If you get: "xterm-256color: Unknown terminal type"

When connecting to a Solaris host, using ssh, from MacOSX or a Linux machine, you may get the message when you try to use vi:

For example, you may try:

$ vi instructions.txt
xterm-256color: Unknown terminal type
I don't know what kind of terminal you are on - all I have is 'xterm-256color'.
[Using open mode]
"instructions.txt" 25 lines, 2465 characters 
Instructions to run the Gateway Management utility

Solution?

You need to define the TERM environment variable.

$ export TERM=xterm
$ vi instructions.txt