New 7.2 System SSL Support

The IBM i 7.2 release is absolutely loaded with new System SSL capabilities. There are a couple major new features only available starting with the 7.2 release. There is also a subset of the 7.2 capabilities that escaped from the Rochester development lab last year as part of 7.1 TR6. The early content was baked into 7.2 before it found its way to 7.1. February’s System SSL blog remains relevant as the discussion turns to the 7.2 release. What you’ll notice for that content is how and when the new function is enabled has changed with the 7.2 release boundary. 

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Secure my Telnet Remote Terminal Session

IBM i has had the capability to utilize Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Security Layer (TLS) to secure the Telnet server for several releases. This feature was only for the server, until last year. Now instead of needing third-party Telnet clients to connect to your IBM i over TLS/SSL, you can use the native Telnet client. This is a necessary enhancement for customers who need to completely disable unsecure Telnet terminal sessions on port 23 on their IBM i servers. Starting with IBM i 5.4, it’s possible to use SSL with the Telnet client (TELNET or STRTCPTELN CL command) from IBM i to any SSL Telnet server.

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