getty
(8)alternative Linux getty
Options
36-8--8bitsAssume that the tty is 8-bit clean, hence disable parity detection.
-a--autologinusernameAutomatically log in the specified user without asking for a username or password. Using this option causes an -f username option and argument to be added to the /bin/login command line. See --login-options, which can be used to modify this option’s behavior. Note that --autologin may affect the way in which getty initializes the serial line, because on auto-login agetty does not read from the line and it has no opportunity optimize the line setting.
-c--noresetDo not reset terminal cflags (control modes). See termios(3) for more details.
-E--remoteTypically the login(1) command is given a remote hostname when called by something such as telnetd(8). This option allows agetty to pass what it is using for a hostname to login(1) for use in utmp(5). See --host, login(1), and utmp(5). If the --host fakehost option is given, then an -h fakehost option and argument are added to the /bin/login command line. If the --nohostname option is given, then an -H option is added to the /bin/login command line. See --login-options.
-f--issue-filepathSpecifies a ":" delimited list of files and directories to be displayed instead of /etc/issue (or other). All specified files and directories are displayed, missing or empty files are silently ignored. If the specified path is a directory then display all files with .issue file extension in version-sort order from the directory. This allows custom messages to be displayed on different terminals. The --noissue option will override this option.
--show-issueDisplay the current issue file (or other) on the current terminal and exit. Use this option to review the current setting, it is not designed for any other purpose. Note that output may use some default or incomplete information as proper output depends on terminal and agetty command line.
-h--flow-controlEnable hardware (RTS/CTS) flow control. It is left up to the application to disable software (XON/XOFF) flow protocol where appropriate.
-H--hostfakehostWrite the specified fakehost into the utmp file. Normally, no login host is given, since agetty is used for local hardwired connections and consoles. However, this option can be useful for identifying terminal concentrators and the like.
-i--noissueDo not display the contents of /etc/issue (or other) before writing the login prompt. Terminals or communications hardware may become confused when receiving lots of text at the wrong baud rate; dial-up scripts may fail if the login prompt is preceded by too much text.
-I--init-stringinitstringSet an initial string to be sent to the tty or modem before sending anything else. This may be used to initialize a modem. Non-printable characters may be sent by writing their octal code preceded by a backslash (\). For example, to send a linefeed character (ASCII 10, octal 012), write \12.
-J--noclearDo not clear the screen before prompting for the login name. By default the screen is cleared.
-l--login-programlogin_programInvoke the specified login_program instead of /bin/login. This allows the use of a non-standard login program. Such a program could, for example, ask for a dial-up password or use a different password file. See --login-options.
-L--local-linemodeControl the CLOCAL line flag. The optional mode argument is auto, always or never. If the mode argument is omitted, then the default is always. If the --local-line option is not given at all, then the default is auto. always Forces the line to be a local line with no need for carrier detect. This can be useful when you have a locally attached terminal where the serial line does not set the carrier-detect signal. never Explicitly clears the CLOCAL flag from the line setting and the carrier-detect signal is expected on the line. auto The agetty default. Does not modify the CLOCAL setting and fol
-m--extract-baudTry to extract the baud rate from the CONNECT status message produced by Hayes(tm)-compatible modems. These status messages are of the form: "<junk><speed><junk>". agetty assumes that the modem emits its status message at the same speed as specified with (the first) baud_rate value on the command line. Since the --extract-baud feature may fail on heavily-loaded systems, you still should enable BREAK processing by enumerating all expected baud rates on the command line.
--list-speedsDisplay supported baud rates. These are determined at compilation time.
-n--skip-loginDo not prompt the user for a login name. This can be used in connection with the --login-program option to invoke a non-standard login process such as a BBS system. Note that with the --skip-login option, agetty gets no input from the user who logs in and therefore will not be able to figure out parity, character size, and newline processing of the connection. It defaults to space parity, 7 bit characters, and ASCII CR (13) end-of-line character. Beware that the program that agetty starts (usually /bin/login) is run as root.
-N--nonewlineDo not print a newline before writing out /etc/issue.
-o--login-optionslogin_optionsOptions and arguments that are passed to login(1). Where \u is replaced by the login name. For example: --login-options '-h darkstar -- \u' See --autologin, --login-program and --remote. Please read the SECURITY NOTICE below before using this option.
-p--login-pauseWait for any key before dropping to the login prompt. Can be combined with --autologin to save memory by lazily spawning shells.
-r--chrootdirectoryChange root to the specified directory.
-R--hangupCall vhangup(2) to do a virtual hangup of the specified terminal.
-s--keep-baudTry to keep the existing baud rate. The baud rates from the command line are used when agetty receives a BREAK character. If another baud rates specified then the original baud rate is also saved to the end of the wanted baud rates list. This can be used to return to the original baud rate after unexpected BREAKs.
-t--timeouttimeoutTerminate if no user name could be read within timeout seconds. Use of this option with hardwired terminal lines is not recommended.
-U--detect-caseTurn on support for detecting an uppercase-only terminal. This setting will detect a login name containing only capitals as indicating an uppercase-only terminal and turn on some upper-to-lower case conversions. Note that this has no support for any Unicode characters.
-w--wait-crWait for the user or the modem to send a carriage-return or a linefeed character before sending the /etc/issue file (or others) and the login prompt. This is useful with the --init-string option.
--nohintsDo not print hints about Num, Caps and Scroll Locks.
--nohostnameBy default the hostname will be printed. With this option enabled, no hostname at all will be shown. This setting is also possible to able by LOGIN_PLAIN_PROMPT option in the /etc/login.defs configuration file (see below for more details).
--long-hostnameBy default the hostname is only printed until the first dot. With this option enabled, the fully qualified hostname by gethostname(3P) or (if not found) by getaddrinfo(3) is shown.
--erase-charsstringThis option specifies additional characters that should be interpreted as a backspace ("ignore the previous character") when the user types the login name. The default additional 'erase' has been '#', but since util-linux 2.23 no additional erase characters are enabled by default.
--kill-charsstringThis option specifies additional characters that should be interpreted as a kill ("ignore all previous characters") when the user types the login name. The default additional 'kill' has been '@', but since util-linux 2.23 no additional kill characters are enabled by default.
--chdirdirectoryChange directory before the login.
--delaynumberSleep seconds before open tty.
--nicenumberRun login with this priority.
--reloadAsk all running agetty instances to reload and update their displayed prompts, if the user has not yet commenced logging in. After doing so the command will exit. This feature might be unsupported on systems without Linux inotify(7).
-h--helpDisplay help text and exit.
-V--versionDisplay version and exit.
DESCRIPTION
agetty opens a tty port, prompts for a login name and invokes the /bin/login command. It is normally invoked by init(8).
agetty has several non-standard features that are useful for hardwired and for dial-in lines:
This program does not use the /etc/gettydefs (System V) or /etc/gettytab (SunOS 4) files.
ARGUMENTS
port
Under System V, a "-" port argument should be preceded by a "--".
baud_rate,...
Baud rates should be specified in descending order, so that the null character (Ctrl-@) can also be used for baud-rate switching.
This argument is optional and unnecessary for virtual terminals.
The default for serial terminals is keep the current baud rate (see --keep-baud) and if unsuccessful then default to '9600'.
term
The default is 'vt100', or 'linux' for Linux on a virtual terminal, or 'hurd' for GNU Hurd on a virtual terminal.
CONFIG FILE ITEMS
agetty reads the /etc/login.defs configuration file (see login.defs(5)). Note that the configuration file could be distributed with another package (usually shadow-utils). The following configuration items are relevant for agetty:
LOGIN_PLAIN_PROMPT (boolean)
EXAMPLE
This section shows examples for the process field of an entry in the /etc/inittab file. You’ll have to prepend appropriate values for the other fields. See inittab(5) for more details.
For a hardwired line or a console tty:
/sbin/agetty 9600 ttyS1
For a directly connected terminal without proper carrier-detect wiring (try this if your terminal just sleeps instead of giving you a password: prompt):
/sbin/agetty --local-line 9600 ttyS1 vt100
For an old-style dial-in line with a 9600/2400/1200 baud modem:
/sbin/agetty --extract-baud --timeout 60 ttyS1
9600,2400,1200
For a Hayes modem with a fixed 115200 bps interface to the machine (the example init string turns off modem echo and result codes, makes modem/computer DCD track modem/modem DCD, makes a DTR drop cause a disconnection, and turns on auto-answer after 1 ring):
/sbin/agetty --wait-cr --init-string
'ATE0Q1&D2&C1S0=1\015' 115200 ttyS1
SECURITY NOTICE
If you use the --login-program and --login-options options, be aware that a malicious user may try to enter lognames with embedded options, which then get passed to the used login program. agetty does check for a leading "-" and makes sure the logname gets passed as one parameter (so embedded spaces will not create yet another parameter), but depending on how the login binary parses the command line that might not be sufficient. Check that the used login program cannot be abused this way.
Some programs use "--" to indicate that the rest of the command line should not be interpreted as options. Use this feature if available by passing "--" before the username gets passed by \u.
ISSUE FILES
The default issue file is /etc/issue. If the file exists, then agetty also checks for /etc/issue.d directory. The directory is optional extension to the default issue file and content of the directory is printed after /etc/issue content. If the /etc/issue does not exist, then the directory is ignored. All files with .issue extension from the directory are printed in version-sort order. The directory can be used to maintain 3rd-party messages independently on the primary system /etc/issue file.
Since version 2.35, additional locations for the issue file and directory are supported. agetty checks for the files /run/issue and /run/issue.d, and then for /usr/lib/issue and /usr/lib/issue.d. The directory /etc is expected for host-specific configuration, /run is expected for generated content, and /usr/lib is used for static configuration maintained by the distribution.
Note that in versions 2.35 to 2.40, the additional locations were only read if the default /etc/issue file did not exist. However, since version 2.41, the additional locations are always read, regardless of the existence of the /etc/issue file. This change allows for the generation of issue files by default.
The default paths maybe completely overridden by --issue-file option. In this case specified path has to be file or directory and all the default issue file and directory locations are ignored.
The issue file feature can be completely disabled by --noissue option.
It is possible to review the current issue file by agetty --show-issue on the current terminal.
The issue files may contain certain escape codes to display the system name, date, time et cetera. All escape codes consist of a backslash (\) immediately followed by one of the characters listed below.
4 or 4{interface}
6 or 6{interface}
b
d
e or e{name}
s
S or S{VARIABLE}
l
m
n
o
O
r
t
u
U
v
An example. On my system, the following /etc/issue file:
This is \n.\o (\s \m \r) \t
displays as:
This is thingol.orcan.dk (Linux i386 1.1.9) 18:29:30
FILES
CREDENTIALS
agetty supports configuration via systemd credentials (see https://systemd.io/CREDENTIALS/). agetty reads the following systemd credentials:
agetty.autologin (string)
BUGS
The baud-rate detection feature (the --extract-baud option) requires that agetty be scheduled soon enough after completion of a dial-in call (within 30 ms with modems that talk at 2400 baud). For robustness, always use the --extract-baud option in combination with a multiple baud rate command-line argument, so that BREAK processing is enabled.
The text in the /etc/issue file (or other) and the login prompt are always output with 7-bit characters and space parity.
The baud-rate detection feature (the --extract-baud option) requires that the modem emits its status message after raising the DCD line.
DIAGNOSTICS
AUTHORS
Werner Fink werner@suse.de, Karel Zak kzak@redhat.com
The original agetty for serial terminals was written by W.Z. Venema wietse@wzv.win.tue.nl and ported to Linux by Peter Orbaek poe@daimi.aau.dk.
REPORTING BUGS
For bug reports, use the issue tracker https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues.
AVAILABILITY
The agetty command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.