6.2. Traditional getty

Traditional getty implementations include uugetty and getty_ps .

The traditional getty is listed in /etc/inittab with the name of a section in /etc/gettydefs to use for its configuration. Our example in Figure 6-3 used the section CON9600 .

There is no CON9600 in the standard gettydefs . This is deliberate, as serial consoles sometimes require slight tweaking. Copy the DT9600 entry and use it as your model.

Figure 6-4. Define CON9600 in gettydefs

# Serial console 9600, 8, N, 1, CTS/RTS flow control
CON9600# B9600 CS8 -PARENB -ISTRIP CRTSCTS HUPCL # B9600 SANE CS8 -PARENB -ISTRIP CRTSCTS HUPCL #@S @L login: #CON9600

Separate each line with a blank line.

Each configuration line has the syntax:

Figure 6-5. Syntax of entries in /etc/gettydefs , in EBNF

<label> #  <initial_flags>  #  <final_flags>  # <login_prompt> # <next_label>

The <label> is referred to on the getty command line.

The <next_label> is the definition used if a RS-232 Break is sent. As the console is always 9600 bps , this points back to the original label . See Section 9.9 if you ever intend to have more one line for CON9600 in gettydefs .

<initial_flags> are the serial line parameters used by getty . These are modeled on the stty(1) and termios(3) options and the full list varies depending upon your getty variant. The parameters in Figure 6-4 ensure that a line at 9600 bps with eight data bits and no parity is configured.

<final_flags> are the serial line parameters set by getty before it calls login. You will usually want to set a 9600 bps line, SANE terminal handling, eight data bits, no parity and to hang up the modem when the login session is finished.

The <login_prompt> for serial lines is traditionally the name of the machine, followed by the serial port, followed by login: and a space. The macro that inserts the name of the machine and the serial port varies, see the documentation for your getty .