mgetty(8) mgetty+sendfax manual mgetty(8)
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 logging facilities.
This manpage doesn't try to detail mgetty setup in detail, it just lists the most impor-
tant options. For detailed instructions, see the info file mgetty.info (mgetty.texi).
OPTIONS
-k
Tells mgetty to leave kbytes free on disk when receiving a fax.
-x level>
Use the given level of verbosity for logging - 0 means no logging, 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 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 ver-
sion 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 representation 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 file>
Output 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 file>
If a call comes in and requests fax polling, mgetty will send the named file. Note:
not all fax modems support poll sending.
-I id>
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 program 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. Avail-
able 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 diagnostic 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.greenie.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 recom-
piling.
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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