# Connecting through terminal emulation

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/connecting-through-terminal-emulation/28573>\
**Category:** Ansible Developer\
**Created:** [September 14, 2018, 9:48am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/connecting-through-terminal-emulation/28573 "2018-09-14T09:48:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![eggyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a8b319/32.png) [@eggyal](https://forum.ansible.com/u/eggyal)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 9:48am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/connecting-through-terminal-emulation/28573/1 "2018-09-14T09:48:04Z")

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I’m looking to target a machine that is connected to the controller as a terminal (tty) device.

It looks like ansible doesn’t ship with a suitable connection plugin for this—but before I set about trying to write one:

(a) is anyone aware of such a plugin already in existence (albeit non-core / third party)?

(b) are there any pitfalls with ansible over terminal emulation that I should consider?

Your thoughts and help much appreciated!

Kind regards,  
Alan.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/connecting-through-terminal-emulation/28573/2 "2018-09-18T15:21:03Z")

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I'm not sure a connection plugin makes sense, since it requires  
transfer of files to/from the target, though possible via the terminal  
i don't think this is a good approach.

One option to send commands is using the expect module (delegated to  
the host having terminal access) to handle commands and prompts as  
they happen

Another is creating something like the telnet action plugin that will  
handle the communication directly and allow you to send commands (its  
mostly a specialized 'expect').

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**Author:** ![Andreas\_Harpfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Andreas\_Harpfer](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Andreas_Harpfer)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/connecting-through-terminal-emulation/28573/3 "2018-09-18T20:30:12Z")

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[...]

This brings back memories about kermit and zmodem from 25 years  
ago … has anybody thought about integrating one of those with  
Ansible, already. Sounds like a real niche application, though.

-Andi