TTYS(5) MachTen Programmer’s Manual TTYS(5)

NAME
ttys - 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 the name of the terminal special file as it is found
in /dev.

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))
or specify a window system process that init(8) will maintain for the
terminal line.

As flag values, the strings ‘‘on’’ and ‘‘off’’ specify that init should
(should not) execute the command given in the second field, while ‘‘se-
cure’’ (if ‘‘on’’ is also specified) allows users with a uid of 0 to lo-
gin on this line. These flag fields should not be quoted.

The string ‘‘window=’’ may be followed by a quoted command string which
init will execute before starting the command specified by the second
field.

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/new/xterm -L :0" vs100 on window="/usr/new/Xvs100 0"
# Network pseudo ttys -- don’t enable getty
ttyp0 none network
ttyp1 none network off

FILES
/etc/ttys

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

HISTORY
A ttys file appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

4.4BSD June 4, 1993 2