Managing System Console and Locally Connected Terminal Devices

The system console is a terminal that has special attributes and is used for certain purposes. For example. kernel messages that are meant for an administrator are sent to the Console and not other terminals.

A terminal is a means of interacting with Oracle Solaris. Your system's bitmapped graphics display is not the same as an alphanumeric terminal. An alphanumeric terminal connects to a serial port and displays only text. You do not have to perform any special steps to administer the graphics display.

A terminal could also be associated with the physical monitor and keyboard layout of a computer. What sets the graphical terminal apart is that it must be associated with the graphics card and monitor of a computer. So, instead of transmitting characters out of a serial port, the characters are drawn onto the memory of the graphics card that is in the computer.

SMF Services That Manage the System Console and Locally Connected Terminal Devices

The system console and locally connected terminal devices are represented as instances of the SMF service, svc:/system/console. This service defines most of the behavior, with each instance having specific overrides to the settings that are inherited from the service. The ttymon program is used to offer login services for these terminals. Each terminal uses a separate instance of the ttymon program. Command-line arguments that are passed by the service to the ttymon program govern its behavior.

The service instances that are supplied with the system are as follows:

• svc:/system/console-login:default

  The default instance always represents that the ttymon program offer a login to the system hardware console. For an example, see How to Modify Settings for the System Console.

• svc:/system/console-login:{vt2, vt3, vt4, vt5, vt6}

  Additional service instances are provided for the system's virtual consoles. If virtual consoles are not available, these services are automatically disabled. For more information, see the vtdaemon(1M) man page.

• svc:/system/console-login:{terma, termb}

  The svc:/system/console-login:terma and svc:/system/console-login:termb services are provided as a convenience. These services can assist you in setting up login services for additional /dev/term/a and /dev/term/b ports. These services are disabled by default.

You can define additional service instances as part of the svc:system/console-login service. For example, if you had a /dev/term/f device which you needed to support, you could instantiate svc:/system/console-login:termf and configure it appropriately.

How to Modify Settings for the System Console

Administration of the system console is managed by SMF. Use the svccfg command to set the system console properties.

The following procedure shows how to change the console terminal type by using the svccfg command.

1. Assume the root role.

   See How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

   $ su -
   Password:
   #

2. Use the svccfg command to set the property for the service instance that you want to change.

   For example, to change the terminal type for the system console, which is represented by the :default service, you would type the following command:

   # svccfg -s svc:/system/console-login:default "setprop ttymon/terminal_type = xterm"

   ---

   Caution - It is not advisable to set the terminal type of the svc:/system/console-login service because the change will affect all instances.

   ---

How to Set Up Login Services on Auxiliary Terminals

For terminals that are connected to /dev/term/a or /dev/term/b serial ports on a system, predefined services are provided.

To enable login services for /dev/term/a, use the following procedure.

1. Assume the root role.

   See How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

2. Enable the service instance as follows:

   # svcadm enable svc:/system/console-login:terma

3. Check that the service is online.

   # svcs svc:/system/console-login:terma

   The output should show that the service is online. If the service is in maintenance mode, consult the service's log file for further details.

How to Set the Baud Rate Speed on the System Terminal

This procedure shows how to set the baud rate speed on the console. Support for console speeds on x86 based systems are dependent on the specific platform.

The following are supported console speeds for SPARC based systems:

• 9600 bps

• 19200 bps

• 38400 bps

1. Become an administrator.

   See How to Use Your Assigned Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: Security Services.

2. Use the eeprom command to set a baud rate speed that is appropriate for your system type.

   # eeprom ttya-mode=baud-rate,8,n,1,-

   For example, to change the baud rate on an x86 based system's console to 38400, type:

   # eeprom ttya-mode=38400,8,n,1,-

3. Change the console line in the /etc/ttydefs file as follows:

   console baud-rate hupcl opost onlcr:baud-rate::console

4. Make the following additional changes for your system type.

   Note that these changes are platform-dependent.

   • On SPARC based systems: Change the baud rate speed in the version of the options.conf file that is in the /etc/driver/drv directory.

     Use the following command to change the baud rate to 9600:

     # 9600             :bd:
     ttymodes="2502:1805:bd:8a3b:3:1c:7f:15:4:0:0:0:11:13:1a:19:12:f:17:16";

     Use the following command to change the baud rate speed to 19200.

     # 19200            :be:
     ttymodes="2502:1805:be:8a3b:3:1c:7f:15:4:0:0:0:11:13:1a:19:12:f:17:16";

     Use the following command to change the baud rate speed to 38400:

     # 38400            :bf:
     ttymodes="2502:1805:bf:8a3b:3:1c:7f:15:4:0:0:0:11:13:1a:19:12:f:17:16";

   • On x86 based systems: Change the console speed if the BIOS serial redirection is enabled.