Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Name

agetty

Synopsis

agetty [options] port baudrate [term]

Description

System administration command. The Linux version of getty. Set terminal type, modes, speed, and line discipline. agetty is invoked by init. It is the second process in the series init-getty-login-shell, which ultimately connects a user with the Linux system. agetty reads the user’s login name and invokes the login command with the user’s name as an argument. While reading the name, agetty attempts to adapt the system to the speed and type of device being used.

You must specify a port, which agetty will search for in the /dev directory. You may use -, in which case agetty reads from standard input. You must also specify baudrate, which may be a comma-separated list of rates, through which agetty will step. Optionally, you may specify the term, which is used to override the TERM environment variable.

Options

-h

Specify hardware, not software, flow control.

-i

Suppress printing of /etc/issue before printing the login prompt.

-l program

Specify the use of program instead of /bin/login.

-m

Attempt to guess the appropriate baud rate.

-t timeout

Specify that agetty should exit if the open on the line succeeds and there is no response to the login prompt in timeout seconds.

-L

Do not require carrier detect; operate locally only. Use this when connecting terminals.