4.3BSD - /usr/man/cat5/ttys.0

TTYS(5)                                                                TTYS(5)


NAME
       ttys - terminal initialization data

DESCRIPTION
       The  ttys file 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 file.  Fields are separated by tabs and/or
       spaces.   Some  fields  may  contain  more  than one word and should be
       enclosed in double quotes.  Blank lines and comments  can  appear  any‐
       where in the file; comments are delimited by ‘#’ and new line. Unspeci‐
       fied fields default to null.  The first field is the  terminal’s  entry
       in  the  device  directory,  /dev.  The second field of the file is the
       command to execute for the line,  typically  getty(8),  which  performs
       such  tasks as baud-rate recognition, reading the login name, and call‐
       ing login(1).  It can be, however, any desired command, for example the
       start  up  for  a  window system terminal emulator or some other daemon
       process, and can contain multiple words if quoted.  The third field  is
       the  type  of terminal normally connected to that tty line, as found in
       the termcap(5) data base file.  The remaining fields set flags  in  the
       ty_status  entry  (see getttyent(3)) or specify a window system process
       that init(8) will maintain for the terminal line.  As flag values,  the
       strings  ‘on’ and ‘off’ specify whether init should execute the command
       given in the second field, while ‘secure’ in addition  to  ‘on’  allows
       root  to  login  on this line.  These flag fields should not be quoted.
       The string ‘window=’ is followed by a quoted command string which  init
       will execute before starting getty.  If the line ends in a comment, the
       comment is included in the ty_comment field of the ttyent structure.

       Some examples:

       console "/etc/getty std.1200"   vt100        on secure
       ttyd0   "/etc/getty d1200"      dialup       on     # 555-1234
       ttyh0   "/etc/getty std.9600"   hp2621-nl    on     # 254MC
       ttyh1   "/etc/getty std.9600"   plugboard    on     # John’s office
       ttyp0   none                    network
       ttyp1   none                    network      off
       ttyv0   "/usr/new/xterm -L :0"  vs100        on window="/usr/new/Xvs100 0"

       The first example permits root login on the console at 1200  baud,  the
       second  allows  dialup  at  1200 baud without root login, the third and
       fourth allow login at 9600 baud with terminal types of "hp2621-nl"  and
       "plugboard" respectively, the fifth and sixth line are examples of net‐
       work pseudo ttys, which should not have getty enabled on them, and  the
       last example shows a terminal emulator and window system startup entry.

FILES
       /etc/ttys

SEE ALSO
       login(1), getttyent(3), gettytab(5), init(8), getty(8)


7th Edition                      May 20, 1986                          TTYS(5)