What is the best TERM type on AIX for use with PuTTY, and which PuTTY settings should be tweaked?

Question

I manage many AIX machines, generally version 5.3.

Basic terminal function works just fine, but it seems like some things don't. For example nmon displays lqqx instead of the line drawing characters.

lqnmonqqqqqqqqr=ResourcesqqqqqqqqHost=sigloprodqqqqqqRefresh=2 secsqqq11:29.
1 Memory qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqx
x          Physical  PageSpace |        pages/sec  In     Out | FileSystemCx
x% Used       97.4%      1.3%  | to Paging Space   0.0    0.0 | (numperm) 5x
x% Free        2.6%     98.7%  | to File System    0.5    1.5 | Process   2x
xMB Used    7980.3MB    26.2MB | Page Scans        0.0        | System    1x
xMB Free     211.7MB  2021.8MB | Page Cycles       0.0        | Free       x
xTotal(MB)  8192.0MB  2048.0MB | Page Steals       0.0        |           -x
x                              | Page Faults       3.0        | Total    10x
x------------------------------------------------------------ | numclient 5x
xMin/Maxperm     781MB( 10%)  3904MB( 48%) <--% of RAM        | maxclient 4x
xMin/Maxfree     248   1088       Total Virtual   10.0GB      | User      7x
xMin/Maxpgahead    2    128    Accessed Virtual    3.2GB 31.8%  Pinned    1x
x                                                                          x
xqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqx
x                                                                          x
x                                                                          x
x                                                                          x
x                                                                          x
mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj

I am currently using the xterm terminal type on AIX, specifying utf8 encoding in putty, Using unicode line drawing code points in putty, and using the Deja Vu Sans Mono font, which should include all line drawing characters

nmon does display correctly when I run it from an xterm on that same machine.

Current terminfo entry for TERM=xterm is as follows:

sigloprod ~ $ echo $TERM
xterm
sigloprod ~ $ infocmp
#       Reconstructed via infocmp from file: /usr/share/lib/terminfo/x/xterm
xterm|vs100|xterm terminal emulator,
    am, km, msgr, xenl,
    cols#80, it#8, lines#25,
    batt1=f1, batt2=f1md, bel=^G, bold=\E[1m,
    box1=lqkxjmwuvtn, box2=lqkxjmwuvtn, civis=\E[?25l,
    clear=\E[H\E[2J, cnorm=\E[?25h, cr=\r,
    csr=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dr, cub=\E[%p1%dD, cub1=\b,
    cud=\E[%p1%dB, cud1=\n, cuf=\E[%p1%dC, cuf1=\E[C,
    cup=\E[%i%p1%d;%p2%dH, cuu=\E[%p1%dA, cuu1=\E[A,
    cvvis=\E[?25h, dch=\E[%p1%dP, dch1=\E[P, dl=\E[%p1%dM,
    dl1=\E[M, ed=\E[J, el=\E[K, font0=\E(B, font1=\E(0,
    home=\E[H, ht=\t, hts=\EH, ich=\E[%p1%d@, ich1=\E[@,
    il=\E[%p1%dL, il1=\E[L, ind=\n, kbs=\b, kcub1=\E[D,
    kcud1=\E[B, kcuf1=\E[C, kcuu1=\E[A, kdch1=^?,
    kf1=\E[11~, kf10=\E[21~, kf11=\E[23~, kf12=\E[24~,
    kf2=\E[12~, kf3=\E[13~, kf4=\E[14~, kf5=\E[15~,
    kf6=\E[17~, kf7=\E[18~, kf8=\E[19~, kf9=\E[20~,
    khome=\E[H, kich1=\E[2~, knl=\r, knp=\E[6~, kpp=\E[5~,
    ktab=\t, mc4=\E[4i, mc5=\E[5i, nel=\n, rc=\E8,
    rev=\E[7m, rf=/usr/share/lib/tabset/vt100, ri=\EM,
    rmcup=\E[?7h, rmkx=\E>, rmso=\E[m, rmul=\E[m$<2>,
    rs1=\E>\E[1;3;4;5;6l\E[?7h\E[m\E[r\E[2J\E[H, sc=\E7,
    sgr=\E[%?%p1%t;7%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p3%t;7%;%?%p4%t;5%;%?%p6%t;1%;m%?%p9%t\E(0%e\E(B%;,
    sgr0=\E[m\E(B, smcup=\E[?7h\E[?1l\E(B\E=, smkx=\E=,
    smso=\E[7m, smul=\E[4m$<2>, tbc=\E[3g,

Answer 1

Try Putty's Configuration menu: Window -> Translation -> Received data assumed to be in which character set -> UTF-8

If UTF-8 isn't it, try some of the other values.

Answer 2

Try $export TERM=dtterm this gives you some colors as stated in official FAQ. http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/wikiptype/nmon+faq / Question 41

Answer 3

Had a similar problem but when remoting into Debian machines. As stated by @scott Putty ignores the sequence to change to drawing lines mode when in UTF-8. What has worked for me was telling putty to identify it self as 'putty' terminal instead of 'xterm', change 'Connection > Data > Terminal-type string' option to putty 'putty'.

Answer 4

Putty may have changed, but when I selected "Allow ACS line drawling in UTF," feature in the window -> translation, it works.

Answer 5

Edit:

Aix uses two capabilities called box1 and box2. Try modifying the commands below to look for them instead of acsc.

Previously:

Try this command:

for t in $(find /lib/terminfo -type f -print); do echo; echo -n "$t "; tput -T$(basename $t) acsc; done

or:

for t in $(find /lib/terminfo -type f -print); do echo $t; infocmp $(basename $t)| grep acsc; done

Replace "/lib/terminfo" with the path to your terminfo files. Look for lines that do not look like this:

``aaffggjjkkllmmnnooppqqrrssttuuvvwwxxyyzz{{||}}~~

One of those terminals has a good chance of working for you.

You can set that terminal type using TERM=termtype at a Bash prompt or in your ~/.bashrc or by doing this:

TERM=termtype nmon

To have it set only for that invocation. If you'd like to set it for an ssh session from the local end, you can do:

TERM=termtype ssh ...

if AcceptEnv in the remote system's /etc/ssh/sshd_config is set to allow it. And SendEnv in the local system's /etc/ssh/ssh_config or the user's local ~/.ssh/config is set to send it.

Answer 6

Try setting TERM=xterm