<HTML ><HEAD ><TITLE >Configure getty</TITLE ><META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK REL="HOME" TITLE="Remote Serial Console HOWTO" HREF="index.html"><LINK REL="PREVIOUS" TITLE="Configure Linux kernel using SYSLINUX" HREF="configure-kernel-syslinux.html"><LINK REL="NEXT" TITLE="init system" HREF="getty-init.html"></HEAD ><BODY CLASS="CHAPTER" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#840084" ALINK="#0000FF" ><DIV CLASS="NAVHEADER" ><TABLE SUMMARY="Header navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TH COLSPAN="3" ALIGN="center" >Remote Serial Console HOWTO</TH ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="10%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="bottom" ><A HREF="configure-kernel-syslinux.html" ACCESSKEY="P" >Prev</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="80%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="bottom" ></TD ><TD WIDTH="10%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="bottom" ><A HREF="getty-init.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ></TABLE ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"></DIV ><DIV CLASS="CHAPTER" ><H1 ><A NAME="GETTY" ></A >Chapter 6. Configure <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >getty</SPAN ></H1 ><DIV CLASS="TOC" ><DL ><DT ><B >Table of Contents</B ></DT ><DT >6.1. <A HREF="getty-init.html" ><SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >init</SPAN > system</A ></DT ><DT >6.2. <A HREF="getty-getty.html" >Traditional <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >getty</SPAN ></A ></DT ><DT >6.3. <A HREF="getty-agetty.html" ><SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >agetty</SPAN ></A ></DT ><DT >6.4. <A HREF="getty-mgetty.html" ><SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >mgetty</SPAN ></A ></DT ><DT >6.5. <A HREF="getty-mingetty.html" ><SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >mingetty</SPAN ></A ></DT ><DT >6.6. <A HREF="getty-none.html" >No <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >getty</SPAN ></A ></DT ></DL ></DIV ><P ><SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > monitors serial lines, waiting for a connection. It then configures the serial link, sends the contents of <TT CLASS="FILENAME" >/etc/issue</TT >, and asks the person connecting for their login name. <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > then starts <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >login</SPAN > and <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >login</SPAN > asks the person for their password. If the user does nothing, <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > or <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >login</SPAN > hang up and <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > goes back to waiting.</P ><P >The <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > command has been re-implemented numerous times. There is a wide selection of <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > clones, each with slight differences in behavior and syntax. We will describe the traditional <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN >, and then some popular alternatives.</P ><P >One of the jobs of a <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > is to set the <TT CLASS="VARNAME" >TERM</TT > environment variable to indicate the make and model of the terminal which is connecting. In this <I CLASS="CITETITLE" >HOWTO</I > we set the terminal to the commonly emulated <SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" ><SPAN CLASS="ACRONYM" >DEC</SPAN > <SPAN CLASS="ACRONYM" >VT100</SPAN ></SPAN >. If you occassionally connect using a different terminal emulation then you can interactively change your choice of terminal by setting <TT CLASS="VARNAME" >TERM</TT > to the appropiate terminal listed in <TT CLASS="FILENAME" >/etc/termcap</TT >.</P ><DIV CLASS="FIGURE" ><A NAME="GETTY-TERM" ></A ><P ><B >Figure 6-1. Interactively altering the connecting terminal's make and model</B ></P ><TABLE BORDER="1" BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0" WIDTH="100%" ><TR ><TD ><FONT COLOR="#000000" ><PRE CLASS="SCREEN" ><TT CLASS="PROMPT" >bash$</TT > <B CLASS="COMMAND" >TERM=kermit</B > <TT CLASS="PROMPT" >bash$</TT > <B CLASS="COMMAND" >tset -r</B ></PRE ></FONT ></TD ></TR ></TABLE ></DIV ><P >A <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > is also responsible for setting the time zone when a permanently-connected remote terminal is located beyond the machine's default time zone. The <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > overrides the default timezone by setting the <TT CLASS="ENVAR" >TZ</TT > environment variable. As with the <TT CLASS="ENVAR" >TERM</TT > environment variable, a user connecting from a modem can interactively override the default time zone.</P ><DIV CLASS="FIGURE" ><A NAME="GETTY-TZ" ></A ><P ><B >Figure 6-2. Interactively altering the connecting terminal's time zone</B ></P ><TABLE BORDER="1" BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0" WIDTH="100%" ><TR ><TD ><FONT COLOR="#000000" ><PRE CLASS="SCREEN" ><TT CLASS="PROMPT" >bash$</TT > <B CLASS="COMMAND" >TZ=Australia/Adelaide</B > <TT CLASS="PROMPT" >bash$</TT > <B CLASS="COMMAND" >export TZ</B ></PRE ></FONT ></TD ></TR ></TABLE ></DIV ><P >If you do not know your time zone name, run the <B CLASS="COMMAND" >tzselect</B > utility to generate the appropiate contents for <TT CLASS="ENVAR" >TZ</TT >.</P ><P >But first, let's see how <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >getty</SPAN > gets started in the first place.</P ></DIV ><DIV CLASS="NAVFOOTER" ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"><TABLE SUMMARY="Footer navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="configure-kernel-syslinux.html" ACCESSKEY="P" >Prev</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="index.html" ACCESSKEY="H" >Home</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="getty-init.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" >Configure Linux kernel using <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >SYSLINUX</SPAN ></TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" > </TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" ><SPAN CLASS="PRODUCTNAME" >init</SPAN > system</TD ></TR ></TABLE ></DIV ></BODY ></HTML >