vtlmgr(1) vtlmgr(1)
NAME
vtlmgr - monitors and opens virtual terminals.
SYNOPSIS
vtlmgr [-k]
DESCRIPTION
When you invoke the vtlmgr command (usually from within your
.profile), it places itself in the background and monitors
/dev/vtmon for signals from the keyboard/display driver to
open new virtual terminals.
Option:
-k The -k option sends a SIGHUP signal to all open virtual
terminals when you log off (by entering CTRL-d from your
home virtual terminal). This automatically closes, if
possible, existing virtual terminals. For virtual
terminals that cannot be automatically closed, you are
prompted about closing them manually.
After running vtlmgr, you open new virtual terminals and then
switch between them by entering a hot-key sequence,
specifically:
ALT - SYS-REQ key
where key is either a function key whose number corresponds to
the number of the virtual terminal to which to switch or a
letter in the table below. For example, pressing F1 switches
you to /dev/vt01 (virtual terminal 01), pressing F2 switches
you to /dev/vt02 (virtual terminal 02), and so on,
key Interpretation
__________________________________________
f force a switch to a virtual terminal
h home virtual terminal (/dev/vt00)
n next virtual terminal
p previous virtual terminal
Use the f key only when the current virtual terminal is locked
up or stuck in graphics mode. Using the f key causes the
virtual terminal to be reset to a sane text state and to kill
all processes associated with the virtual terminal. If X is
running in the virtual terminal, X and all clients will be
terminated. You can use the ALT - SYS-REQ f (force) key
sequence to recover. Typically you will be switched to the
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vtlmgr(1) vtlmgr(1)
/dev/console virtual terminal where X may be restarted.
When the hot-key sequence is entered, the executable program
pointed to by the $SHELL variable is executed in the new
virtual terminal. If $SHELL is NULL or points to a program
that is not executable, /bin/sh is executed. The newly opened
virtual terminal inherits the environment in effect when the
vtlmgr command is invoked.
You may perform setup on each new virtual terminal as it is
created by vtlmgr through the .vtlrc file in your home
directory. This file contains a shell script that is run by
/bin/sh before the shell prompt is displayed. In this way, it
is similar to your .profile file. However, you may not set
and export environment variables to the shell for the virtual
terminal because a different shell runs the .vtlrc shell
script.
The system administrator can control how many virtual
terminals are available by setting a parameter in the file
/etc/default/workstations. Virtual terminals 0 through 8 are
configured by default, and the default keyboard map makes up
to 13 virtual terminals available (that is, an additional 4
virtual terminals can readily be defined within the default
settings). The default virtual terminals are the home
terminal and one corresponding to each function key. An
application can make two more available to the end-user (by
reprogramming the keyboard map), or can reserve the last two
for programmatic use only, making 15 virtual terminals
available in all.
Note that processes that are no longer visible may still be
continuing. Standard output is directed to the current
virtual terminal's screen. For example, you can issue a cat
command on one virtual terminal, switch to another virtual
terminal to start an application, and then switch to another
to do an edit. The cat output will be lost if the virtual
terminal scrolls the data off the screen unless you initially
redirect the output to a file.
DIAGNOSTICS
The vtlmgr command fails under the following conditions:
An invalid option is specified.
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vtlmgr(1) vtlmgr(1)
The device cannot be opened.
The command is invoked from a remote terminal.
/dev/vtmon cannot be opened.
$SHELL is set and is not executable.
$SHELL is not set and /bin/sh cannot be invoked.
REFERENCES
keyboard(7), newvt(1), vtgetty(1M)
Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc. Page 3