Manual: openvt

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 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  or  .   The  -w
       idea is from "sam".

SEE ALSO
       chvt(1), deallocvt(1), vlock(1), login(1)

kbd						       24 October 2024						   OPENVT(1)