Although every communication is (rightfully) moving to TLS, the cleartext tool "telnet" is still quite handy on a Windows based server to check if a port is open and/or basic network connectivity is working. Unfortunately, the telnet client (NOT the server) is no longer part of a Windows default install.

To install the telnet client (NEVER install the server), you could either click through the GUI (Server Manager -> Add roles and features -> ..) or you could use the fast way via the command line:

Enabling the telnet client through command prompt

dism /online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:TelnetClient

Enabling the telnet client through PowerShell

Install-WindowsFeature -name Telnet-Client

And now a simple
telnet localhost 80
just works :D.

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This is the Blog of Martin Leyrer, currently employed as an Senior Lab Services Consultant at HCL Digital Solutions.

The postings on this site are my own and do not represent the positions, strategies or opinions of any former, current or future employer of mine.