Achilterm

Achilterm
=========

**Achilterm** is a lightweight **UTF-8** web based terminal.

.. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgallaire/achilterm/master/img/achilterm.png

Achilterm is written in Python (and some AJAX javascript for client
side).

Achilterm is **very simple to install** on Linux, MacOS X, FreeBSD,
Solaris, cygwin and any Unix that runs Python.

Achilterm is initially forked from Ajaxterm which was inspired by
Anyterm.

Achilterm is developed by Florent Gallaire fgallaire@gmail.com.

Website: http://fgallaire.github.io/achilterm.

Download and Install
--------------------

To install the last stable version from PyPI:

::

    $ sudo pip install achilterm

To install the development version from GitHub:

::

    $ git clone https://github.com/fgallaire/achilterm
    $ cd achilterm
    $ sudo python setup.py install

To run Achilterm after installation:

::

    $ achilterm

To run Achilterm from the source without installation:

::

    $ ./achilterm/achilterm.py

Then point your browser to this URL: ``http://localhost:8022/``

Documentation and Caveats
-------------------------

-  Achilterm support Python 2.5 and above and Python 3.2 and above

-  Achilterm require WebOb >= 1.0

-  If run as root achilterm will run ``/bin/login``, otherwise it will run
   ``ssh localhost``. To use an other command use the ``-c`` option.

-  By default Achilterm only listen at ``127.0.0.1:8022``. For remote
   access, it is strongly recommended to use **https SSL/TLS**, and that
   is simple to configure if you use the apache web server using
   ``mod_proxy``.

   Using ssl will also speed up achilterm (probably because of keepalive).

-  Using GET HTTP request seems to speed up achilterm, just click on GET
   in the interface, but be warned that your keystrokes might be loggued
   (by apache or any proxy). I usually enable it after the login.

Achiltermlite
-------------

Achiltermlite is a stripped-down client-side version of Achilterm.

.. image:: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgallaire/achilterm/master/img/achiltermlite.png

Commandline usage
-----------------

::

    usage: achilterm [options]

    options:
      --version                  show program's version number and exit
      -h, --help                 show this help message and exit
      -p PORT, --port=PORT       set the TCP port (default: 8022)
      -c CMD, --command=CMD      set the command (default: /bin/login or ssh localhost)
      -l, --log                  log requests to stderr (default: quiet mode)
      -d, --daemon               run as daemon in the background
      -P PIDFILE, --pidfile=PIDFILE
                                set the pidfile (default: /var/run/achilterm.pid)
      -i INDEX_FILE, --index=INDEX_FILE
                                 default index file (default: achilterm.html)
      -u UID, --uid=UID          set the daemon's user id
      -L, --lite                 use Achiltermlite
      -w WIDTH, --width=WIDTH    set the width (default: 80)
      -H HEIGHT, --height=HEIGHT set the height (default: 25)

Configuration example
---------------------

::

        Listen 443
        NameVirtualHost *:443

        <VirtualHost *:443>
           ServerName localhost
           SSLEngine On
           SSLCertificateKeyFile ssl/apache.pem
           SSLCertificateFile ssl/apache.pem

           ProxyRequests Off
           <Proxy *>
                   Order deny,allow
                   Allow from all
           </Proxy>
           ProxyPass /achilterm/ http://localhost:8022/
           ProxyPassReverse /achilterm/ http://localhost:8022/
        </VirtualHost>

Old versions
------------

-  Achilterm 0.13 require Python 2.5 and above

Older Achilterm versions only support latin1, if you use Ubuntu or any
``LANG==en_US.UTF-8`` distribution don't forget to ``$ unset LANG``:

-  Achilterm 0.12 require WebOb >= 1.2 (use it with Python 2.6 and 2.7)

-  Achilterm 0.11 require WebOb < 1.0 (use it with Python 2.5)

Compared to anyterm
-------------------

-  There are no partial updates, achilterm updates either all the screen
   or nothing. That make the code simpler and I also think it's faster.
   HTTP replies are always gzencoded. When used in 80x25 mode, almost
   all of them are below the 1500 bytes (size of an ethernet frame) and
   we just replace the screen with the reply (no javascript string
   handling).

-  Achilterm polls the server for updates with an exponentially growing
   timeout when the screen hasn't changed. The timeout is also resetted
   as soon as a key is pressed. Anyterm blocks on a pending request and
   use a parallel connection for keypresses. The anyterm approch is
   better when there aren't any keypress.

License
-------

Achilterm files are released under the GNU AGPLv3 or above license.

Achilterm codebase from Ajaxterm by Antony Lesuisse (email: al AT
udev.org), License Public Domain.