume always enabled) and XModem 1K/CRC/CHECKSUM are now supported for transferring files
• Now supports Bluetooth/RFCOMM communication. This feature can be useful when you're developing or debugging a custom Bluetooth service for IoT devices. For an example of such usage with Windows IoT on Raspberry Pi 2, please visit http://choung.net/howto/token2shell-md/bluetooth-iot-example/.
• "Session Data Capture (ALT+L)" is added for saving received communication data to a file
• "Hex Mode" is added for displaying all received data in hexadecimal format
• You can now adjust the volume for CTRL+G (BEL) beep sound. A bell icon is also displayed on the title bar at the same time. For additional information about the new sound options, please visit http://choung.net/howto/token2shell-md/adding-more-bell-sounds/.
• You can now temporarily change terminal options such as local echo, new line control characters and etc. Changed options will be reverted back to the original when you reconnect to the server.
• Tapping a session tab and closing its popup menu without selecting any menu (ex. pressing the Back button) now activates the on-screen keyboard for smartphones.