Technical Note 0020

Released 13/July/2021

Technical Note Description

This Technical note describes how to use the Command Line Interface (CLI) via Telnet with
DM and NetVu DVRs, NVRs and Cameras so that useful outcomes can be achieved.

Product Models Covered

Gen 2 and Gen 3 Dedicated Micros and NetVu DVRs, NVRs and cameras.

How to ….. to use the Command Line Interface (CLI) via Telnet

Telnet is a computer protocol that provides two-way interactive communication

compatibility for computers on the internet and local area networks. Telnet has a command-
line interface and is famous for being the original protocol from when the internet first
launched in 1969.

When applied to Dedicated Micros and NetVu cameras, DVRs and NVRs Telnet is a simple
way of achieving some really useful outcomes with the products, either locally or remotely,
as it provides access to the Command Line Interface (CLI) of the product.

Enabling the Telnet Client in Windows 10 PCs

Windows 10 PCs may not have the Telnet Client enabled as default. To enable Telnet Client
on Windows 10, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Start button and select Programs and Features.

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 1 of 9
 Technical Note 0020

2. Click Turn Windows features on or off from the left-hand menu.

3. The Windows Features dialog box appears. Select Telnet Client and click OK

4. The Telnet Client installation begins.

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 2 of 9
 Technical Note 0020

5. Once complete, a success message appears.

6. Click Close.

Your are now ready to use the Telnet Client

Logging on

In order to log on to a camera, DVR or NVR you must run the TelnetClient Application. Click
on the Windows start button and type Telnet

Click on the icon to run the telnet app.

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 3 of 9
 Technical Note 0020
The following window will open:

You are now ready to log on to the camera/DVR/NVR

However, in order to do so a Telnet Username and Password must have been configured in
the device that you are connecting to. This is particularly important if you are attempting a
remote connection because if no passwords are set the camera/DVR/NVR will not
communicate outside of it’s subnet (a security feature). For a remote connection you may
also need port forwarding for the Telnet service configured in the router at the remote site.
Port forwarding to port 23 of the product will be needed to support remote Telnet access.

Telnet usernames and passwords are set up in the following web page of the device:

If Telnet credentials are set in the camera/DVR/NVR then you can log in to it.

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 4 of 9
 Technical Note 0020

To do this type OPEN (the IP address or domain name of the the device) and press ENTER

For example, if the IP address of a DVR was 192.168.1.1 then you would type

OPEN 192.168.1.1 <ENTER>

For a second or two the display will say “Connecting to ……” and then this will change to a
request, first for a user name, and then for the password. Enter these, followed by ENTER
each time.

The Telnet App display will then change to :

This engineering server will execute engineering and

configuration commands

There are limited line editing capabilities. If the command is

not recognised, the server will echo what you type. The
command parser will also respond to MCI commands.

To exit type 'quit' or control D

Type 'help' to list the Telnet commands
Type '?' to list the disk commands
Type 'EscM\help' to list the MCI commands

Uniplex >

The command prompt will usually be the Product Name of the product that you are
connected to.

You are now ready to start using Telnet commands.

If the device connect, check the following:

● That you have connectivity with the device. Can you PING it?
● That Telnet Credentials are configured in the device
● That port forwarding is enabled in any router, through which the device is connected,
is enabled, i.e. Is there a static port forward to port 23 of the camera/DVR/NVR

Using Telnet Commands

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 5 of 9
 Technical Note 0020

A list of available Telnet commands can be viewed by typing HELP and then pressing ENTER

The list of the available Telnet commands will scroll up the telnet window, together with a
brief explanation of each command. You can scroll up and down this list after it has stopped
to view the available Telnet commands.

HELP or HELP string provides a useful list of commands

for example help tlm

produces the following result:

> tlmcmd Send Telemetry commands to local controller

> tlmmode Send all keys to telemetry, Ctrl-D to quit
> tlmdebug Telemetry debug messages on (1), off (0)
> tlm_cam_status Show a camera's current telemetry context

To use a command, type the command, followed by any qualifiers or variables needed and
then press ENTER.

If the command is successfully executed you will get either a command prompt or the
outcome of the command.

If the command is unsuccessful then you will get an error message.

Using Disk Commands

A number of commands concerning the hard disks of the Device are also available. A list of
available disk commands can be viewed by typing ? and then pressing ENTER

The list of the available disk commands will scroll up the telnet window, together with a brief
explanation of each command. You can scroll up and down this list after it has stopped to
view the available disk commands.

To use a command, type the command, followed by any qualifiers or variables needed and
then press ENTER.

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 6 of 9
 Technical Note 0020
If the command is successfully executed you will get either a command prompt or the
outcome of the command.

If the command is unsuccessful then you will get an error message.

Useful Telnet Commands

The following Telnet commands are particularly useful in common situations.

ipcfg Shows the Ethernet IP information of the device

version Reports the software version number

engmode Resets the system and reboots into engineering (not recording) mode

reset Restarts the system - useful after loading software upgrade files.

arp Displays system ARP cache - to see other devices detected on the same
network as the device

svars List all the current system variables, allowing the diagnosis of faults

fdisk formats a hard disk

timezone Shows timezone data

ciptnet Makes a telnet connection to any camera in the camera (CIPTV)

network. For example ciptnet -c1 opens a telnet connection to
camera 1

tlmcmd Send Telemetry commands to local controller

tlmmode Send all keys to telemetry, Ctrl-D to quit

tlmdebug Telemetry debug messages on (1), off (0)

tlm_cam_status Show a camera's current telemetry context

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 7 of 9
 Technical Note 0020
There are many other useful commands and these can be discovered using the HELP
command, as previously described.

On older (gen2 and gen3) DVRs and NVRs it is possible to perform a SMART health check on
the recorder hard disks.

The status can be checked from the TELNET command line using the command DRIVE
SMART DHx where x is the drive name,

All units have at least one drive, DH0, so DRIVE SMART DH0 will report the status of the first
HDD.

The status also reports other errors such as high temperature etc, so even if the health is
100% OK then extreme values in any column may indicate impending drive failure.

Useful Disk Commands

The following Disk commands are particularly useful in common situations.

CD PATH Changes the directory being viewed, for example CD frm_data

COPY PATH PATH Copies a file, for example COPY master.sfm master.old makes
a backup
copy of the configuration of of the DVR/NVR

DEL PATH Deletes a file, for example DEL user.db deletes the password file of
the DVR/NVR

DELTREE PATH Deletes a subdirectory tree

DIR PATH Shows the contents of a directory, DIR shows the contents of
the current directory.

LIST PATH Lists the contents of a file

RENAME PATH NEWNAME Rename a file, for example, RENAME master.sfm master.old
makes a backup copy of the configuration of of the DVR/NVR

UNZIP ZIPFILE TOPATH Unzips a file to a destination path, typically in software

upgrades

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 8 of 9
 Technical Note 0020

WRITE_SVARS Writes out system variables, for diagnosis

There are many other useful commands and these can be discovered using the ? command,
as previously described.

In newer products, such as the NetVu Uniplex series NVRs or the latest FireVu products, the
CLI can be used via the browser interface of the product itself, making the whole process
much easier. For more details see the Uniplex Installation Manual or technotes, available for
download here: https://netvu.org.uk/manuals/

NetVu Ltd reserve the right to alter this document without prior notice.
Issue 2.0
NetVu_Tech0020 Page 9 of 9