Raspberry Pi Terminal Server
I liked the idea that I found on this blog post, so I looked a bit further into it. https://blog.jasons.org/2016/04/29/raspberry-pi-3-terminal-server/
I got it setup and working on my Raspberry Pi 3b+ that I was previously using as just a test device for the lab.
I decided to just use the same UGREEN USB to 4 Serial RS232 DB9 Cable from the blog post, along with a cheap bundle of four Serial to RJ45 Console cables. Then I’ll just add my 1 cable I had before for a total of 5 so I’ll have full access again.
The Setup:
Install Serial to network proxy:
apt install ser2net
Find the USB serial device path:
jake@raspberrypi:~ $ ls /dev | grep ttyUSB
ttyUSB0
ttyUSB1
ttyUSB2
ttyUSB3
ttyUSB4
Edit the config file /etc/ser2net.conf
I slightly altered the default for my use case.
Updated Config October 12th
##USB SERIAL x4 HUB###########
#Router_1
7000:telnet:1200:/dev/ttyUSB0
#Router_2
7001:telnet:1200:/dev/ttyUSB1
#
#Switch_1
7002:telnet:1200:/dev/ttyUSB2
#Switch_2
7003:telnet:1200:/dev/ttyUSB3
##############################
#
##USB SERIAL Single
#Router 3
7004:telnet:1200:/dev/ttyUSB4
Start the service
sudo systemctl start ser2net
Connect to the reverse telnet session. To end it press Ctrl + ] then type close
jake@raspberrypi:~ $ telnet localhost 2001
Trying ::1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
R1>
telnet> close
Connection closed.
jake@raspberrypi:~ $