
If you happen to have access to a Mac that is running a prior version of MacOS (Sierra or prior), or you happen to have an older MacOS system software backup laying around from Time Machine or otherwise, you can actually just copy the old binaries from that computer or backup to your modern MacOS installation, and telnet will work just fine. Installing Telnet in MacOS Mojave & High Sierra via Older MacOS Versions or Backups You’ll know Telnet is working when you are greeted by Star Wars rendered in ASCII characters (and yes seriously, it’s the full movie). One simple way to test that Telnet is working properly after installation is to connect to the goofy Star Wars telnet server, which plays Star Wars in ASCII art:



There are a few different methods you can use to bring back telnet, including copying over the binaries from a Sierra install to /usr/local/bin (as seen here) or using a session manager like SecureCRT, but since I’ve been using Homebrew to manage a few other packages for a while now I figured I’d just go ahead and use that. I was both sad and excited to see that Apple removed telnet from Mac OS High Sierra, excited because telnet is a nearly 40 year old protocol that is highly insecure for network management and saddened because I often have to use telnet when at client sites.
