Tip

tip is a unix utility for establishing a terminal connection to a remote system via a modem. It is commonly associated with Sun's Solaris as it comes with that operating system.

Basics

Tip is one of the commands referenced in the expect reference book by Don Libes.

The tip command line options are as follows

    tip [-v] [-speed-entry] {hostname | phone-number | device}

    use ~. to exit

Examples

This Expect script is a simple example that establishes a terminal session:

spawn tip modem
expect "connected"
send "ATD$argc\r"
set timeout 30
expect "CONNECT"

As tip does not have the built-in logging capabilities that Minicom has, we need to use some other means to record the session. One way is to use script:

raub@kushana-134>script -a install.log
Script started, file is install.log
raub@kushana-1>tip hardwire
[tip session takes place]
raub@kushana-2>exit
Script done, file is install.log
raub@kushana-135>

and so on. In the above example, run on a Sun SPARC 20 workstation running Solaris 9, we first create a log file called install.log in the current directory using script and then tell tip to use serial port B.

References

• Libes, Don (1995). Exploring Expect: A Tcl-Based Tool for Automating Interactive Programs. O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. ISBN 1-56592-090-2. 

External links

• tip man page