TTYS(5) BSD File Formats Manual TTYS(5)NAMEttys — terminal initialization information
DESCRIPTION
The file ttys contains information that is used by various routines to
initialize and control the use of terminal special files. This informa‐
tion is read with the getttyent(3) library routines. There is one line
in the ttys file per special device file. Fields are separated by tabs
and/or spaces. Fields comprised of more than one word should be enclosed
in double quotes (``"''). Blank lines and comments may appear anywhere
in the file; comments are delimited by hash marks (``#'') and new lines.
Any unspecified fields will default to null.
The first field is normally the name of the terminal special file as it
is found in /dev. However, it can be any arbitrary string when the asso‐
ciated command is not related to a tty.
The second field of the file is the command to execute for the line, usu‐
ally getty(8), which initializes and opens the line, setting the speed,
waiting for a user name and executing the login(1) program. It can be,
however, any desired command, for example the start up for a window sys‐
tem terminal emulator or some other daemon process, and can contain mul‐
tiple words if quoted.
The third field is the type of terminal usually connected to that tty
line, normally the one found in the termcap(5) data base file. The envi‐
ronment variable TERM is initialized with the value by either getty(8) or
login(1).
The remaining fields set flags in the ty_status entry (see getttyent(3)),
specify a window system process that launchd(8) will maintain for the
terminal line.
As flag values, the strings ``on'' and ``off'' specify that launchd(8)
should (should not) execute the command given in the second field, while
``secure'' (if ``on'' is also specified) allows users with a uid of 0 to
login on this line. The flags ``local'', ``rtscts'', ``mdmbuf'', and
``softcar'' modify the default behaviour of the terminal line, and their
actions are driver dependent. The ``local'' flag causes the driver to
treat the line as if it locally connected. The ``rtscts'' flag instructs
the driver to use RTS/CTS hardware flow control, if possible. The ``mdm‐
buf'' flag instructs the driver to use DTR/DCD flow control, if possible.
The ``softcar'' flag causes the driver to ignore hardware carrier on the
line. These flag fields should not be quoted.
The string ``window='' may be followed by a quoted command string which
launchd(8) will execute before starting the command specified by the sec‐
ond field.
FILES
/etc/ttys
NUMERIC SEQUENCES
Numeric sequences of terminals can be represented in a more compact for‐
mat. A matching pair of square bracket may enclose two numbers (the
start and stop values), separated by a hyphen. The numbers are assumed
to be decimal, unless prefixed with ``0x'', in which case they are inter‐
preted as hexadecimal. The number of characters (not including any
``0x'') in the starting value gives the minimum width; sequence values
are zero padded up to this width. Thus ``tty[00-07]'' represents the
eight terminals ``tty00'' through ``tty07''.
EXAMPLES
# root login on console at 1200 baud
console "/usr/libexec/getty std.1200" vt100 on secure
# dialup at 1200 baud, no root logins
ttyd0 "/usr/libexec/getty d1200" dialup on # 555-1234
# Mike's terminal: hp2621
ttyh0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" hp2621-nl on # 457 Evans
# John's terminal: vt100
ttyh1 "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" vt100 on # 459 Evans
# terminal emulate/window system
ttyv0 "/usr/X11/bin/xterm -display :0" xterm on window="/usr/X11/bin/X :0"
# the sequence of eight terminals tty00 through tty07
tty[00-07] "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" vt100 on
# Network pseudo ttys-- don't enable getty
ttyp0 none network
ttyp1 none network off
# All sixteen of a pseudo tty sequence
ttyq[0x0-0xf] none network
SEE ALSOlogin(1), getttyent(3), ttyslot(3), gettytab(5), termcap(5), getty(8),
launchd(8)HISTORY
A ttys file appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.
BSD May 27, 2005 BSD
