Kermit Software - What's Available and How to Get It

New York City

Also see: Kermit Software - Current Versions and the Kermit Software Catalog

You may obtain Kermit software via anonymous ftp from kermit.columbia.edu, or you use your Kermit Telnet client to download the files from our Internet Kermit Server. When obtaining Kermit software over the network, please be sure to also order the appropriate MANUALS if you don't have them already.

CLICK HERE for further information about licensing, terms, and conditions.


Quick Access to Popular Items

CLICK HERE for a complete list of Kermit programs.
CLICK HERE for general FTP access.
CLICK HERE for hints about how to find what you're looking for in the FTP archive.

Read the following sections if you need clarification or more information.


Kermit 95

Kermit 95 is the recommended and supported Kermit software for Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millenium Edition, Windows NT, Windows XP, and Windows 2000, as well as for IBM OS/2. CLICK HERE to view its capabilities and features. It is available in several ways:


MS-DOS Kermit

MS-DOS Kermit is for DOS and for Windows 3.11 or earlier. It is NOT for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, XP, or 2000, nor for OS/2. Although it might work under certain circumstances on certain PCs with these OSs for certain purposes, in general it does not, and in any case is not supported or recommended for those platforms; use it there at your own risk. CLICK HERE for details.

MS-DOS Kermit is the recommended and supported Kermit software for true DOS (not a DOS window of Windows or OS/2, but real honest-to-goodness DOS that you have booted as the base and only operating system). CLICK HERE to visit the MS-DOS Kermit web page and to download MS-DOS Kermit.

MS-DOS Kermit is no longer being actively developed, but it is (like DOS itself), stable and useful, and fully supported for the platforms where it is supposed to work. Note, however, that even if you boot plain DOS on your PC, MS-DOS Kermit still might not be able to use "modern" devices such as Winmodems, Winprinters, PCMCIA devices, USB serial ports, and so on. Neither can any other DOS application.

LICENSE: Although MS-DOS Kermit can be downloaded for your own or your company's internal use without license, it must be licensed for commercial redistribution CLICK HERE for terms and conditions.

MANUAL: Instructions for use are in the MS-DOS Kermit manual. Please purchase it and read it. This will get you started quickly and it provides you with a comprehensive reference to the more advanced features that you will want to use, such as the scripting language. It also contains sections on performance tuning and troubleshooting to make you self-sufficient. Sales help to fund the Kermit Project and also keep its costs (and therefore prices) down by lightening the load on our help desk.


G-Kermit

G-Kermit is only for UNIX. It is a very simple Kermit file-transfer program. It does not make connections, it does not execute scripts, it does not do anything except send and receive files, and then only when it is on the far end of a connection. If you need a Kermit file-transfer agent for UNIX that will be accessed only in this way, then G-Kermit is a good choice. If you need anything beyond basic file transfer -- such as dialing out, making Telnet connections, scripting and automation, character-set conversion, client/server functions, etc -- then you'll need C-Kermit (next section). CLICK HERE to visit the G-Kermit web page.


C-Kermit

C-Kermit is the Kermit software for UNIX, VMS, Stratus VOS, Data General AOS/VS, QNX, and Microware OS-9. CLICK HERE to view its capabilities and features, and to download it.

C-Kermit is an extemely sophisticated tool, as you can see from the Web page. Instructions for use are in the C-Kermit manual. Please purchase it and read it. This will get you started quickly and it provides you with a comprehensive reference to the more advanced features that you will want to use, such as the script language. It also contains sections on performance tuning and troubleshooting to make you self-sufficient. Sales help to fund the Kermit Project and also keep its costs (and therefore prices) down by lightening the load on our help desk.

There is a huge amount of C-Kermit material on the FTP site. You might find it more convenient to load C-Kermit from the C-Kermit CDROM

LICENSE: Although C-Kermit can be downloaded for your own or your company's internal use without license, it must be licensed for commercial redistribution:

C-Kermit is the most portable communications software on earth, so you have to find the version of it that is appropriate to your computer. Past or present releases of C-Kermit cover ten different operating system families, some of them represented by dozens or hundreds of distinct implementations. The C-Kermit Web page should guide you through this painlessly, but in case you are baffled by it, here are a few tips that might be helpful:


Other Kermit Programs

If you are looking for a very old Kermit program, e.g. prior to 1985, some of these are kept in special directories on the Kermit FTP site:

kermit/old
Old versions of Kermit programs for which newer versions have been released. These are not supported, but are archived for historical purposes.

kermit/extra
Kermit programs for platforms which are believed to no longer exist, or redundant and/or obsolete Kermit programs that have been replaced by better ones, and also some old utilities such as cross assemblers. Some examples include Dartmouth DTSS Kermit, Honeywell MULTICS Kermit, Norsk Data Kermit, DEC P/OS Kermit, and Kermit for various Perkin Elmer minicomputer OS's.

If you have questions about other Kermit programs, first LOOK HERE. If that doesn't help, send e-mail to kermit-support@columbia.edu.


Kermit Software - How to get it / Columbia University / kermit@columbia.edu / 11 Jan 2003