Linux in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Name

getty

Synopsis

getty [options] port [speed [term [lined]]]

Description

System administration command. Set terminal type, modes, speed, and line discipline. Linux systems may use agetty instead, which uses a different syntax. getty 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. getty reads the user’s login name and invokes the login command with the user’s name as an argument. While reading the name, getty attempts to adapt the system to the speed and type of device being used.

You must specify a port argument, which getty will use to attach itself to the device /dev/port. getty will then scan the defaults file, usually /etc/default/getty, for runtime values and parameters. These may also be specified, for the most part, on the command line, but the values in the defaults file take precedence. The speed argument is used to point to an entry in the file /etc/gettydefs, which contains the initial baud rate, tty settings, and login prompt and final speed and settings for the connection. The first entry is the default in /etc/gettydefs. term specifies the type of terminal, with lined the optional line discipline to use.

Options

-c file

Check the gettydefs file. file is the name of the gettydefs file. Produces the files’ values and reports parsing errors to standard output.

-d file

Use a different default file.

-h

Do not force a hangup on the port when initializing.

-r delay

Wait for single character ...