Windows Internet Kermit Service - Overview

Internet Kermit Service (IKS) is an Internet standard file transfer and management service defined in RFC2839 and RFC2840. It's similar to an FTP server except:

Internet Kermit Service is also available for Windows. The Windows Internet Kermit Service Daemon (WIKSD):

WIKSD is new with Kermit 95 2.0 (June 2002). Previously Kermit 95 handled remote access through a "host mode" script:

Although Host Mode is still available, it is "deprecated" in favor of WIKSD for TCP/IP network connections (but is still needed for modem or serial-port connections). Host Mode is documented in Chapter 9 of the Kermit 95 manual.

The WIKSD documentation is:

The WIKSD Administrator's Guide
Setting up and administering remote access with WIKSD.

The WIKSD User's Guide
How to use WIKSD to manage and transfer files.

WIKSD is simply Kermit 95 (K95.EXE), installed as a service and accessed remotely. When K95 is acting as WIKSD, it is strictly a "remote mode Kermit" -- that is, it can not make connections and you can not activate its terminal emulator. For this reason, certain Kermit 95 commands don't work and generate error messages when given to IKSD, for example:

In other words, any commands having to do with setting up, making, or using connections. Also RUN and PUSH are disallowed.

WIKSD's command restrictions can cause problems for people who use the same PC locally (from its physical keyboard, mouse, and screen) and remotely (who come in through WIKSD): if their K95CUSTOM.INI files contains any of the above commands, lots of error messages will appear when logging in to WIKSD. The way to avoid this is to separate the forbidden commands from the always-legal ones, as in this example:

  ; FILE K95CUSTOM.INI -- Kermit 95 Customizations
  ;
  (Commands acceptable to both K95 and WIKSD here)

  IF IKSD END 0 IKSD Setup Complete.

  (Commands not acceptable WIKSD here)

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Windows Internet Kermit Service - Overview / The Kermit Project / Columbia University / 2 April 2002