Manpages - 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.
-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 <[email protected]> or <[email protected]>. The -w idea is from "sam".