NAME

getty — set up a terminal and ask for a login name

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

The getty program is run by init(8) for each terminal marked “on” in ttys(5). It opens /dev/tty as the controlling terminal of a new session and as its standard input, output and error, configures the line from the gettytab(5) record type (or “default”), prints a banner and a login prompt, and runs login(1) with the name that is typed. A tty of “-” means the terminal getty was started on.

The banner is the record's if file, or else its im string, and the prompt is its lm string. In each, the escapes ‘%t’ (the terminal), ‘%h’ (the host name), ‘%s’, ‘%r’, ‘%v’, ‘%m’ (the system's name, release, version and machine), ‘%d’ (the date and time) and ‘%%’ are replaced.

An empty line prompts again. A break (a line holding a NUL character) switches to the record named by nx, for serial lines whose speed is found by trying each in turn. With to set, getty exits if no name is typed within that many seconds, and init(8) starts a new one. A record with al logs its user in automatically.

FILES

/etc/gettytab

terminal descriptions

/etc/ttys

the terminals init(8) runs getty on

SEE ALSO

login(1), gettytab(5), ttys(5), init(8)

HISTORY

A getty program appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX. This implementation was written for OxideBSD.