SETCONSOLE (8)

SYNOPSIS

setconsole <video|serial|ttya|ttyb|cua0|cua1|ttyS0|ttyS1>

DESCRIPTION

setconsole sets up /etc/inittab, /dev/systty, and /dev/console for a new console. The console may be either the local terminal (directly attached to the system via a video card) or a serial console.

OPTIONS

video

Use the local video card for the console.

serial

Use the PROMs console (determined via /proc/openprom) as the system console.

ttya cua0 ttyS0

Use the first serial device. The speed is set to the default seed for ttya as set in the PROM.

ttyb cua1 ttyS1

Use the first serial device. The speed is set to the default seed for ttya as set in the PROM.

FILES

/dev/openprom

System interface to boot PROM.

/dev/systty /dev/console Point to the device used for the system console.

/etc/inittab

Controls where gettys are run on the system.

/etc/securetty

If this file exists and a serial terminal is being made the console, the name of the serial terminal is appended to this file (if necessary) to allow root logins on the new console.

SEE ALSO

- init (8) - - inittab (5) - getty(8)

BUGS

There are probably many -- this is some pretty ugly /bin/sh code. Switching from one serial console to another will probably result in Switching from video to serial and back a corrupt /etc/inittab. While /etc/securetty is correctly updated when switching to a serial console, the serial device entry is not removed when switching back to a physical terminal (in case the user hand edited the file) and the virtual terminal devices are not added into the file. again should work fine however. Patches are very welcome (as is a complete rewrite).

AUTHOR

Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>