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
   <jon@gtex02.us.es or jon@robots.ox.ac.uk>.  The -w idea is from "sam".

SEE ALSO

   chvt(1), doshell(8), login(1)

---

Free and Open Source Software