Install amtterm with Homebrew, apt, dnf, Nix, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• amtider
• amtterm
• amttool
• gamt

Project history

The upstream manpages carry 2007 and 2008 copyright dates, placing amtterm in the first wave of Linux tooling around Intel Active Management Technology. The author's official project page, published in 2011, describes the project as a SOL terminal plus graphical version and management script.

The current GitLab project was created in April 2022 and hosts the source, manpages, Meson build, and release tarballs for versions 1.8 and newer. The GitLab release list observed for this batch shows `amtterm-1.8-1` released in May 2026.

Adoption history

amtterm's adoption is specialized: it is useful to administrators and hardware bring-up/debugging users who need out-of-band serial access to AMT-capable machines. It is the sort of small system utility that persists because firmware and remote-management workflows remain awkward without dedicated command-line tools.

The supplied package facts show packaging in Homebrew, Debian, Fedora/dnf, Nix, Ubuntu, and zypper. That cross-distro footprint is a strong signal for a niche tool: it solves a real operations problem even if most desktop users never need it.

How it is used

`amtterm` connects to the AMT SOL port of a host, defaulting to the standard SSL AMT redirection port 16995. The manpage documents username and password options, legacy non-SSL and legacy authentication flags, certificate checking, and interactive password prompting.

`amttool` complements the terminal by speaking SOAP to older Intel AMT systems for information gathering and power/reset commands. Its manpage notes that newer AMT versions removed support for the old SOAP protocol, making WS-Management tools necessary on recent machines.

Why package nerds care

amtterm is package-nerd material because it is tiny, hardware-adjacent, and operationally important when needed. A package entry gives administrators a reproducible way to install an AMT SOL client without rummaging through vendor bundles.

It also captures a compatibility boundary in systems tooling: the package remains useful for serial-over-LAN, while some companion management functions are constrained by Intel AMT protocol changes.

Timeline

• 2007: amtterm manpage copyright date; tool documented as an Intel AMT SOL client.
• 2008: amttool manpage covers remote-control commands for AMT managed machines.
• 2011: Author's amtterm project page published with resources and release tarball links.
• 2022: GitLab project created.
• 2026: GitLab release `amtterm-1.8-1` published.

Related projects

• Intel AMT: the firmware management technology amtterm targets.
• gamt: graphical GTK front end shipped in the same project.
• amttool: companion command for querying and controlling AMT systems.
• wsmancli/OpenWSMAN: recommended direction for newer AMT management protocols according to the amttool manpage.

Sources

• https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/kraxel%2Famtterm
• https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/kraxel%2Famtterm/releases
• https://gitlab.com/kraxel/amtterm
• https://gitlab.com/kraxel/amtterm/-/blob/master/amtterm.1
• https://gitlab.com/kraxel/amtterm/-/blob/master/amttool.1
• https://www.kraxel.org/blog/linux/amtterm/
• source_facts.package-manager