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NAME
mgetty - smart modem getty
SYNOPSIS
mgetty [options] ttydevice [gettydefs]
DESCRIPTION
Mgetty is a ''smart'' getty replacement, designed to be used with
hayes compatible data and data/fax modems. Mgetty knows about modem
initialization, manual modem answering (so your modem doesn't answer
if the machine isn't ready), UUCP locking (so you can use the same
device for dial-in and dial-out). Mgetty provides very extensive log-
ging facilities.
This manpage doesn't try to detail mgetty setup in detail, it just
lists the most important options. For detailed instructions, see the
info file mgetty.info (mgetty.texi).
OPTIONS
-k
Tells mgetty to leave kbytes free on disk when receiv-
ing a fax.
-x
Use the given level of verbosity for logging - 0 means no log-
ging, 9 is really noisy. The log file is usually
/tmp/log_mg.
-s
Set the port speed to use, e.g. "-s 19200".
-r Tells mgetty that it is running on a direct line. UUCP locking
is done, but no modem initialization whatsoever.
-p <login prompt>
Use the given string to prompt users for their login names.
Various tokens are allowed in this string. These tokens are: @
for the system name, \n, \g, \f, for newline, bell, and form
feed, respectively. \v and \r will expand to the OS version
and release. \P, \l and \L will expand to the tty name
("ttyS0"). \Y will give the Caller ID, \I the "CONNECT foobar"
string returned by the modem, and \S or \b will output the port
speed. \N and \U give the number of users currently logged in.
\C will be changed into the result of ctime(), and \D or \d and
\t or \T will output the date and time, respectively. Finally,
\ will use digit as octal/decimal/hexadecimal represen-
tation of the character to follow.
The default prompt is specified at compile time.
-n # Tells mgetty to pick up the phone after the #th RING. Default
is 1.
-R Tells mgetty to go into "ringback" (aka "ring-twice") mode.
That means: the first call is never answered, instead the
caller has to hang up after the phone RINGs, wait 30 seconds,
and then call again in the next seconds for mgetty to pick
up. If no call comes, mgetty will exit.
I do not really recommend using this, better get a second phone
line for the modem.
-i
Output file> instead of /etc/issue before prompting for
the user name. The same token substitutions as for the the
login prompt are done in this file.
-D Tells mgetty that the modem is to be treated as a DATA modem,
no fax initalization is attempted.
-F Tells mgetty that DATA calls are not allowed and the modem
should be set to Fax-Only.
-C
Tells mgetty how to treat the modem. Possible values for
are "auto" (default, try to find out whether the modem
supports fax), "cls2" (use the class 2 fax command set, even if
the modem supports class 2.0), "c2.0" (use the class 2.0 fax
command set), "data" (data only, exactly as the -D switch).
-S
If a call comes in and requests fax polling, mgetty will send
the named file. Note: not all fax modems support poll sending.
-I
Use the given fax station ID for fax identification. Not used
for data modems.
-b Open the port in blocking mode. Best used in combination with
"-r". This is the default if mgetty is called as getty. You
may want to use this if you want to make use of the two-device
/ kernel-locking scheme of the Linux and SunOS operating sys-
tems (/dev/ttyS.. and /dev/cua..). I do not recommend it, it's
just include for completeness, and to be able to use mgetty as
a full-featured getty replacement.
-a Use autobauding. That is, after a connection is made, mgetty
parses the "CONNECT foo" response code of the modem and sets
the port speed to the first integer found after the "CONNECT"
string, "foo" in this example. You need this if your modem
insist on changing its DTE speed to match the line speed. I
recommend against using it, better leave the port speed locked
at a fixed value. The feature is included because there exist
old modems that cannot use a fixed (locked) port speed.
-m 'expect send ...'
Set the "chat sequence" that is used to initialize the modem.
For an empty expect part, use empty double quotes (""). Since
the sequence contains spaces, you have to enclose all of it in
single quotes(''). Example:
mgetty -m '"" ATH0 OK'
FILES
/etc/mgetty+sendfax/mgetty.config
Main configuration file.
/etc/mgetty+sendfax/login.config
controls whether (and when) mgetty should call some other pro-
gram for user login instead of /bin/login. How this is done is
explained in this file.
/etc/mgetty+sendfax/dialin.config
controls acceptance/denial of incoming calls based on the
caller's number. Available only if you have "caller ID" and
your modem supports it.
/etc/nologin.ttyxx
controls whether mgetty should pick up the phone upon incoming
calls. If the file exists, calls are completely ignored. You
can use this, for example, to stop mgetty during day time, and
let it pick up at night only, by creating and removing
/etc/nologin.ttyxx via the cron program at the appropriate
time.
/etc/issue
will be printed after a connection is established, and before
the with the '-i' option.
/var/log/mgetty.log.ttyxx
Debug log file, see below.
DIAGNOSTICS
If mgetty doesn't work the way it should, the main source of diagnos-
tic data is the log file. It can be found in
"/var/log/mgetty.log.ttyxx" (for the mgetty process handling "ttyxx").
If it doesn't contain enough details, enhance the log level with the
'-x' option to mgetty, e.g. "-x 5".
Many of the common problems and solutions are discussed in the mgetty
manual and the FAQ. Please see the WWW page at http://alpha.gree-
nie.net/mgetty/ for both.
BUGS
Not all of mgetty configuration can be done at run-time yet. Things
like flow control and file paths (log file / lock file) have to be
configured by changing the source and recompiling.
Users never read manuals...
SEE ALSO
g32pbm(1), sendfax(8), getty(8), mgettydefs(4), mgetty.info
AUTHOR
mgetty is Copyright (C) 1993 by Gert Doering, .
greenie 27 Oct 93 - 21 Jul 98 mgetty(8)
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