GETTYDEFS

gettydefs ? speed and tty settings used by getty

The file /etc/gettydefs contains information used by getty(1m) to set up the speed and tty settings for a line. It supplies information on what the login-prompt should look like. It also supplies the speed to try next if the user indicates the current speed is not correct by typing a <break> character.

Each entry in /etc/gettydefs has the following :

label# initial-flags # final-flags # login-prompt #next-label

Each entry is followed by a blank line. Lines that begin with are ignored and may be used to comment the file. The various fields can contain quoted characters of the form \b, \n, \c, etc., as well as \nnn, where nnn is the octal value of the desired character. The various fields are:

label

This is the string against which getty tries to match its second argument. It is often the speed, such as 1200, at which the terminal is supposed to run, but it needn’t be (see below).

initial-flags

These flags are the initial ioctl(2) settings to which the terminal is to be set if a terminal type is not specified to getty. Getty understands the symbolic names specified in /usr/include/termio.h (see termio(7)). Normally only the speed flag is required in the initial-flags field. Getty automatically sets the terminal to raw input mode and takes care of most of the other flags. The initial-flag settings remain in effect until getty executes login(1m).

final-flags

These flags take the same values as the initial-flags and are set just prior to getty executes /bin/login. The speed flag is again required. The composite flag SANE takes care of most of the other flags that need to be set so that the processor and terminal are communicating in a rational fashion. The other two commonly specified final-flags are TAB3, so that tabs are sent to the terminal as spaces, and HUPCL, so that the line is hung up on the final close.

login-prompt

This entire field is printed as the login-prompt. Unlike the above fields where white space is ignored (a space, tab or new-line), they are included in the login-prompt field.

The login-prompt may contain various @char and \char parameters. These are described in full in the getty(1m) section PROMPT SUBSTITUTIONS.

next-label

This indicates the next label of the entry in the table that getty should use if the user types a <break> or the input cannot be read. Usually, a series of speeds are linked together in this fashion, into a closed set. For instance, 2400 linked to 1200, which in turn is linked to 300, which finally is linked back to 2400.

If getty is called without a speed argument, then the first entry of /etc/gettydefs is used, thus making the first entry of /etc/gettydefs the default entry. It is also used if getty can’t find the specified label. If /etc/gettydefs itself is missing, there is one entry built into getty which will bring up a terminal at 9600 baud.

It is strongly recommended that after making or modifying /etc/gettydefs, it be run through getty with the check (?c) option to be sure there are no errors.

/etc/gettydefs

login(1m), getty(1m), ioctl(2), termio(7)