Ubuntu Manpage: rungetty - a minimal console getty that can run any process

NAME

       rungetty - a minimal console getty that can run any process

SYNOPSIS

       rungetty  [--noclear]  [--long-hostname]  [-u username] [-g group] [-w path] [-n priority]
       [--prompt [=string]] [-d n] [--autologin username] tty [--] [command] [arguments]

DESCRIPTION

       rungetty is a getty for use on virtual consoles which has the ability to run any  program,
       not  just login(1).  Like mingetty(8), on which rungetty is based, rungetty isn't suitable
       for serial use. Both I and the author of mingetty(8) recommend mgetty(8) for that.  It  is
       useful,  though,  for keeping programs such as, say, telnet(1), running at all times. When
       running a program other than login, it is executed as the user and group  nobody,  or  the
       user specified by username and group specified by group.

OPTIONS

--noclear
Do not clear the screen before prompting for the login name (the screen is normally
cleared).

--long-hostname
By default the hostname is only printed until the first dot. With this option
enabled, the full text from gethostname() is shown.

-u username
By default, rungetty runs programs as nobody. With this option, it runs as the user
username.

-g group
By default, rungetty runs as the group nobody. This option allows you to tell
rungetty to run programs as the group group.

--prompt [=string]
This option causes rungetty to wait until user input (usually an 'Enter') before
executing the program. If string is specified, it will be displayed. Otherwise, a
default prompt will be shown.

-n n ´nice´ value of specified program.

-w path
Working directory of specified program.

-d n Specifying -d will make rungetty wait n seconds before running the specified
program.

--autologin username
Log the specified user onto the console (normally /dev/tty1) when the system is
first booted without prompting for a username or password.

When the autologin option is supplied, rungetty will check that the controlling
terminal is the console (normally /dev/tty1), that a reasonable username has been
supplied, and that this is the first autologin request since the system has booted.
If all of these conditions have been met, a request for an unauthenticated login is
passed to the login program. Otherwise, a normal interactive login is performed.

The login program may deny the request for an unauthenticated login. Typically
this will happen when the user is root, has a UID of 0, or whenever a normal
interactive login would be denied due to the access restrictions specified in the
nologin, usertty, or securetty files.

Only a single autologin request will be issued after a system boot. If the
automated login request is denied, or if the user logs out, rungetty will revert to
performing normal interactive logins for all subsequent login requests.

-- Tells rungetty that there are no more options to parse, useful for passing
arguments with a - in them to the external program.

ARGUMENTS

       tty    Name of the tty to run on.

       command
              Runs  specified  command.   Searches  for  command  in  /bin,  /usr/bin,  /usr/ucb,
              /usr/local/bin if the complete pathname and filename are not given.

       [arguments]
              Command line arguments to pass to command.

ISSUE ESCAPES

       rungetty recognizes the  following  escape  sequences  which  might  be  embedded  in  the
       /etc/issue file:

       \d     insert current day (localtime),

       \l     insert line on which rungetty is running,

       \m     inserts machine architecture (uname -m),

       \n     inserts machine's network node hostname (uname -n),

       \o     inserts domain name,

       \r     inserts operating system release (uname -r),

       \t     insert current time (localtime),

       \s     inserts operating system name,

       \u resp. \U
              the  current  number of users which are currently logged in.  \U inserts "n users",
              where as \u only inserts "n".

       \v     inserts operating system version (uname -v).

EXAMPLE

       In /etc/inittab, these lines:
       r1:12345:respawn:/sbin/rungetty tty1
       r2:2345:respawn:/sbin/rungetty tty2 telnet mail.foo.com
       r3:2345:respawn:/sbin/rungetty tty3 -u support top
       r4:2345:respawn:/sbin/rungetty tty4 -n 20 -w /etc rc5des
       Would run a local login on /dev/tty1,a telnet(1) session to mail.foo.com on  /dev/tty2,and
       top(5)on  /dev/tty3.   Note  that  telnet(1) is run as user nobody, while top(5) is run as
       user support, and start the program rc5des(5) at the lowest priority level with a  current
       directory of /etc.

FILES

       /etc/issue, /var/run/utmp, /var/log/autologin.

BUG REPORTS

       Please send all bug reports to jake@nodomainname.net.

BUGS

       There are no known bugs.

AUTHOR

       Copyright © 1999 Jakob Kaivo <jake@nodomainname.net>.

 Jakob 'sparky' Kaivo                    04 February 1999                             RUNGETTY(8)