diff --git a/lf_l4_auth.pl b/lf_l4_auth.pl
index 9691268c..9e399a2b 100755
--- a/lf_l4_auth.pl
+++ b/lf_l4_auth.pl
@@ -145,20 +145,9 @@ if ( !defined *LANforge::Utils::fmt_cmd ) {
 }
 # Configure our utils.
 our $utils = new LANforge::Utils();
+$::utils->connect($lfmgr_host, $lfmgr_port);
 
 
-#-----------------------------------------------------------------------#
-
-$::utils->telnet($::t);         # Set our telnet object.
-if ($::quiet eq "yes") {
-  $::utils->cli_send_silent(1); # Do show input to CLI
-  $::utils->cli_rcv_silent(1);  # Repress output from CLI ??
-}
-else {
-  $::utils->cli_send_silent(0); # Do show input to CLI
-  $::utils->cli_rcv_silent(0);  # Repress output from CLI ??
-}
-
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # survey ports, complain if they are not present                        #
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------#
diff --git a/lf_monitor.pl b/lf_monitor.pl
index f01c858c..4fe2ed9e 100755
--- a/lf_monitor.pl
+++ b/lf_monitor.pl
@@ -128,15 +128,7 @@ sub init {
    $t->waitfor("/btbits\>\>/");
 
    $::utils = new LANforge::Utils();
-   $::utils->telnet($t);         # Set our telnet object.
-   if ($::quiet eq "yes") {
-     $::utils->cli_send_silent(1); # Do show input to CLI
-     $::utils->cli_rcv_silent(1);  # Repress output from CLI ??
-   }
-   else {
-     $::utils->cli_send_silent(0); # Do show input to CLI
-     $::utils->cli_rcv_silent(0);  # Repress output from CLI ??
-   }
+   $::utils->connect($lfmgr_host, $lfmgr_port);
 }
 ## ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
 
diff --git a/lf_nfs_io.pl b/lf_nfs_io.pl
index fd718ca8..d672572f 100755
--- a/lf_nfs_io.pl
+++ b/lf_nfs_io.pl
@@ -229,9 +229,7 @@ sub init {
    $conn->max_buffer_length(1024 * 1024 * 10);  # 10M buffer
 
    $::utils = new LANforge::Utils();
-   $::utils->telnet($conn);                     # Set our telnet object.
-   $::utils->cli_send_silent($::DEBUG ? 0 : 1); # Do show input to CLI
-   $::utils->cli_rcv_silent($::DEBUG ? 0 : 1);  # Repress output from CLI ??
+   $::utils->connect($lfmgr_host, $lfmgr_port);
 
    if ($::group && $::group ne "") {
       my $ra_bounds  = $::group_names{ $::group };