getty
?getty
is a program that handles the login process when you log
onto a Unix box. You will need to use getty
if you want to be
able to dial in to your Linux machine with a modem. You do not need
to use getty
if you only want to dial out with your modem. There
are three versions that are commonly used with Linux: getty_ps
,
mgetty
and agetty
. The syntax for these programs differs,
so be sure to check and make sure that you are using the correct syntax for whatever getty
you use.
getty_ps
Most distributions come with the getty_ps
package installed. It
contains two programs: getty
is used for console and terminal
devices, and uugetty
for modems. I use this version of getty
,
so that is what I will focus on.
mgetty
mgetty
is a version of getty
for use with modems. In
addition to allowing dialup logins, mgetty
also provides FAX
support and auto PPP detection. The mgetty
documentation is very good, and does not need supplementing. Please
refer to it for installation instructions. You can find the latest
information on mgetty
at
http://www.leo.org/~doering/mgetty/
.
agetty
agetty
is the third variation of getty
. It's a simple,
completely functional implementation of getty
which is best
suited for virtual consoles or terminals rather than modems.
setserial
?setserial
is a program which allows you to look at and change
various attributes of a serial device, including its port address,
its interrupt, and other serial port options. You can find out what
version you have by running setserial
with no arguments.
When your Linux system boots, only ttyS{0-3}
are configured,
using the default IRQs of 4 and 3. So, if you have any other serial
ports provided by other boards or if ttyS{0-3}
have a non-standard
IRQ, you must use this program in order to configure those serial
ports. For the full listing of options, consult the man page.