NAME

ttys − terminal initialization data

DESCRIPTION

The ttys file is read by the init program and specifies which terminal special files are to have a process created for them so that people can log in.  There is one line in the ttys file per special file associated with a terminal. 

The first character of a line in the ttys file is either ‘0’ or ‘1’.  If the first character on the line is a ‘0’, the init program ignores that line.  If the first character on the line is a ‘1’, the init program creates a login process for that line. 

The second character on each line is used as an argument to getty(8), which performs such tasks as baud-rate recognition, reading the login name, and calling login. For normal lines, the second character is ‘0’; other characters can be used, for example, with hard-wired terminals where speed recognition is unnecessary or which have special characteristics. The remainder of the line is the terminal’s entry in the device directory, /dev.

Getty uses the second character in the ttys file to look up the characteristics of the terminal in the /etc/gettytab file.  Consult the gettytab(5) manual page for an explanation of the layout of /etc/gettytab.

FILES

/etc/ttys

SEE ALSO

init(8), getty(8), login(1), gettytab(5)

Sun Release 1.1  —  Last change: 28 October 1983