CONS(4) BSD Programmer's Manual (SPARC Architecture) CONS(4)NAME
cons - virtual console interface
DESCRIPTION
The system supports a ``virtual'' console device used for kernel and sys-
tem error messages which is accessed in user mode via /dev/console. It is
virtual in the sense that it is attached to a specific hardware interface
at boot time. It then becomes an alternate access path to the selected
device. Thus, the virtual console device /dev/console should be used for
logins, etc., only when the specific device file is not also in use.
The currently supported console devices are the Sun keyboard and display,
and the ttya and ttyb standard serial ports (see zs(4)).
The console device is determined by the boot PROM, depending on its
input-device and output-device PROM variables. These are usually:
input-device=keyboard
output-device=screen
to use the Sun keyboard and display as the console. If no Sun keyboard
is connected, the PROM automatically switches to ttya; alternatively, the
settings:
input-device=ttya
output-device=ttya
will force the PROM (and hence the system) to use ttya as the console.
The console user can force a system halt, via the Stop-A (or L1-A) key on
a Sun keyboard, or the BREAK signal when using a serial console.
When using the eeprom(8) command to set the console device, the change
does not take effect until the next reboot.
FILES
/dev/console
SEE ALSOtty(4), zs(4), boot(8), eeprom(8)syslog(8)BSDI BSD/OS January 6, 1998 1
