1.4. Configuration overview
There are five major steps to configuring a serial
console.
Optionally, the BIOS may be configured
to use the serial port.
If needed, the boot loader may be configured to use the
serial port.
The Linux kernel must be configured to use the serial port
as its console. This is done by passing the kernel the
console parameter when the kernel is started
by the boot loader.
The init system should keep a
process running to monitor the serial console for logins. The
monitoring process is traditionally called
getty.
A number of system utilities need to be configured to make
them aware of the console, or configured to prevent them from
disrupting the console.
Examples in this HOWTO are from
Red Hat Linux versions
7.1 through to
7.3 (released 2001 through to 2002).
The maintainer would appreciate updates when new versions of
Red Hat Linux appear. The maintainer
would very much appreciate examples for Linux distributions that are dissimilar
to Red Hat Linux; particularly
Debian GNU/Linux and
Slackware Linux. All contributors are
acknowledged in Section G.3.