NAME¶
openvt - start a program on a new virtual terminal (VT).
SYNOPSIS¶
openvt [-c vtnumber] [OPTIONS] [--] command
DESCRIPTION¶
openvt will find the first available VT, and run on it the given
command with the given
command options, standard input, output
and error are directed to that terminal. The current search path ($PATH) is
used to find the requested command. If no command is specified then the
environment variable $SHELL is used.
OPTIONS¶
- -c, --console=VTNUMBER
- Use the given VT number and not the first available. Note
you must have write access to the supplied VT for this to work;
- -f, --force
- Force opening a VT without checking whether it is already
in use;
- -e, --exec
- Directly execute the given command, without forking. This
option is meant for use in /etc/inittab. If you want to use this
feature in another context, be aware that openvt has to be a
session leader in order for -e to work. See setsid(2) or
setsid(1) on how to achieve this.
- -s, --switch
- Switch to the new VT when starting the command. The VT of
the new command will be made the new current VT;
- -u, --user
- Figure out the owner of the current VT, and run login as
that user. Suitable to be called by init. Shouldn't be used with -c or
-l;
- -l, --login
- Make the command a login shell. A - is prepended to the
name of the command to be executed;
- -v, --verbose
- Be a bit more verbose;
- -w, --wait
- wait for command to complete. If -w and -s are used
together then openvt will switch back to the controlling terminal
when the command completes;
- -V, --version
- print program version and exit;
- -h, --help
- show this text and exit.
- --
- end of options to openvt.
NOTE¶
If
openvt is compiled with a getopt_long() and you wish to set options to
the command to be run, then you must supply the end of options -- flag before
the command.
EXAMPLES¶
openvt can be used to start a shell on the next free VT, by using the
command:
- openvt bash
-
To start the shell as a login shell, use:
- openvt -l bash
-
To get a long listing you must supply the -- separator:
- openvt -- ls -l
-
HISTORY¶
Earlier,
openvt was called
open. It was written by Jon Tombs
<jon@gtex02.us.es or jon@robots.ox.ac.uk>. The -w idea is from
"sam".
SEE ALSO¶
chvt(1),
doshell(8),
login(1)