openvt(1) - phpMan

OPENVT(1) General Commands Manual OPENVT(1)

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 cur-
rent 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 ac-
cess 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 set-
sid(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 AT gtex02.es> or
<jon AT robots.uk>. The -w idea is from "sam".