getty(1M)

getty -- set terminal type, modes, speed, and line discipline

Synopsis

getty [-h] [-t timeout] line [speed [terminal [linedisc]]]
getty -c file

Description

getty is included for compatibility with previous releases for the few applications that still call getty directly. getty can only be executed by a process with the appropriate privileges. Initially, getty prints the information from the issue(4) file and the login prompt, waits for the user's login name, and then invokes the login command. getty attempts to adapt the system to the terminal speed by using the options and arguments specified on the command line.

line: The name of a TTY line in /dev to which getty is to attach itself. getty uses this string as the name of a file in the /dev directory to open for reading and writing.
-h: If the -h flag is not set, a hangup will be forced by setting the speed to zero before setting the speed to the default or specified speed.
-t timeout: specifies that getty should exit if the open on the line succeeds and no one types anything in timeout seconds.
speed: The speed argument is a label to a speed and TTY definition in the file /etc/ttydefs. This definition tells getty at what speed to run initially, what the initial TTY settings are, and what speed to try next, should the user indicate, by pressing the BREAK key, that the speed is inappropriate. If not specified on the command line, speed defaults to the first entry in /etc/ttydefs.
terminal: The terminal option is the name of the terminal type.
linedisc: The linedisc option is the name of the line discipline.
-c file: The -c option performs a check on the gettydefs file.

When given no optional arguments, getty specifies the following: The speed of the interface is set to the speed defined in the first entry in /etc/gettydefs, either parity is allowed, new-line characters are converted to carriage return-line feed, and tab expansion is performed on the standard output. getty types the login prompt before reading the user's name a character at a time. If a null character (or framing error) is received, it is assumed to be the result of the user pressing the BREAK key. This will cause getty to attempt the next speed in the series. The series that getty tries is determined by what it finds in /etc/ttydefs.

Files

/etc/ttydefs

References

ct(1bnu), ioctl(2), issue(4), login(1), sttydefs(1M), tty(7), ttymon(1M)

Notices

Administrators and developers are encouraged to use ttymon(1M) as support for getty may be dropped in the future.